When Ilkeston man Paul Kitchen started his own taxi firm Taxi-Man in 2009 it was just him and a car.
Now he has 14 staff, including nine drivers, and a office based on the Ropewalk Industrial Estate on Station Road in Ilkeston that opened earlier this year.
He told the ‘Tiser: “I started as a sole trader working off the taxi rank in Ilkeston. I then started generating airport work. It grew and grew and eventually I couldn’t cope on my own any longer so in June last year I started taking other drivers on. It the made sense to have an office and office staff so we opened one in February.”
Paul has been a taxi driver for 16 years and loves his job: “It’s a people industry’, he said ‘you are out on the road, not stuck in a factory. It has its challenges but it has more upsides than downsides. I enjoy the interaction with the public.
“We are a company that emphasise customers service, we are a modern company with old fashioned values. We go out of our way to help people.”
Taxi-Man mainly covers the Erewash area but will take customers to any airport.
They offer competitive rates including £45 return to East Midlands Airport, or £70 for a minibus to East Midlands.
You can call Taxi-Man on 01159 306 306 or find them on Facebook.
More information can be found at taxi-man.co.uk