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Scooter chauffeurs could spell end to Leeds drink-driving
IF you've ever gone out for a drink then wished you'd left the car at home a new Leeds company is the answer to your prayers.
Ring Collect-A-Car Leeds and a fully-insured chauffeur will drive out to you on a scooter, fold it up, put it in the boot then drive you home in your own vehicle.
Former Leeds schoolmates Mark Hodgson and Andrew Hudson, both 23, set up the innovative service after using a similar business in London and spotting its potential.
Mark, of Cross Gates, said: "I do a lot of business in London and I used scooterMAN a lot."
He added: "You go to the pub and set out with the good intention that you're just going to have one drink, then you have a taste and think 'I would probably have three or four' but you've got the car. It's perfect for that situation."
He said: "It's more or less like having your mum and dad on call to come and pick you up and take you home."
The duo have been friends since attending Garforth Community College as teenagers and have been putting together the business plan for around the past six months.
Just like ordering a private-hire vehicle, the customer only pays the fare for the distance he or she is driven.
Leeds firm City Cars quoted 7.50 for the three-mile trip from Leeds city centre to the bottom of Chapel Allerton.
Collect-A-Car charges 2.50 a mile but has a minimum fare of 10 – so it wouldn't cost much more to get the car home as well as the driver.
Stand-by
At present the firm has two drivers – Andrew and Mark – but there are four scooters and another two staff on stand-by for busier nights.
As well as driving people home they can also drop off cars at an agreed location without the owner present, if required.
Mark, who by day is a sales manager for a sportswear manufacturer, said customers could even use the service to have their car taken to the garage while they were at work.
He said drivers had a "car jockey" policy enabling them to drive any car up to the on-the-road value of 50,000 and they covered every part of Leeds. If business really revs up they hope to expand the service into Harrogate and Manchester.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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