Hello people,
I am starting this blog with an explanation about today's title "a promise is nothing until it is delivered". Recently we had an email from a random company asking us to quote for their chauffeur hire from their office to various destinations. Once the quotes were ready and before we e mailed them back I spoke to the young lady on the phone trying to get a feel as to why they would want to change their supplier so suddenly. She tells me that apparently their chauffeur company told them that they do not have to send them the car that they had ordered if it was not available and that they were within their rights to send them a replacement as per their terms and conditions.
After 30 years in the London chauffeur hire industry I have never heard anything so stupid as that statement. Our whole ethos here is that we live by our word and never break a promise. Our clients depend on us to make their travel a stress free period, indeed they look to us to entertain their clients as if we were part of their organisation whilst getting them from A to B safely. I am amazed that in this day and age there are people like that in our business. What ever happened to that word "SERVICE" and how do companies like that win contracts.
I hope that by now you have made arrangements for your Christmas chauffeur hire in London as things are beginning to get a little tight. Please remember that most accidents occur at low speeds and that you should not even have one drink and drive, let us do the driving whilst you do the drinking.
Finally need I say more than here come the ashes, back to where they belong.
Enough, have a safe week, till then.
Thursday 9 December 2010
Monday 29 November 2010
We wish you a merry Christmas and safe motoring
Good morning people,
It's been a while since the last blog but that's only because I have been away drumming up business in Europe for chauffeur driven car hire (and on holiday).
Whilst I was away the whole set up was being looked after by Peter Jnr and Chris and a fine job they did. They kept me up to date with what was happening in the London chauffeur hire industry. The business is improving by the day but that's only because of the time of the year. Our corporate clients have been booking their requirements for their parties over the next month. I can see people being disappointed by not booking early but I am afraid we can only do so much. We have just been awarded the contract for a 5 star hotel that has just reopened, this in itself will take up a lot of our capacity, even though we have had to order new cars that should be with us in a week or two.
Chauffeur drive work in London is on the up which is good for us. The good thing about the new generation of managers who are responsible for awarding these contracts is that they are stepping back in time and are asking for trained chauffeurs rather than drivers. It appears that once again we are being asked to provide proper liveried chauffeurs with good knowledge of London and standards of service that are of the highest order with a price to match. The days of turning up for work in a pin stripe suit with a purple shirt and matching tie and pointed tan shoes are over, thank God. The fact that we maintained uniformed staff over the years is now paying off.
People who now want to work in our industry whether they are owner drivers or work for a London chauffeur hire company must follow a set of standards that match those of our competitors outside of the UK. Our industry has gone Global and even though we in the UK started chauffeur driven cars back in the day we have now been overtaken by almost every country. So, we have to go back to the basics if only to compete with companies that have offices here and around the world.
Just like football clubs a lot of the chauffeur hire companies are now in foreign hands mostly American who believe in doing things their way (the correct way) With a smile and a have a nice day attitude.
Winter has finally arrived and the frost on our windscreens is set thick. People, be careful on how you get rid of it and for heavens sake don't use very hot water because that will just crack it. By now you should have had your winter service. Now is the time that you put a travel blanket and a few bottles of water in the car along with some snacks just in case you get stranded in the snow. Off course its a lot safer to let the professionals do the driving in extreme weather.
Finally our cricket team in the land of Aus and are about to kick their behinds, all those who agree say yyyyyeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.
Till next time,
Peter.
It's been a while since the last blog but that's only because I have been away drumming up business in Europe for chauffeur driven car hire (and on holiday).
Whilst I was away the whole set up was being looked after by Peter Jnr and Chris and a fine job they did. They kept me up to date with what was happening in the London chauffeur hire industry. The business is improving by the day but that's only because of the time of the year. Our corporate clients have been booking their requirements for their parties over the next month. I can see people being disappointed by not booking early but I am afraid we can only do so much. We have just been awarded the contract for a 5 star hotel that has just reopened, this in itself will take up a lot of our capacity, even though we have had to order new cars that should be with us in a week or two.
Chauffeur drive work in London is on the up which is good for us. The good thing about the new generation of managers who are responsible for awarding these contracts is that they are stepping back in time and are asking for trained chauffeurs rather than drivers. It appears that once again we are being asked to provide proper liveried chauffeurs with good knowledge of London and standards of service that are of the highest order with a price to match. The days of turning up for work in a pin stripe suit with a purple shirt and matching tie and pointed tan shoes are over, thank God. The fact that we maintained uniformed staff over the years is now paying off.
People who now want to work in our industry whether they are owner drivers or work for a London chauffeur hire company must follow a set of standards that match those of our competitors outside of the UK. Our industry has gone Global and even though we in the UK started chauffeur driven cars back in the day we have now been overtaken by almost every country. So, we have to go back to the basics if only to compete with companies that have offices here and around the world.
Just like football clubs a lot of the chauffeur hire companies are now in foreign hands mostly American who believe in doing things their way (the correct way) With a smile and a have a nice day attitude.
Winter has finally arrived and the frost on our windscreens is set thick. People, be careful on how you get rid of it and for heavens sake don't use very hot water because that will just crack it. By now you should have had your winter service. Now is the time that you put a travel blanket and a few bottles of water in the car along with some snacks just in case you get stranded in the snow. Off course its a lot safer to let the professionals do the driving in extreme weather.
Finally our cricket team in the land of Aus and are about to kick their behinds, all those who agree say yyyyyeeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.
Till next time,
Peter.
Monday 27 September 2010
Welcome to all the American Golf fans.
This week sees the start to the Ryder Cup. Today both the teams reported at Celtic Manor for the inauguration of the tournament. Along with the teams we are expecting a very large number of supporters of which many will be staying in London. All of our hard work in promoting this event looks like paying off as we are now being inundated with bookings. We do however have a variety of vehicles available and our staff would be happy to quote for your requirements. Two years ago the American team won the match in their back yard this year however they will straggle because of the firmness of the greens and the cold weather in the Welsh valleys.
This week also sees the beginning of re training for all of our chauffeurs. This happens every year, its the time that our staff are updated with all the changes in the Chauffeur Hire industry. We also have the opportunity to see how much progress they have made from the last training session. Chris has been working really hard on making sure that all of our standards are upheld.
It has been said that he is turning into his grandfather who did part of his job many years ago, now there was a man who was a stickler for the rules and taught with it as well.
Chauffeur hire in London constantly changes as demands from clients become more and more finer. It seems that we are now going back 20 years where etiquette was the most important thing in the industry. Clients are now asking for a different kind of chauffeur, one that not only knows his way around but one who can adapt his duties. They are no longer satisfied with an ordinary chauffeur they now want him to be their valet and body guard as well. New money has run dry and old money has risen to top once again and the demands from London chauffeur hire companies are now so much more old school than new.
With the Pakistanis sent home with their tails between their legs we now have a break in the international cricket calender. Football however is now in full swing. Chelsea is still top of the league even though they lost their first game over the weekend but the others have not been able to take advantage of this.
That's all for this week have a good one till then .
This week also sees the beginning of re training for all of our chauffeurs. This happens every year, its the time that our staff are updated with all the changes in the Chauffeur Hire industry. We also have the opportunity to see how much progress they have made from the last training session. Chris has been working really hard on making sure that all of our standards are upheld.
It has been said that he is turning into his grandfather who did part of his job many years ago, now there was a man who was a stickler for the rules and taught with it as well.
Chauffeur hire in London constantly changes as demands from clients become more and more finer. It seems that we are now going back 20 years where etiquette was the most important thing in the industry. Clients are now asking for a different kind of chauffeur, one that not only knows his way around but one who can adapt his duties. They are no longer satisfied with an ordinary chauffeur they now want him to be their valet and body guard as well. New money has run dry and old money has risen to top once again and the demands from London chauffeur hire companies are now so much more old school than new.
With the Pakistanis sent home with their tails between their legs we now have a break in the international cricket calender. Football however is now in full swing. Chelsea is still top of the league even though they lost their first game over the weekend but the others have not been able to take advantage of this.
That's all for this week have a good one till then .
Tuesday 21 September 2010
Sickness presence:a risc to our organisation?
The negative impact of sickness absence on employers in the Chauffeur Hire industry is never reported in the press, but according to a report released in April 2010 by the Work Foundation, an equally problematic but lesser recognised danger lurks; 'sickness presence' - employees coming into work even though they are too unwell to carry out their duties. The report argues that employers are not aware of the potential problems caused to London Chauffeur Hire by ill employees coming in to work, which could account for 1.5 times more working time lost than the cost of sickness absence, which has been estimated at around £3.5 million per year.
In 2009 the performance of the worlds stock exchanges became the key indicator of economic growth, and this trend is expected to continue with focus on the emerging markets. Nothing is so certain though. In spite of the IMF's fore casted economic growth of 3.1% during 2010 analysts and investors remain optimistic about the fortunes of the last quarter continuing, which saw share prices rocketing with confidence, but some of them still believe that a double dip recession is on the horizon helped by the cut backs of the new government. We in the Chauffeur Hire London business are feeling the impact already. As companies in London, indeed in the whole world feel that turnover will become harder to achieve they automatically cut back on their least required luxuries in our case Chauffeur Hire. Please if you happen to be talking to your MP in the next few days ask him to tell the powers to be that they are hurting business in London.
This weeks sporing news is very controversial. The chairman of the board for Pakistan's cricket team has come out and said that the English players are cheating just like them. Needless to say that is all rubbish as he has no proof whats so ever. In my opinion we should pack their bags and send them on their merry way, no one needs these type of people. Great news on the football front Chelsea remain un beaten, now 4 point ahead of their nearest rivals and we have only played 5 games. Who is going to catch us. Next week sees the start of the Ryder Cup. I wonder if you have made your travel arrangements yet? If not the time has come for you to do so, call us for a price, you will be amazed at how reasonable we are.
The weather has began to change, it is getting colder by the day. This is the time of the year that people catch the flue so please be careful, wrap up. It is also the time that you should be looking to top up the radiator with anti freeze. Be prepared get your car looked at by professionals it could save you a packet.
That's all for today, till next time wrap up and keep safe people.
In 2009 the performance of the worlds stock exchanges became the key indicator of economic growth, and this trend is expected to continue with focus on the emerging markets. Nothing is so certain though. In spite of the IMF's fore casted economic growth of 3.1% during 2010 analysts and investors remain optimistic about the fortunes of the last quarter continuing, which saw share prices rocketing with confidence, but some of them still believe that a double dip recession is on the horizon helped by the cut backs of the new government. We in the Chauffeur Hire London business are feeling the impact already. As companies in London, indeed in the whole world feel that turnover will become harder to achieve they automatically cut back on their least required luxuries in our case Chauffeur Hire. Please if you happen to be talking to your MP in the next few days ask him to tell the powers to be that they are hurting business in London.
This weeks sporing news is very controversial. The chairman of the board for Pakistan's cricket team has come out and said that the English players are cheating just like them. Needless to say that is all rubbish as he has no proof whats so ever. In my opinion we should pack their bags and send them on their merry way, no one needs these type of people. Great news on the football front Chelsea remain un beaten, now 4 point ahead of their nearest rivals and we have only played 5 games. Who is going to catch us. Next week sees the start of the Ryder Cup. I wonder if you have made your travel arrangements yet? If not the time has come for you to do so, call us for a price, you will be amazed at how reasonable we are.
The weather has began to change, it is getting colder by the day. This is the time of the year that people catch the flue so please be careful, wrap up. It is also the time that you should be looking to top up the radiator with anti freeze. Be prepared get your car looked at by professionals it could save you a packet.
That's all for today, till next time wrap up and keep safe people.
Monday 13 September 2010
Save the Environment GO Carbon Neutral
We at Browns Chauffeur Hire are proud to announce that for the past year or so we have been Carbon Neutral. In other words we have become tree planters to counter balance our carbon emissions. With our planet's population continuing to increase and the quality of life for millions in the developing world improving daily our demand for energy is also growing. In order to meet everyone's needs 25 years from now may take 50% more energy than we use now.
Finding and developing all the fuel and power that we will need for our homes, businesses and vehicles while protecting the environment, could be one of the greatest challenges our generation will face. At some stage we will all have to look at our selves and decide how best we can help to safeguard our way of life and we need to do that right now. We as a company have decided to become carbon neutral as a start.
This human energy that drives us to succeed has been there every day since the beginning and it will be with us for many tomorrows to come. London Chauffeur Hire companies have a duty to do as much as they can to save the environment, each and every one of us must cut our carbon emissions totally, we owe it to our children, we owe it to the world.
I must get off this soap box before it crumbles and breaks. Have you been watching the cricket one dayers, boy are we humiliating the Pakistanis. Two tests down and they have not looked like winning at all. They are almost like West Ham, useless. Still Chelsea are doing well, that's 4 out of 4 now, a lot better that we expected. JB lost the Italian Grand Prix through a major mistake by his team, I mean why would you tell your opponents what your plans are in advance, how stupid is that. The golf players that have been selected for the Ryder Cup are on a roll, they have won the last 5 tournamments in Europe, they are now peaking at the right time, bring on the US.
Life for Chauffeur Hire in London has taken a step for the better. It appears that confidence is slowly returning to the business world and when that happens the Chauffeur Hire industry picks up and when we pick up the theatres pick up and when they pick up the restaurants pick up and so on and so the world goes round. For the first time this year we are looking to increase our fleet and chauffeurs.
That's about all for this week have good one and be careful out there. No need to drink and drive, drink and let a chauffeur to take you home.
Finding and developing all the fuel and power that we will need for our homes, businesses and vehicles while protecting the environment, could be one of the greatest challenges our generation will face. At some stage we will all have to look at our selves and decide how best we can help to safeguard our way of life and we need to do that right now. We as a company have decided to become carbon neutral as a start.
This human energy that drives us to succeed has been there every day since the beginning and it will be with us for many tomorrows to come. London Chauffeur Hire companies have a duty to do as much as they can to save the environment, each and every one of us must cut our carbon emissions totally, we owe it to our children, we owe it to the world.
I must get off this soap box before it crumbles and breaks. Have you been watching the cricket one dayers, boy are we humiliating the Pakistanis. Two tests down and they have not looked like winning at all. They are almost like West Ham, useless. Still Chelsea are doing well, that's 4 out of 4 now, a lot better that we expected. JB lost the Italian Grand Prix through a major mistake by his team, I mean why would you tell your opponents what your plans are in advance, how stupid is that. The golf players that have been selected for the Ryder Cup are on a roll, they have won the last 5 tournamments in Europe, they are now peaking at the right time, bring on the US.
Life for Chauffeur Hire in London has taken a step for the better. It appears that confidence is slowly returning to the business world and when that happens the Chauffeur Hire industry picks up and when we pick up the theatres pick up and when they pick up the restaurants pick up and so on and so the world goes round. For the first time this year we are looking to increase our fleet and chauffeurs.
That's about all for this week have good one and be careful out there. No need to drink and drive, drink and let a chauffeur to take you home.
Monday 6 September 2010
General guidance on private hire Law Part 2.
A number of our followers and users of Chauffeur Hire in London have asked me to expand on the previously published blog regarding the responsibilities of a PHV operator as required by the 1998 Act. Which states that we are only permitted to use PHV licenced cars and PHV licenced drivers. Failure to do so could result in the cancellation of our PHV licence. It is also our duty as PHV operators to keep certain records of our operation.
These Include:
1 Bookings
Booking records for Chauffeur Hire must be kept in writing or in form in which it can be deduced to writing. Computer records are acceptable if they can be printed off a printer on demand. Booking records must include the details of any booking accepted by an operator and must include particulars such as date and time of journey, name or identification of person for whom the booking is made for, place of collection and destination. The name or identification of the driver carrying out the booking, the registration number or ID of the vehicle carrying out the booking.
2 Vehicles
PHV operators must also keep at their operating centre specified on their licence records of private hire vehicles to be used for London Chauffeur Hire which are available to carry out bookings accepted at the centre. Particulars to be kept include,the make of vehicle, model and colour, registration mark and registered keeper. Also required is a valid MOT certificate where required. A copy of the insurance certificate and date when the vehicle became available to carry out bookings accepted by the licenced PHV operator.
3 Drivers.
Records of drivers used by PHV operator for the use for Chauffeur Hire must also be kept at their operating centre and must contain particulars of full the name, address, date of birth, national insurance number. photocopy of their driving licence, photocopy of their PHV licence, a photograph of the driver and the date he became available to the operator. Drivers must at all times have on show their PHV licence whilst carrying out bookings for PHV operators.
I hope this clears up our duty as a PHV operator. Our clients are free to visit our operating centre and audit our records to make sure that we are in compliance with the Law on every aspect.
Friday saw the beginning of the qualifiers for the European Championships. England won their first game by 4 goals to nil. The performance wasn't a lot to talk about but at this stage its the result that counts. Murray did a Henman and crashed out of the US open and the Pakistanis won the first 20/20 game. I wonder if they had a bet on themselves to win by 5 wickets. Chelsea is still at the top of the league and look like staying there for a while yet.
Just a quick reminder people now that the kids are back at school. Browns is able to arrange theatre tickets for you and bookings to your favourite restaurants. Chauffeur driven cars have never been so cheap to hire than now so you might want to take advantage of the special deals that are available at this precise moment. Call us if you think we can help with anything. We would take time to make things happen so that you would not have to stress.
Have a good week, till next time.
These Include:
1 Bookings
Booking records for Chauffeur Hire must be kept in writing or in form in which it can be deduced to writing. Computer records are acceptable if they can be printed off a printer on demand. Booking records must include the details of any booking accepted by an operator and must include particulars such as date and time of journey, name or identification of person for whom the booking is made for, place of collection and destination. The name or identification of the driver carrying out the booking, the registration number or ID of the vehicle carrying out the booking.
2 Vehicles
PHV operators must also keep at their operating centre specified on their licence records of private hire vehicles to be used for London Chauffeur Hire which are available to carry out bookings accepted at the centre. Particulars to be kept include,the make of vehicle, model and colour, registration mark and registered keeper. Also required is a valid MOT certificate where required. A copy of the insurance certificate and date when the vehicle became available to carry out bookings accepted by the licenced PHV operator.
3 Drivers.
Records of drivers used by PHV operator for the use for Chauffeur Hire must also be kept at their operating centre and must contain particulars of full the name, address, date of birth, national insurance number. photocopy of their driving licence, photocopy of their PHV licence, a photograph of the driver and the date he became available to the operator. Drivers must at all times have on show their PHV licence whilst carrying out bookings for PHV operators.
I hope this clears up our duty as a PHV operator. Our clients are free to visit our operating centre and audit our records to make sure that we are in compliance with the Law on every aspect.
Friday saw the beginning of the qualifiers for the European Championships. England won their first game by 4 goals to nil. The performance wasn't a lot to talk about but at this stage its the result that counts. Murray did a Henman and crashed out of the US open and the Pakistanis won the first 20/20 game. I wonder if they had a bet on themselves to win by 5 wickets. Chelsea is still at the top of the league and look like staying there for a while yet.
Just a quick reminder people now that the kids are back at school. Browns is able to arrange theatre tickets for you and bookings to your favourite restaurants. Chauffeur driven cars have never been so cheap to hire than now so you might want to take advantage of the special deals that are available at this precise moment. Call us if you think we can help with anything. We would take time to make things happen so that you would not have to stress.
Have a good week, till next time.
Tuesday 31 August 2010
General Guidance on private hire law.
With the school holidays coming to an end most of us are returning to work if not in mind then in body. This is not something that we are looking forward to but it has to be done. This is also the time that we all go back and review the services that we currently purchase and try to decide if the decision to use them in the first place was the correct one. Our expertise lies in Chauffeur Hire in London and this week I will try to out line what you should be looking for in the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998. Over the next few weeks I will explain to you why the Act came into being and all the benefits it gives you as a user of chauffeur driven cars. The Act provides the legal power for the licensing and regulation of private hire operators, drivers and vehicles. Private hire vehicles include a range of vehicles including minicabs, executive cars, limousines and chauffeur services.
This week we will concentrate on the Private Hire Operators who supply Chauffeur Hire.
The Private Hire vehicles operator is the ONLY person with whom the passenger books the journey and it is the operator's responsibility to see that it is carried out safely and efficiently. A responsible operator will know its drivers and its cars. The operator has the legal responsibility to keep records of the driver's licences, insurance, car details and will know when it is due for its mot tests. The operator must also keep proper records of journey bookings, who undertook them and all quoted fare.
Only a licenced operator can accept a booking and dispatch a private hire vehicle to a customer. An operator can only accept bookings and dispatch private hire vehicles from the premises mentioned in his PHV operators licence.
London Chauffeur Hire drivers can only carry out private hire bookings through a licenced operator. London Chauffeur Hire drivers who undertake work that has not been booked through a PHV operator are committing the offence of touting for which they may be prosecuted and fined up to £2,500.00 and also have their drivers licence suspended or revoked.
That about tells you what we as operators are expected to abide to, the rest is down to you. All we can say is that Browns Chauffeur Hire follow the rules to the T. Please note that you as a customer should be giving the bookings to the office as well as the driver if you feel it necessary.
Next week week I will go through the requirements of a PHV driver.
Over the last few days we have seen the revelations that Cricket is rife with alleged corruption. Something that we as a society should not allow because today it may be cricket tomorrow football and then Government. WE must insist that the culprits are punished most severely and where necessary jailed for their part. We cannot afford for this type of thing to creep into the British way of life. We must stop it at its infancy as soon as possible. Having said that we still spanked them good and proper now bring on the Aussies.
The teams have been announced for the Ryder Cup and the event is almost upon us. Are you ready for it. Are you going to attend Celtic Manor if so how are you getting there? Call us and we will make your travel plans for you.
Have a good week and be careful out there.
This week we will concentrate on the Private Hire Operators who supply Chauffeur Hire.
The Private Hire vehicles operator is the ONLY person with whom the passenger books the journey and it is the operator's responsibility to see that it is carried out safely and efficiently. A responsible operator will know its drivers and its cars. The operator has the legal responsibility to keep records of the driver's licences, insurance, car details and will know when it is due for its mot tests. The operator must also keep proper records of journey bookings, who undertook them and all quoted fare.
Only a licenced operator can accept a booking and dispatch a private hire vehicle to a customer. An operator can only accept bookings and dispatch private hire vehicles from the premises mentioned in his PHV operators licence.
London Chauffeur Hire drivers can only carry out private hire bookings through a licenced operator. London Chauffeur Hire drivers who undertake work that has not been booked through a PHV operator are committing the offence of touting for which they may be prosecuted and fined up to £2,500.00 and also have their drivers licence suspended or revoked.
That about tells you what we as operators are expected to abide to, the rest is down to you. All we can say is that Browns Chauffeur Hire follow the rules to the T. Please note that you as a customer should be giving the bookings to the office as well as the driver if you feel it necessary.
Next week week I will go through the requirements of a PHV driver.
Over the last few days we have seen the revelations that Cricket is rife with alleged corruption. Something that we as a society should not allow because today it may be cricket tomorrow football and then Government. WE must insist that the culprits are punished most severely and where necessary jailed for their part. We cannot afford for this type of thing to creep into the British way of life. We must stop it at its infancy as soon as possible. Having said that we still spanked them good and proper now bring on the Aussies.
The teams have been announced for the Ryder Cup and the event is almost upon us. Are you ready for it. Are you going to attend Celtic Manor if so how are you getting there? Call us and we will make your travel plans for you.
Have a good week and be careful out there.
Monday 23 August 2010
Can we absorb all the tax increases?
The London chauffeur Hire industry is about to be hit with a couple of tax increases that will effect our price structure. The increases are so high that it will be impossible for us to absorb.
New government, new budget, cut backs, credit restrictions; you have heard and absorbed all of the points raised by George Osbourne during his budget speech. His plan is a five year one to re build the economy via a "tough but fair" approach. Whether you believe it to be tough or fair or both, it does not matter. The only certainty is we will all feel a little poorer either individually or as companies or both.
I thought I would concentrate on a few items that have direct impact on our business with clients. The Chancellor has prepared us all to face a significant VAT increase to 20% from 17.5% that to my reckoning is almost a 15% increase. Then he has increased the Insurance Premium tax to 6% from 5% which is an increase of 20%, finally the duty on fuel will increase which will put prices at the pump up by the minimum of 3p and that will bring the price of unleaded to approx £1.20 per litre and diesel to approx £1.23 per litre. That's gone over a £fiver per gallon in old money people.
How much of these increases the chauffeur hire industry can withstand remains to be seen but I would venture to say that we will be forced to pass on the increases. However from what I understand you will be able to put a lot more money into your pension whilst paying no tax on it. I think that's where the fair bit comes in. It's only fair that the higher earners put away more of their money in a pension fund and out of the economy without being taxed on it.
It is now coming up to the silly season where we all nominate our favorite Chauffeur and Chauffeur Hire London company to the various Associations that we are all members of. I am wondering what prizes we will win this time round.
Now to more important matters, we have lost the third test to the Pakistanis making the score 2-1 from a four test series. All we need now is a draw for us to be overall winners and go into the Ashes games with a lot of confidence. Chelsea have won the first two games of the new season 6 nil and are top of the league again. (that's why we are champions). Finally we are only 5 weeks away from the Ryder Cup when we will triumph once again. This years challenge at the Celtic Manor will be a hard one but we will prevail. The news coming out is that it is already a sell out and parking will be limited. Don't forget we can get you there and bring you back at a very reasonable cost. Browns are prepared to discount every journey that is booked mentioning this weeks blog. Just tell them on the controls Peter said so.
With the weather being what it is it feels that winter has come early. Start thinking about getting the car ready for the frosty days ahead. I will tell you how to do it next week.
Have a good one people, till next time.
New government, new budget, cut backs, credit restrictions; you have heard and absorbed all of the points raised by George Osbourne during his budget speech. His plan is a five year one to re build the economy via a "tough but fair" approach. Whether you believe it to be tough or fair or both, it does not matter. The only certainty is we will all feel a little poorer either individually or as companies or both.
I thought I would concentrate on a few items that have direct impact on our business with clients. The Chancellor has prepared us all to face a significant VAT increase to 20% from 17.5% that to my reckoning is almost a 15% increase. Then he has increased the Insurance Premium tax to 6% from 5% which is an increase of 20%, finally the duty on fuel will increase which will put prices at the pump up by the minimum of 3p and that will bring the price of unleaded to approx £1.20 per litre and diesel to approx £1.23 per litre. That's gone over a £fiver per gallon in old money people.
How much of these increases the chauffeur hire industry can withstand remains to be seen but I would venture to say that we will be forced to pass on the increases. However from what I understand you will be able to put a lot more money into your pension whilst paying no tax on it. I think that's where the fair bit comes in. It's only fair that the higher earners put away more of their money in a pension fund and out of the economy without being taxed on it.
It is now coming up to the silly season where we all nominate our favorite Chauffeur and Chauffeur Hire London company to the various Associations that we are all members of. I am wondering what prizes we will win this time round.
Now to more important matters, we have lost the third test to the Pakistanis making the score 2-1 from a four test series. All we need now is a draw for us to be overall winners and go into the Ashes games with a lot of confidence. Chelsea have won the first two games of the new season 6 nil and are top of the league again. (that's why we are champions). Finally we are only 5 weeks away from the Ryder Cup when we will triumph once again. This years challenge at the Celtic Manor will be a hard one but we will prevail. The news coming out is that it is already a sell out and parking will be limited. Don't forget we can get you there and bring you back at a very reasonable cost. Browns are prepared to discount every journey that is booked mentioning this weeks blog. Just tell them on the controls Peter said so.
With the weather being what it is it feels that winter has come early. Start thinking about getting the car ready for the frosty days ahead. I will tell you how to do it next week.
Have a good one people, till next time.
Friday 13 August 2010
It is transport Jim, but not as you know it
Another week in the life of London Chauffeur Hire goes by and we still have not traced our missing visitors. Mind you with the pound strengthening against the dollar and the euro it is not supprising.
This week we have seen the start to Ramadan. This Muslim religious festival forbids its followers from eating during the day time hence the shortage of Middle Eastern clients. Usually this brings the Europeans out en force because they all seem to take their summer holidays during the month of August. Unfortunately they are not great users of chauffeur hire. London is awash with school trippers so I suppose that's good for the economy.
The only good thing about the month of August is the start to the British football season. We have all been looking forward to this day for weeks. International football is just not the same as watching your local team. We watched England this week triumph over Hungary but how many of us really care? Once upon a time people made a day of it. All the Chauffeur Hire London companies looked forward to these fixtures because they were social occasions but not any more. I would like to remind you all that we have some special deals right now, with prices being discounted by up to 30%.
News has just reached us that BAA staff are likely to strike within the next month. Before making your travel arrangements please give us the opportunity to give you a quote. Usually if there are 2 or 3 of you travelling say to Paris on the Eurostar we would probably be very competetive. Chauffeur Hire is not as expensive as people think and usually just as fast. It is also being suggested that London's tube system will come to a stop through strike action, in any event dont forget that Browns is here for you.
On that note I think we will leave it today, however we will return to the the transport tips next week.
As the saying goes "live long and prosper".
This week we have seen the start to Ramadan. This Muslim religious festival forbids its followers from eating during the day time hence the shortage of Middle Eastern clients. Usually this brings the Europeans out en force because they all seem to take their summer holidays during the month of August. Unfortunately they are not great users of chauffeur hire. London is awash with school trippers so I suppose that's good for the economy.
The only good thing about the month of August is the start to the British football season. We have all been looking forward to this day for weeks. International football is just not the same as watching your local team. We watched England this week triumph over Hungary but how many of us really care? Once upon a time people made a day of it. All the Chauffeur Hire London companies looked forward to these fixtures because they were social occasions but not any more. I would like to remind you all that we have some special deals right now, with prices being discounted by up to 30%.
News has just reached us that BAA staff are likely to strike within the next month. Before making your travel arrangements please give us the opportunity to give you a quote. Usually if there are 2 or 3 of you travelling say to Paris on the Eurostar we would probably be very competetive. Chauffeur Hire is not as expensive as people think and usually just as fast. It is also being suggested that London's tube system will come to a stop through strike action, in any event dont forget that Browns is here for you.
On that note I think we will leave it today, however we will return to the the transport tips next week.
As the saying goes "live long and prosper".
Friday 6 August 2010
Chauffeur Hire London, is it worth it?
It's been an odd sort of week in the Chauffeur Hire industry, we seem to have misplaced all the foreign visitors to our shores. All the top hotels are only 35% full and most of those people are corporate guests who do not as a rule use our services. With most of our clients away on holiday it's been a little quiet in our offices. Still this has given us the opportunity to have all of our fleet valeted and brought back to showroom standard. I did a little comparison on prices against a black taxi and guess what, for a journey that is longer that 14 miles we are cheaper. As hard as it is to believe Browns is cheaper than a black cab for journeys to the airport.
With competition in the London Chauffeur Hire industry so strong we have decided to update our core standards and re-trained our chauffeurs in the art of etiquette. So, as from today when you get into one of our cars you should be asked if the temperature and the radio station are to your liking, you should be informed of how long to your destination and what the traffic is like. Sometimes it helps if you inform your chauffeur of your preferred route. We will be providing a morning newspaper, bottled water and magazines for you at no extra cost. I would appreciate it if you could let me know if your chauffeur and car is not up to standard because I value your feed back, after all unless you tell me I cannot mend it and please be assured that whatever you tell me will be strictly confidential between you and me.
On the sporting front our cricketers have done us proud and like I said last week we gave the Pakistanies a real good spanking. I noticed that all the press are now demanding that KP be dropped from the first eleven. Do they not understand that Cricket is a team game and does not depend on a single person. Browns Chauffeur Hire London supports KP and will continue to do so. I took a ride to Celtic Manor where the next Ryder Cup will be held. It took me just over an hour and a half so during the championship with the extra traffic on the road it should take a couple of hours. Unfortunately for people who live in or around London the only way to get there is via the M4. Celtic Manor is a beautiful venue, but murder to get out of at the end of play if you are visiting for the day. I am contemplating starting a share scheme to get people there and back for day trips during the four days of the Ryder Cup. If this is of interest to you or if you prefer to travel alone then please contact me for prices. Time is approaching fast for this event, time is right for you to make your travel arrangements.
This weeks motoring advice has to do with speed. Most of the cars being sold these days are fast and those that are not can be adjusted to go faster than they are designed for. Most of us drive too fast without considering our stopping distances. Most of the accidents occur not when you are doing 90 miles per hour on the motorway but when you are doing 40 miles an hour in the back streets of your town. You must remember that most of our roads were designed and built in the days that cars could only do 30 mph at top speed. The moral of this advice is for you to keep your distance, drive at a speed that would allow you to stop before you smash into whatever is in front of you. Always remember that life is precious. London Chauffeur Hire companies are in full support of local authorities that enforce speed restriction around schools and shopping centres.
From me and all at BCH have a safe week and look after the ones who look after you.
With competition in the London Chauffeur Hire industry so strong we have decided to update our core standards and re-trained our chauffeurs in the art of etiquette. So, as from today when you get into one of our cars you should be asked if the temperature and the radio station are to your liking, you should be informed of how long to your destination and what the traffic is like. Sometimes it helps if you inform your chauffeur of your preferred route. We will be providing a morning newspaper, bottled water and magazines for you at no extra cost. I would appreciate it if you could let me know if your chauffeur and car is not up to standard because I value your feed back, after all unless you tell me I cannot mend it and please be assured that whatever you tell me will be strictly confidential between you and me.
On the sporting front our cricketers have done us proud and like I said last week we gave the Pakistanies a real good spanking. I noticed that all the press are now demanding that KP be dropped from the first eleven. Do they not understand that Cricket is a team game and does not depend on a single person. Browns Chauffeur Hire London supports KP and will continue to do so. I took a ride to Celtic Manor where the next Ryder Cup will be held. It took me just over an hour and a half so during the championship with the extra traffic on the road it should take a couple of hours. Unfortunately for people who live in or around London the only way to get there is via the M4. Celtic Manor is a beautiful venue, but murder to get out of at the end of play if you are visiting for the day. I am contemplating starting a share scheme to get people there and back for day trips during the four days of the Ryder Cup. If this is of interest to you or if you prefer to travel alone then please contact me for prices. Time is approaching fast for this event, time is right for you to make your travel arrangements.
This weeks motoring advice has to do with speed. Most of the cars being sold these days are fast and those that are not can be adjusted to go faster than they are designed for. Most of us drive too fast without considering our stopping distances. Most of the accidents occur not when you are doing 90 miles per hour on the motorway but when you are doing 40 miles an hour in the back streets of your town. You must remember that most of our roads were designed and built in the days that cars could only do 30 mph at top speed. The moral of this advice is for you to keep your distance, drive at a speed that would allow you to stop before you smash into whatever is in front of you. Always remember that life is precious. London Chauffeur Hire companies are in full support of local authorities that enforce speed restriction around schools and shopping centres.
From me and all at BCH have a safe week and look after the ones who look after you.
Friday 30 July 2010
Dont you just hate disraptive holidays.
Good Morning all,
Just when things were going so well August arrives with a bang. It's the time of the year when most of our clients go away on holiday with their families. This means that Browns has loads of cars sitting around doing nothing. It also means that Browns is in a position to give you good deals for the next four weeks. With your first booking of the month I will not only give you a 30% DISCOUNT but also a free surprise gift. If you are reading this and want to take advantage call our control office and quote the phrase "Peterpan is very generous" and you will immediately qualify for the discount and free gift.
July has been all of what we wanted and more, August is always quiet because of the holidays and then a build up of bookings for September onwards till the end of the year. This is the time of the year that I compare our services with our competitors and decide on our pricing for the next six months. BCH prides its self for being very competitive without compromising the quality of the service provided. So you can imagine my horror when the results from my comparisons with other companies came in. People have the audacity to charge similar prices to ours whilst providing inferior cars and drivers. I am at a loss as to why they should be adding an admin fee on top of the published prices. One thing that stands out in all this, people have a number of hidden charges that are add ons to their published prices. Not nice, not the Browns way of doing things.
On the sporting front, England are playing Pakistan and it looks like we are going to give them a good spanking. The debate now is, should Peterson be dropped or should we persevere with him for a while longer. I am in his camp for the time being because I think he is our best cricketer by miles . The middle of the month sees the start to the football season (about time) and the first major game the Community Shield between Chelsea and Man U. Browns will be offering a shuttle service to Wembley at a very reasonable cost. Browns will be supporting Chelsea.
This weeks motoring tip.
DISTRACTIONS.
It is a well known fact that men during the summer months are involved in more accidents than women. The reason being that men tend to take their eyes of the road to look at passing women dressed, lets say nicely.
So my sermon of the week is, please keep your eyes on the road not the girls and please check your mirrors, radio stations and make sure you have your mobile connected to a hands free device before you start your journey. You should not be putting on make up whilst driving nor should you be shaving. Drinking your morning coffee should be limited to the breakfast table not the car and you should never read the morning paper in the car because you are stuck in traffic. You should only be concentrating on the road. By participating in any of the above you are breaking the law, so you are liable to be prosecuted if caught. Value your licence, value your life, and definitely value the people around you.
Till next week, have a good weekend.
Peter.
Just when things were going so well August arrives with a bang. It's the time of the year when most of our clients go away on holiday with their families. This means that Browns has loads of cars sitting around doing nothing. It also means that Browns is in a position to give you good deals for the next four weeks. With your first booking of the month I will not only give you a 30% DISCOUNT but also a free surprise gift. If you are reading this and want to take advantage call our control office and quote the phrase "Peterpan is very generous" and you will immediately qualify for the discount and free gift.
July has been all of what we wanted and more, August is always quiet because of the holidays and then a build up of bookings for September onwards till the end of the year. This is the time of the year that I compare our services with our competitors and decide on our pricing for the next six months. BCH prides its self for being very competitive without compromising the quality of the service provided. So you can imagine my horror when the results from my comparisons with other companies came in. People have the audacity to charge similar prices to ours whilst providing inferior cars and drivers. I am at a loss as to why they should be adding an admin fee on top of the published prices. One thing that stands out in all this, people have a number of hidden charges that are add ons to their published prices. Not nice, not the Browns way of doing things.
On the sporting front, England are playing Pakistan and it looks like we are going to give them a good spanking. The debate now is, should Peterson be dropped or should we persevere with him for a while longer. I am in his camp for the time being because I think he is our best cricketer by miles . The middle of the month sees the start to the football season (about time) and the first major game the Community Shield between Chelsea and Man U. Browns will be offering a shuttle service to Wembley at a very reasonable cost. Browns will be supporting Chelsea.
This weeks motoring tip.
DISTRACTIONS.
It is a well known fact that men during the summer months are involved in more accidents than women. The reason being that men tend to take their eyes of the road to look at passing women dressed, lets say nicely.
So my sermon of the week is, please keep your eyes on the road not the girls and please check your mirrors, radio stations and make sure you have your mobile connected to a hands free device before you start your journey. You should not be putting on make up whilst driving nor should you be shaving. Drinking your morning coffee should be limited to the breakfast table not the car and you should never read the morning paper in the car because you are stuck in traffic. You should only be concentrating on the road. By participating in any of the above you are breaking the law, so you are liable to be prosecuted if caught. Value your licence, value your life, and definitely value the people around you.
Till next week, have a good weekend.
Peter.
Friday 23 July 2010
The Bird has Landed
Hi people,
Finally we can relax and get on with our day to day business, it's been hectic here at Browns HQ with the Farnborough Air Show. Our chauffeurs are on their last legs so we have given them the weekend off to rest and prepare for the upcoming month. When I say they have the weekend off to rest what I'm saying is that they will spend hours on end at Windsor Great Park watching the Polo whilst relaxing and getting paid for it.
August will bring us the Glorious Goodwood racing festival which after Ascot has the best card in the Flat season. Our Middle Eastern Friends will bring their best horses over from Dubai for the meeting. So happy days are still here. This time of the year we have a large amount of tourists that come to our shores from the US who demand that they be treated like Lords. Needless to say all of the BCH staff are trained in art of etiquette so no problems there, we teach them all to say "have a nice day" with a smile on there face and mean it. At this stage I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff which include our sub contractors for the hard work over the past two months and to tell them that it has not gone unnoticed.
I have spent this last week trying to work out our financial forecasts for next year and whether we should increase our prices or not when it hit me that the blasted VAT goes up by 2.5% as from January the 1st 2011, that coupled with the impending fuel rise leaves us in no mans land. It's becoming very hard to keep our prices down to compete with the big boys out there but as usual Browns will manage. What we have decided to do, is simply to pass on the increases and no more and hope that our clients understand our predicament.
This weeks motoring tip.
Make sure that you check your engine oil every 1000 miles. The oil needs to be clean and clear to be effective and always make sure you wipe the dip stick before checking as well as after and check it at least twice. Whilst you have the bonnet up you should check the level of water in your radiator as well as your washer fluid for the windscreen. This only takes a couple of minutes but it could save you hundreds of pounds in repairs. Drive carefully and if you are drinking call Browns to do the driving think of us as your fourth emergency service and keep our number in your wallet.
Have a good weekend people.
Finally we can relax and get on with our day to day business, it's been hectic here at Browns HQ with the Farnborough Air Show. Our chauffeurs are on their last legs so we have given them the weekend off to rest and prepare for the upcoming month. When I say they have the weekend off to rest what I'm saying is that they will spend hours on end at Windsor Great Park watching the Polo whilst relaxing and getting paid for it.
August will bring us the Glorious Goodwood racing festival which after Ascot has the best card in the Flat season. Our Middle Eastern Friends will bring their best horses over from Dubai for the meeting. So happy days are still here. This time of the year we have a large amount of tourists that come to our shores from the US who demand that they be treated like Lords. Needless to say all of the BCH staff are trained in art of etiquette so no problems there, we teach them all to say "have a nice day" with a smile on there face and mean it. At this stage I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our staff which include our sub contractors for the hard work over the past two months and to tell them that it has not gone unnoticed.
I have spent this last week trying to work out our financial forecasts for next year and whether we should increase our prices or not when it hit me that the blasted VAT goes up by 2.5% as from January the 1st 2011, that coupled with the impending fuel rise leaves us in no mans land. It's becoming very hard to keep our prices down to compete with the big boys out there but as usual Browns will manage. What we have decided to do, is simply to pass on the increases and no more and hope that our clients understand our predicament.
This weeks motoring tip.
Make sure that you check your engine oil every 1000 miles. The oil needs to be clean and clear to be effective and always make sure you wipe the dip stick before checking as well as after and check it at least twice. Whilst you have the bonnet up you should check the level of water in your radiator as well as your washer fluid for the windscreen. This only takes a couple of minutes but it could save you hundreds of pounds in repairs. Drive carefully and if you are drinking call Browns to do the driving think of us as your fourth emergency service and keep our number in your wallet.
Have a good weekend people.
Monday 19 July 2010
Come Fly with us.
Finally the Farnborough Air Show has began. The A3 is clogged up and the skies around Farnham are full of airplanes. It's a magical sight all those flying machines buzzing around. Off course it is supposed to be a military airshow but these days it is used to sell commercial air crafts.
London is awash with buyers from all over the world, these are people who have the authority to place orders for billions of pounds without a blink of an eye. Browns has been looking after them for years and years and this year is no different. They order cars and coaches without asking for prices because they know that getting cars this week is almost impossible.
After this week we begin with the real tourists, people who visit our shores to experience our hospitality and see our historical sights.BCH has a set rate for sight seeing tours in London and around the country. We have chauffeurs who specialise in this form of transport and are very knowledgeable about our history. London's theatres are now sold out and most of the top end restaurants are fully booked for weeks on end. As I have told you in the past our controllers are able to obtain tickets for theatres or book you into your favourite eatery at no extra cost.
A new service is available to you for the upcoming football season form Browns. We have managed to get hold of some season tickets for all the premier league games at Chelsea so if you are interested in going to Stamford Bridge let me know and I will put you on the list. It is a good afternoon out, you hire a car to take you there wait for you and bring you back, and the price well that depends on which game you want to see.
And now for this weeks motoring tips. When was the last time you checked the pressure of your car tyres? Did you know that if you get that right you could save up to 5% of you fuel consumption at a stroke. Get it wrong and not only do you waste your petrol you also wear out your tyres twice as fast. It only takes a minute so lets see you doing it.
London is awash with buyers from all over the world, these are people who have the authority to place orders for billions of pounds without a blink of an eye. Browns has been looking after them for years and years and this year is no different. They order cars and coaches without asking for prices because they know that getting cars this week is almost impossible.
After this week we begin with the real tourists, people who visit our shores to experience our hospitality and see our historical sights.BCH has a set rate for sight seeing tours in London and around the country. We have chauffeurs who specialise in this form of transport and are very knowledgeable about our history. London's theatres are now sold out and most of the top end restaurants are fully booked for weeks on end. As I have told you in the past our controllers are able to obtain tickets for theatres or book you into your favourite eatery at no extra cost.
A new service is available to you for the upcoming football season form Browns. We have managed to get hold of some season tickets for all the premier league games at Chelsea so if you are interested in going to Stamford Bridge let me know and I will put you on the list. It is a good afternoon out, you hire a car to take you there wait for you and bring you back, and the price well that depends on which game you want to see.
And now for this weeks motoring tips. When was the last time you checked the pressure of your car tyres? Did you know that if you get that right you could save up to 5% of you fuel consumption at a stroke. Get it wrong and not only do you waste your petrol you also wear out your tyres twice as fast. It only takes a minute so lets see you doing it.
Thursday 8 July 2010
Finally the Final is upon us.
We now know who the finalists will be for the 2010 world cup. With Spain and Holland contesting the final. After Sunday we can hopefully get back to normal. By the way the phones are ringing it appears that we are about to have a huge influx of tourists into London. The problem is that most hotels are fully booked with people attending the airshow.
It is going to be a fantastic weekend for sports fans they have the British grand prix, Sandhurst polo weekend and the world cup final to look forward to not forgetting the cricket . Browns can help by driving you to wherever you are going so that you can let your hair down have a drink and enjoy yourself without worrying about how you will get home.
This week has been really hard as we have had a lot of interviews for chauffeurs. We must have had a thousand applicants and trying to weed out the unfit is really hard especially when you hear some of the hard up stories people tell you. One thing that has become apparent is that there are a lot more people unemployed out there than the Government is telling us.
This week starts the countdown for the busiest week in the private hire calender. Every person who has a car will be looking to make some money so please remember my blog of last week only use licenced cars. Another tip, always make sure you know what your trip is going to cost you prior to departure because once you have arrived at your destination you have to pay what the driver asks for. Not everybody advertises their prices like Browns so be careful.
To those of you who have as yet to book your cars for the upcoming events please do so as soon as possible, we have reserved a few cars for our regular clients but we cannot hold them indefinitely.BCH will be well represented at the grand prix this year, so look out for a familiar face and say hello.
Finally I would like to congratulate Chris and Emma, Alexis and Charlotte and Andreas and Kerrie for the birth of their children ( there must have been a power cut). Its amazing that we have not had a birth for at least 9 months and then three come at once.
That's all for this week folks but don't forget if you need help in arranging your transport call me at Browns.
Peter.
It is going to be a fantastic weekend for sports fans they have the British grand prix, Sandhurst polo weekend and the world cup final to look forward to not forgetting the cricket . Browns can help by driving you to wherever you are going so that you can let your hair down have a drink and enjoy yourself without worrying about how you will get home.
This week has been really hard as we have had a lot of interviews for chauffeurs. We must have had a thousand applicants and trying to weed out the unfit is really hard especially when you hear some of the hard up stories people tell you. One thing that has become apparent is that there are a lot more people unemployed out there than the Government is telling us.
This week starts the countdown for the busiest week in the private hire calender. Every person who has a car will be looking to make some money so please remember my blog of last week only use licenced cars. Another tip, always make sure you know what your trip is going to cost you prior to departure because once you have arrived at your destination you have to pay what the driver asks for. Not everybody advertises their prices like Browns so be careful.
To those of you who have as yet to book your cars for the upcoming events please do so as soon as possible, we have reserved a few cars for our regular clients but we cannot hold them indefinitely.BCH will be well represented at the grand prix this year, so look out for a familiar face and say hello.
Finally I would like to congratulate Chris and Emma, Alexis and Charlotte and Andreas and Kerrie for the birth of their children ( there must have been a power cut). Its amazing that we have not had a birth for at least 9 months and then three come at once.
That's all for this week folks but don't forget if you need help in arranging your transport call me at Browns.
Peter.
Thursday 1 July 2010
Out of South Africa what a shame
It saddens me that our team has been humiliated by the Germans yet again. But for what it's worth we did not deserve anything out of the game in any way. Our cricket team has beaten the Aussies and Murray is still in the game and has a faint chance of progressing to the final rounds. OK enough of sport.
As from this week I am going to concentrate in helping you in any ground transport problems that you may have. I am going to place my self at your beck and call to help you in your search for the best service in private hire in London. After 30 years in the industry all with Browns i think that I qualify for the part. So feel free to contact me and I will help you cut you company's costs dramatically.
This week we have had to reach high to accommodate all of our clients, with the expertise of a control team that is second to none we have been able to satisfy every ones needs so far. We would like thank our clients for pre booking all their cars which has helped us to no end. We are taking on bookings for the Farnborough Air Show and the British Grand Prix. So for those of who have yet to book please do so as soon as possible to save disappointment.
Should you need help in any way with a booking that you are having difficulty with please contact out sales team on sales@bchlondon.com and they will pleased to help in any way they can. If you are taking the car out be careful and keep an eye out for cyclists. If you fancy a drink then please don't drive get a private hire car preferably from Browns.
Be safe out there, till next time.
Peter
As from this week I am going to concentrate in helping you in any ground transport problems that you may have. I am going to place my self at your beck and call to help you in your search for the best service in private hire in London. After 30 years in the industry all with Browns i think that I qualify for the part. So feel free to contact me and I will help you cut you company's costs dramatically.
This week we have had to reach high to accommodate all of our clients, with the expertise of a control team that is second to none we have been able to satisfy every ones needs so far. We would like thank our clients for pre booking all their cars which has helped us to no end. We are taking on bookings for the Farnborough Air Show and the British Grand Prix. So for those of who have yet to book please do so as soon as possible to save disappointment.
Should you need help in any way with a booking that you are having difficulty with please contact out sales team on sales@bchlondon.com and they will pleased to help in any way they can. If you are taking the car out be careful and keep an eye out for cyclists. If you fancy a drink then please don't drive get a private hire car preferably from Browns.
Be safe out there, till next time.
Peter
Friday 25 June 2010
Strawberies and Cream
I spent Tuesday at Wimbledon watching the tennis which was not bad at all except when we went for a Pims and strawberries. I had a shock, I mean we could have had a meal at a decent restaurant for what we were charged, lucky we took a car from Browns to take us there and pick us up. We spent the weekend in Dorset celebrating my 60Th. We did the funniest thing after lunch we went to monkey world for a laugh and for the first time I was allowed to pay OAP prices, what a result hah.
It's been an unbelievable week so far, the Americans are here in force thank God, the cars look absolutely lovely all lined up in SW19, makes you proud just to look at them especially when you compare them with other car hire companies. We have had to take on more staff to cope with the influx of work so please bear with us when calling the office to book a car, we still promise to answer the phone within 5 rings but instead of the 2Nd ring we will probably answer on the 5Th.
The new cars are the business and we have appointed some brilliant chauffeurs to drive them.
This time of the year you get a lot of owner drivers that surface so you need to be careful when hiring a car. Make sure that the driver is licenced (he should have a PCO Licence with him) and if he is sent to you from a company ask if they have seen his insurance certificate. Finally his car should display a green holographic disc with the number of his car with the valid date clearly displayed. Make sure that you ask what the charges are going to be before hand or they will charge you whatever they think you can afford. Have a look at their website which should have a tariff for you to compare. Your driver should have all of the above, if he does not then for your safety do not get in his car and most importantly report him and his company to the relevant authorities.
Right, that's my safety instructions for the day, enjoy the rest of the week, make the most of this smashing weather and make sure you spray or you might burn.
England are through to the next stage of the World cup, Murray is still there, it does not get better than this.
Until the next time have a good one people. And PLEASE do not forget to book your cars for the Airshow it starts on the 19Th of July
It's been an unbelievable week so far, the Americans are here in force thank God, the cars look absolutely lovely all lined up in SW19, makes you proud just to look at them especially when you compare them with other car hire companies. We have had to take on more staff to cope with the influx of work so please bear with us when calling the office to book a car, we still promise to answer the phone within 5 rings but instead of the 2Nd ring we will probably answer on the 5Th.
The new cars are the business and we have appointed some brilliant chauffeurs to drive them.
This time of the year you get a lot of owner drivers that surface so you need to be careful when hiring a car. Make sure that the driver is licenced (he should have a PCO Licence with him) and if he is sent to you from a company ask if they have seen his insurance certificate. Finally his car should display a green holographic disc with the number of his car with the valid date clearly displayed. Make sure that you ask what the charges are going to be before hand or they will charge you whatever they think you can afford. Have a look at their website which should have a tariff for you to compare. Your driver should have all of the above, if he does not then for your safety do not get in his car and most importantly report him and his company to the relevant authorities.
Right, that's my safety instructions for the day, enjoy the rest of the week, make the most of this smashing weather and make sure you spray or you might burn.
England are through to the next stage of the World cup, Murray is still there, it does not get better than this.
Until the next time have a good one people. And PLEASE do not forget to book your cars for the Airshow it starts on the 19Th of July
Thursday 17 June 2010
DAY AT THE RACES
This week has started really well, apart from being the week that leads up to my old age (60). Ascot is proving to be such a success for Browns. With the World Cup still to take off something good has to happen. How bad was Green for England and why do we praise Gerrard so much ?
The phones here will not stop ringing, Peter junior has done very well in winning a major contract for the Farnborough Airshow so if anyone out there is holding back before reserving a car you need to phone our control office very soon or you might be disappointed. It's a briliant day out for the kids as well as the people who want to purchase a plane, you get to see take offs and landings of commercial and military aircraft from an unusual perspective.
Wimbledon fortnight is my favourite two weeks of the year, I will spend hours in front of the tv watching as well as getting to SW19 a couple of times for the live show. I hope that Murray does a little better than the last few tournaments he has played in or I might start a petition to have him renamed Andy Henman Murray. We have one or two very good players at BCH who would give him a run for his money the way he is playing. Maybe he should look at the effort Marcos Baghdatis puts into his game, the Cypriot comes from an Island that has a population of only half a million and has many supporters at Browns.
Last Monday we took delivery of our new Mercedes S Class cars and boy are they the dogs .......... we are now waiting for the smaller cars to arrive which we hope will be just as good. It's a huge investment but the time is right, all we need to do now is get the custom to fulfill their worthiness and more importantly pay for them.
Tomorrow (Friday) I am off on a mystery weekend arranged by the family to celebrate my coming of age and the qualification for my freedom pass. Do I feel old, not really as long as I have young people around me to sponge on their energy I will be fine. Mind you things happen to you as you grow older the most important thing being you become wiser and a lot more stubborn.
People, I'll be back.
Peter
The phones here will not stop ringing, Peter junior has done very well in winning a major contract for the Farnborough Airshow so if anyone out there is holding back before reserving a car you need to phone our control office very soon or you might be disappointed. It's a briliant day out for the kids as well as the people who want to purchase a plane, you get to see take offs and landings of commercial and military aircraft from an unusual perspective.
Wimbledon fortnight is my favourite two weeks of the year, I will spend hours in front of the tv watching as well as getting to SW19 a couple of times for the live show. I hope that Murray does a little better than the last few tournaments he has played in or I might start a petition to have him renamed Andy Henman Murray. We have one or two very good players at BCH who would give him a run for his money the way he is playing. Maybe he should look at the effort Marcos Baghdatis puts into his game, the Cypriot comes from an Island that has a population of only half a million and has many supporters at Browns.
Last Monday we took delivery of our new Mercedes S Class cars and boy are they the dogs .......... we are now waiting for the smaller cars to arrive which we hope will be just as good. It's a huge investment but the time is right, all we need to do now is get the custom to fulfill their worthiness and more importantly pay for them.
Tomorrow (Friday) I am off on a mystery weekend arranged by the family to celebrate my coming of age and the qualification for my freedom pass. Do I feel old, not really as long as I have young people around me to sponge on their energy I will be fine. Mind you things happen to you as you grow older the most important thing being you become wiser and a lot more stubborn.
People, I'll be back.
Peter
Friday 11 June 2010
BACK AND READY TO GO
As you may have noticed I have been away for a while building up energy for the up coming busy weeks. The very first thing I noticed when I got back to Browns headquarters yesterday was the amount of people making enquiries about Royal Ascot and I thought, there was a financial crisis out there (not). But, when you think about it, good British traditions should never be allowed to die, so say all of us. I do believe that we still have a few cars available, click here to find out more.
Today sees the start to the World Cup where we are all hoping that our team will do well, we have just added a TV to our control room to make sure that none of our people find the need to suddenly become ill. At this point, if I may, I would like to remind you that BCH have affiliates based in Cape Town should you need any help with your travel arrangements whilst you are there, that is if you are lucky enough to be going.
The next two months are going to be hell for people who do not like sport, what with the World Cup, Royal Ascot, Queens and Wimbledon going on. However there are some good news, you should be able to get tickets for any of the theatres to see your favourite shows. We are able to help you in that respect as well as getting you booked into any restaurant that you may want to visit. Our theatre rates are very competitive and if you go to our web site you can see what cars are available and the price.
Finally I would like to wish all of you who are lucky enough to be going on holiday god speed and as from today the first 50 of you who book an airport transfer will receive a going away gift courtesy of Browns Chauffeur Hire .
Have a great week and come on you ENGLAND.
Today sees the start to the World Cup where we are all hoping that our team will do well, we have just added a TV to our control room to make sure that none of our people find the need to suddenly become ill. At this point, if I may, I would like to remind you that BCH have affiliates based in Cape Town should you need any help with your travel arrangements whilst you are there, that is if you are lucky enough to be going.
The next two months are going to be hell for people who do not like sport, what with the World Cup, Royal Ascot, Queens and Wimbledon going on. However there are some good news, you should be able to get tickets for any of the theatres to see your favourite shows. We are able to help you in that respect as well as getting you booked into any restaurant that you may want to visit. Our theatre rates are very competitive and if you go to our web site you can see what cars are available and the price.
Finally I would like to wish all of you who are lucky enough to be going on holiday god speed and as from today the first 50 of you who book an airport transfer will receive a going away gift courtesy of Browns Chauffeur Hire .
Have a great week and come on you ENGLAND.
Thursday 27 May 2010
It's my first time as a BLOGGER, so Hi everyone
Good morning to one and all and welcome to BCH. Before I tell you about the week just past I would like to on behalf of all of us here to thank George for his endeavours and hard work and wish him lots of luck in his new adventure.
Now down to business. It's been a peculiar week, it started by another panic with a lot of flights been cancelled because the volcano decided to spew a little more ash. Unfortunately the press had scared everyone to the extend that they all cancelled their travel arrangements which in turn had a huge impact to our business. At the same time we are beginning to see all the bookings coming in at a fast pace for all the up coming events. It will all start with the Derby closely followed by Royal Ascot and then by the Henley Regatta. We then have a break of a couple of days when Wimbledon begins and as soon as that finishes we have the Farnborough Air show which only comes round every other year so London will be bursting at the seams with foreign dignitaries with huge expense accounts (come on). Its the time of year that the chauffeur hire industry, especially Browns really comes to its own, it's the time that each and every one of us is utilised fully.
We have also received our promotional gifts which we will be sending out to our clients to celebrate our 30th year of service. Please don't be afraid when making a booking to ask us if yours is on its way. That's about it for now except to remind you to make your bookings for whichever event you are attending as soon as possible.
You help us to serve you.
Peter Snr
Now down to business. It's been a peculiar week, it started by another panic with a lot of flights been cancelled because the volcano decided to spew a little more ash. Unfortunately the press had scared everyone to the extend that they all cancelled their travel arrangements which in turn had a huge impact to our business. At the same time we are beginning to see all the bookings coming in at a fast pace for all the up coming events. It will all start with the Derby closely followed by Royal Ascot and then by the Henley Regatta. We then have a break of a couple of days when Wimbledon begins and as soon as that finishes we have the Farnborough Air show which only comes round every other year so London will be bursting at the seams with foreign dignitaries with huge expense accounts (come on). Its the time of year that the chauffeur hire industry, especially Browns really comes to its own, it's the time that each and every one of us is utilised fully.
We have also received our promotional gifts which we will be sending out to our clients to celebrate our 30th year of service. Please don't be afraid when making a booking to ask us if yours is on its way. That's about it for now except to remind you to make your bookings for whichever event you are attending as soon as possible.
You help us to serve you.
Peter Snr
Thursday 20 May 2010
My last Browns blog...
Today is my second to last day at Browns, after being here for 9 years it's starting to feel a bit weird, however the time was right for me to move on. I have enjoyed my time here and I thank everyone for all they have done for me over the years.
This week has mostly seen me handing my work onto people that will carry it on after I leave. Everything is going to plan at the moment. Alexis has taken charge of Twitter and Facebook, whilst Peter will be carrying on the blog. I am not yet sure who will be taking over the e-newsletter but I am sure it will be great. Remember you can follow us on Twitter, become a fan of us on Facebook and join our mailing list by clicking on the right.
I'm sitting here, not at my desk but in the control room for what may be the last time. I am actually quite sad about it. Browns has been a huge part of my life and has taught me many things, it's given me the opportunity to better myself and meet so many nice people. I started here when I was 20 years old and I am now pushing 29. How time can pass by without realising. I will of course keep in touch with everyone here.
To the things that I have finished off this week, the Eco Birthday Bags are being delivered tomorrow. I have left instructions to Peter to give a few away to the readers of the blog, so keep reading. I'm hoping there will be a giveaway on Facebook too, keep an eye out.
So, as Michael Jackson once said, this is it. I leave you all in good faith, if you would like to follow me on Twitter my user name is @George_Pan81 I wish you all good luck in the future and hope to speak to you soon.
All the best
George x
Friday 14 May 2010
My week and the BA strike...
Hello to you all. I hope that everyone is good and excited that it's Friday. This week has been very busy for me and all of us here at Browns. We had a big corporate event that finished on Monday, I am glad to say that everything went great. Thank you to the Ash Cloud for staying away.
This week I have carried on dealing with the updates to our website, every time I think that it will be ready to go live, we find something else to update. I will let you all know when it is ready, shouldn't be too long now. It's slightly hard as our web developer now lives in Australia ;-)
Our advert on www.paslive.co.uk is now up and running, if you have a look under the business travel tab at the top of the page you will get to us. If you are or you know a PA please show them this advert, this is a great offer, for a limited time only. I am still in the process of trying to get a better quality logo on the site but it's proving quite hard. Remember we are still offering M&S vouchers for recommending a friend. You can contact me for details.
As to our Birthday Eco Bags, they have been ordered and should be with us within two weeks. I will be giving a few away via the blog, so keep reading.
To more important things, the BA strike is going ahead on 18th to the 23rd May. British Airways has declared that it will be able to fly more than 70 per cent of its passengers during the first strike period. The airline, troubled by ongoing cabin crew strikes, believes it can operate 60 per cent of long-haul flights and 50 per cent of short haul flights from Heathrow during the first walk-out. I would suggest that if you are flying BA that you check their website for more details, I would imagine that it will be hectic at the airport that week. Good luck!
Once again, if you need anything please check our website www.bchlondon.com Follow us on Twitter, become a fan of us on Facebook or go old school and call us 0208 589 9993
Have a great weekend,
George x
Friday 7 May 2010
Birthday Celebrations!
Hellooooo, if you follow us on Twitter or you are a fan of us on Facebook, then you already know that yesterday, 6th May 2010 was Browns Chauffeur Hires' 30th Birthday. 3000 of you received our newsletter on Wednesday evening stating how we would be celebrating. Our Newsletter goes out once a month and always has some great promotions on it. Last month we joint up with Le Caprice Restaurant in central London for 'Browns Champagne Sundays'. If you want to receive great offers such as this, please join our mailing list on the right or click here The offers that we gave out on our Birthday were a great success. To start off, we gave a massive 30% discount on all jobs booked on the day. The 30th passenger on the day received a free upgrade and the 30th phone call received a bottle of Champagne. Throughout the day we were giving out on the spot gifts through Twitter and Facebook and at 15:06 an alarm sounded in the office which signified the time that the company was registered 30 years ago. The person who was on the phone to us at this moment won a lovely bottle of Champagne.
The picture above shows John and Peter (the company owners) with the company registration form and the first ever pound note that the company earned. The registration form is dated 6th May 1980. 1 year before I was born!
So, now to what I have been up to this week. I am close to completing the update on our website, it's looking great. It's now going to have an events page that you can see what events are on in the UK and even gives you capability to buy tickets for them. There are updated links to Facebook, Twitter and the charities we support, an Environment page, which shows our Carbon Neutral Certificate, a careers page and an updated affiliates page. The biggest change is that our website will now have the capability to take bookings. I think it will be ready to go live within two weeks.
I have also just completed the purchase of 500 celebratory Eco friendly Birthday bags that we will be giving away very soon. There is already a great demand for them, so start being nice to me if you want one ;-)
Well, the week is coming to an end, it's been a great week for us here. Celebrating 30 years of service is an outstanding achievement and may there be another 30 years to come.
Once again, if you need anything over the weekend, please do not hesitate to call. Alexis is working in the control room, he is always more than happy to help with anything.
Have a great weekend,
George x
Thursday 29 April 2010
How we work...
So, after last weeks blog, I had a lot of requests asking me how we actually run things here at Browns Chauffeur Hire, so I thought I would use the blog to explain a bit more about our company.
The day to day running of Browns is pretty simple. We have a control room where our team work to supply and distribute all our cars to our clients. The control room consists of three day and two night controllers (If you hadn't noticed we are open 24hours a day). The three day staff work on a rota which sees them alternate who they work with. There is always two controllers working in the week, one controller working on nights and one controller on weekends. The controllers are the point of call for all our customers, when you ring our phone number or email us it goes straight through to our control team. They are a very helpful bunch!
I was asked how we actually take and distribute jobs on a day to day basis, so I will explain how it works. All the work for the day in question has been checked and confirmed on the day previous to the booking. When we take work over the phone, we write it onto a booking form (we find this less time consuming than putting it straight into our computer system). After the booking has been made over the phone, we input the job onto our specialised system. When allocating the work, the controller will then allocate the job on the computer system to the driver and car. This makes it easier for us to monitor. In the morning, when the day staff get to work, they separate all our jobs into two sections. Work that is near Heathrow Airport and work that is in Central London. The controller on duty then starts allocating the work to our drivers as and when it's needed (normally 1 hour in advance of the job). We do not allocate all our work for the day in one go as some Chauffeur Hires do. This allows us to be able to take on work on the day via phone or email. Our controller will always try to have drivers on stand by in London for these circumstances.
We have a fleet manager, who takes charge of the acquisition, maintenance and licensing of all our cars. We have two staff that work in our accounts department and one member in a marketing position. Then we have our two owners, who oversee everything and of course we have all our drivers. As a company, we all chip in and help out where we can. It is not an unusual sight to see everyone doing a bit of everything.
I hope that this answers the many questions that I received and that you all understand how we work here at Browns. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask and I will try and answer as many as I can.
As to this week, I have been working on our website. It is going through a revamp and will be ready to go live very soon. It has many new features that we hope will help. Now, all that leaves me to say is I hope you all have a brilliant Bank Holiday weekend.
If you need anything, please remember Browns is here to help. We are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This includes the bank holidays.
Take care
George x
Wednesday 21 April 2010
How technology has helped!
So, that was a stressful weekend for me to be working! I have worked some hard days in the Browns Chauffeur Hire control room but none have been as hard as the one just passed. Thank you Iceland! Here is my story...
6 months ago I started the Browns Chauffeur Hire newsletter (which you can sign up for on the right) and during this week of travel disruptions it has proved to be a massive success. Many of our clients that get this newsletter were kept updated with what was going on Re: Ash Cloud and where we had cars available. Our Twitter page (link also on the right) has proven to be a huge success this week too, it got us a huge amount of exposure worldwide, which is something that we have found hard to do in recent years.
This weekend just passed started quite calm for me. I came into work with just one driver going abroad, Milan to be exact. I was chuffed with this job, the furthest we have ever been. Was I in for a massive shock in the hours to come. Twitter was my first port of call, I logged on within minutes of being at work and found Duncan Bannatyne asking for help in getting home. We had already driven Mr. Bannatyne over here in the UK but this was a job that would take up many hours of my Saturday morning planning.
Mr. Bannatyne and family were 851 miles away from London and needed to get home. Through Twitter I started a conversation with him that evolved into many phone conversations with him and our affiliates in Paris. We came to the conclusion that our affiliate in Paris would do the first part of the transportation, from South of France to Calais and we would complete the final stage with our own driver. I was chuffed, I managed to organise this logistical nightmare all by 10am but this was just the start of what would be a weekend of Browns Chauffeur Hire in Europe.
By this time my followers on Twitter had increased dramatically because of the conversation with Duncan Bannatyne and I was being asked to advise people at regular intervals on how to get home. I was in the groove, using Twitter to get people to go to our website and then ring us for help.
At this stage, panic had set in with our Hotel clients too. I was getting bookings from London to all over Europe, Madrid being the furthest we travelled but I was asked to quote for a job going to Kuwait. Circumstances had changed from me getting a few jobs to Europe to a rescue mission, trying to get stranded people home. We did jobs to and from: Calais, Lyon, Lille, Paris, Nancy, Madrid, Milan, Barcelona and many other places. We were offering a car sharing scheme at Calais, so people could get on the ferries. My main objective now was to help the people that were stranded!
On Saturday, I started to mention news groups in my Tweets. Then at lunch time, we got a phone call from CNN, they wanted to do a live interview! Us, on live TV. "It will go out to over 500million people" said the lady on the phone. I quickly passed this onto my boss. This was just the start, as on Sunday night we did a live interview for Capital Radio. Browns Chauffeur Hire was now on the map!
So overall, this past weekend proved to me that the technology that I was using was actually benefiting the company. We gained exposure and received many jobs through Twitter and our newsletter. Long may that continue!
Today, the airports are returning back to normal and we only have two drivers left abroad. We did our best in getting the stranded home and I think that we proved that we are one of the best chauffeur hires in the world!
Well, that was my story about the weekend just passed.
I look forward to getting back to a weekly blog
Take care
George x
Thursday 1 April 2010
You have to love a long weekend...
Yesterday I found the best piece of news, researchers at Oxford University have suggested that playing Tetris at work can assist in the treatment of stress. This can only mean one thing for me, digging out my gameboy (from the early 90's) and bringing it to work!
"What do you mean I can't play my gameboy at work boss? Read this article"
I'm not too sure that it would work but if you want to read the article and then show it to your boss when you get caught, click here
So, being that it's a long weekend (Easter I'm told) I plan to spend most of my time in London. For me Easter means a huge lunch on Sunday with the family but the rest of the time trying to fill in my time off. Although, I have just seen the weather forecast for the weekend. It does not look good but I won't let a bit of wind a rain put me off (although, I look out my window at work now and the sun is shining).
So, this week, I've been working on rolling out a new service that we can now provide here at Browns. We now have the capability to send SMS text messages to our customers. We have toyed with the idea for a while now and finally we thought it was worth it. We imagine the best use for it is when you have chauffeur booked early in the morning and you don't want the driver to ring your doorbell when he arrives, waking up the household. Instead, we will send you a text message informing you that your driver is outside, what car he is in, it's colour, it's registration and the drivers mobile number.
We can also send you a text message for pre-booking requests. We get a lot of requests for driver and car details for security reasons on specific jobs. We can now send all this information through to you via this SMS service. One thing that I will not be using this service for is any promotional use, I know how annoyed I get when I receive a text from a business. So, I will keep all my giveaways and promotions on our Facebook and Twitter pages.
I can't write this without mentioning the BA strike. It still shocks me that they were losing £5million a day because of it but bad press is good press, right? Peter in our office was affected by the strike. He was due to be going to Phoenix on Saturday but BA cancelled his flight, the only flight he could get was one to Las Vegas. I bet he is really annoyed with that!
Well, I better leave it there. It's lunch time! I wish you all a lovely Easter weekend and see you (virtually) next week.
Don't eat too many Easter Eggs!
George x
Friday 26 March 2010
I'm getting the hang of this now...
This blog isn't going to be a daily thing but with the excitement of it being Friday and the fact that I am happy, I thought I'd share it with everyone.
British Summer time is nearly among us, remember to put your clocks forward tomorrow night. Looking out my window here at work and I really do think that Spring is here, I can see blue skies and birds flying around (and a massive iron fence which is less attractive). I thought to myself, what is there to do this weekend in London, the first thing that came to mind was Covent Garden. I love it there, when the weather is nice and it's busy, there is no better place in London. It's a lovely place to go to, be it for food, shopping or just to watch the street performers. Have a look at this website http://www.coventgardenlondonuk.com/ It gives you information on what is happening in the area and at what time. This is where I would suggest you pop to this weekend, then maybe a museum. I like the National Portrait Gallery on St Martins Place WC2.
There was talk here today at the Browns office about what you would do if you won the Euro Millions tonight and what cars you would buy (we tend to talk about cars a lot). I know nothing about cars, I don't know how many horses are in my car, I don't understand cylinder and cam talk but what I do know is I like Aston Martins. I would buy one, maybe two... In black. Colour is more important to me than horses! Would I be chauffeured around if I won the Euro Millions, yes I would! Not because I want to be posh (having a chauffeured car doesn't make you posh) but because it alleviates the hassle of driving.
I do like driving but I also like the idea of not having to be a designated driver for a night. I feel that there is a massive stereotype about chauffeurs and people that get chauffeur driven cars, in price terms, there isn't much difference in using a chauffeured car to using a cab. The difference in what you get; in a cab you get a bloke that will turn up late, looking scruffy, not knowing where he is going and in a car that would be more suited to a destruction derby. When you use a chauffeured car, especially from us here at Browns, you get a qualified driver, suited (not in a Chauffeurs hat unless requested), in an executive car (E-class Mercedes and up) and with the knowledge of where he is going. Doesn't this sound better? It does to me!
Obviously image is important to some people but in my eyes price is a bigger selling point. If one of our competitors is cheaper than us, we will always endeavour to match their price or in most cases beat it. I am now going to shamelessly plug our prices, have a look here... http://www.bchlondon.com/eclass.php
I did warn you that I like to ramble on, so I think I'll leave it for this week. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. If you need anything, our office is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can get all our contact details from our website.
Take care,
George
British Summer time is nearly among us, remember to put your clocks forward tomorrow night. Looking out my window here at work and I really do think that Spring is here, I can see blue skies and birds flying around (and a massive iron fence which is less attractive). I thought to myself, what is there to do this weekend in London, the first thing that came to mind was Covent Garden. I love it there, when the weather is nice and it's busy, there is no better place in London. It's a lovely place to go to, be it for food, shopping or just to watch the street performers. Have a look at this website http://www.coventgardenlondonuk.com/ It gives you information on what is happening in the area and at what time. This is where I would suggest you pop to this weekend, then maybe a museum. I like the National Portrait Gallery on St Martins Place WC2.
There was talk here today at the Browns office about what you would do if you won the Euro Millions tonight and what cars you would buy (we tend to talk about cars a lot). I know nothing about cars, I don't know how many horses are in my car, I don't understand cylinder and cam talk but what I do know is I like Aston Martins. I would buy one, maybe two... In black. Colour is more important to me than horses! Would I be chauffeured around if I won the Euro Millions, yes I would! Not because I want to be posh (having a chauffeured car doesn't make you posh) but because it alleviates the hassle of driving.
I do like driving but I also like the idea of not having to be a designated driver for a night. I feel that there is a massive stereotype about chauffeurs and people that get chauffeur driven cars, in price terms, there isn't much difference in using a chauffeured car to using a cab. The difference in what you get; in a cab you get a bloke that will turn up late, looking scruffy, not knowing where he is going and in a car that would be more suited to a destruction derby. When you use a chauffeured car, especially from us here at Browns, you get a qualified driver, suited (not in a Chauffeurs hat unless requested), in an executive car (E-class Mercedes and up) and with the knowledge of where he is going. Doesn't this sound better? It does to me!
Obviously image is important to some people but in my eyes price is a bigger selling point. If one of our competitors is cheaper than us, we will always endeavour to match their price or in most cases beat it. I am now going to shamelessly plug our prices, have a look here... http://www.bchlondon.com/eclass.php
I did warn you that I like to ramble on, so I think I'll leave it for this week. I hope you all have a fantastic weekend. If you need anything, our office is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You can get all our contact details from our website.
Take care,
George
Thursday 25 March 2010
Welcome...
So, this is my first attempt at creating a blog. I have titled it London, Travel, Cars and More because, well, I wanted to and because it's basically what I know and like talking about.
I work for Browns Chauffeur Hire http://www.bchlondon.com/ (all views and opinions stressed on this blog are mine and mine alone and have not come from Browns) I have been with the company now for well over 8 years with a gap of 3 years in between for education purposes. In other words, I left, went to Uni and came back with a degree.
I work in the marketing department of Browns. Browns supplies Chauffeur driven cars in London. The company has over 30 cars and drivers and has some very exclusive 5* accounts and many celebrity individual users. The cars that we supply stem from E-Class Mercedes to MPV's.
I will use this blog to talk about events happening in London, all things to do with travel and tourism and cars. I will give you an insight into the happenings here at Browns, including amusing things that I hear about, strange requests and all things chauffeur orientated.
All your feedback is welcomed,
Have a good day.
George
I work for Browns Chauffeur Hire http://www.bchlondon.com/ (all views and opinions stressed on this blog are mine and mine alone and have not come from Browns) I have been with the company now for well over 8 years with a gap of 3 years in between for education purposes. In other words, I left, went to Uni and came back with a degree.
I work in the marketing department of Browns. Browns supplies Chauffeur driven cars in London. The company has over 30 cars and drivers and has some very exclusive 5* accounts and many celebrity individual users. The cars that we supply stem from E-Class Mercedes to MPV's.
I will use this blog to talk about events happening in London, all things to do with travel and tourism and cars. I will give you an insight into the happenings here at Browns, including amusing things that I hear about, strange requests and all things chauffeur orientated.
All your feedback is welcomed,
Have a good day.
George
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