Change of name for Wolverhampton taxi business
A Shropshire-based taxi company that has grown to become one of the region's biggest private hire operators is changing its name.
Central Taxis is rebranding as GO carz later this month, and is also set to expand into a fourth territory.
Owner Carl Wilday was an ice cream van driver and part-time taxi driver before starting the business, which he has been building up since 1995.
It began as Central Taxis in Telford with four cars and in 2007 expanded into Shrewsbury, then into Wolverhampton in 2010.
Centre Cars – the group's name in Wolverhampton – has already completed the rebrand, and will be followed by Central Taxis in Telford and Shrewsbury from August 26.
A fourth GO carz operation will also be starting in Stafford on September 1, operating from a base at Staffordshire Technology Park, Beaconside.
Mr Wilday, aged 48, of Shrewsbury, said: "The re-brand is about unity and bringing all the sites under one name. We are keeping the existing numbers for each area. Customers will still phone 01952 501050 in Telford and 01743 441144 in Shrewsbury.
"Each of the cars used by GO carz will feature the Go carz.co.uk logo and telephone number in lime green and the drivers will wear lime green polo shirts or a white shirt with a lime green GO carz clip on their tie.
"We are moving forward all the time. We have invested £500,000 on new technology in the last two years and the investment in the re-branding is a further £50,000," said Mr Wilday.
The group, which employs about 100 directly and has 800 drivers on its books, achieved turnover of £3.5 million in 2012-2013. It is currently recruiting staff for the Stafford operation.
"We are looking for further expansion in the future in the West Midlands. There are a number of other places we are looking at moving into," added Mr Wilday.
The group also does a lot of account work for businesses including picking up customers flying into Birmingham Airport.
It has two of its own vehicles – E-class Mercedes – for such executive work and will also be investing in new minibuses as well.
"The 19 years we have been in business has seen a dramatic change in technology. When we start we were using two-way radio. Now there is a sophisticated computer system which has made it much easier to book taxis.
"We have been tracking our cars using GPS since 2003 and we were the first firm to introduce a ring back system when taxis arrive to pick up customers.
"Now we offer text back and a customer gets a text with the make of car, registration and confirmation of the fare," explained Mr Wilday.
He said that the taxi market had grown phenomenally in the last two decades.
