Business
Local chauffeur service, Home James Travel, celebrates five-star start
4 weeks ago
Two best friends from Liverpool who set up an executive chauffeur service have had a five-star start to their business after transporting A-list football and music celebrities across the city.
Michael Collins and James Vaughan launched Home James Travel to provide VIP door-to-door transfers using a fleet of luxury Mercedes V Class vehicles.
The pair aim to take the headache out of travel whether that’s going to the airport, to a concert or sporting event, a wedding, weekend break or for corporate hire.
Each Mercedes V Class holds up to seven passengers and every journey is fully chauffeured, with complimentary drinks and snacks. Drivers are chosen to meet clients’ specific needs – the team includes bilingual and female drivers – and Home James will even stock up on essentials for those arriving on late-night flights, so they don’t return to an empty fridge!
Micheal said:
“Our service is the finishing touch to your night or your day, the thing that adds the gloss to it,”
“If someone has spent hundreds of pounds on tickets for a concert, they want it to be a special occasion. They don’t want to be worrying about how they’re going to get there, how they’re going to get home and if they’ll end up having to walk from Anfield to the city centre at the end of the night.”
“Increasingly people want that comfort and reliability, and to trust someone to make them a priority.”
Since they launched Home James Travel in March this year, Michael and James have secured bookings from a raft of high-profile clients. Confidentiality agreements mean they’re unable to reveal the big names, but they have transported Premier League footballers, artists playing at Anfield, Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena and Co-op Live in Manchester, and DJs at Creamfields.
“Events represent around 30% of our business, and the rest is airport transfers, people going to London for a weekend away or a shopping trip, or just to Manchester for dinner,” adds Michael. “We also partner with several hotels in the city including Hard Day’s Night to look after their guests, especially American visitors.”
Michael, who is based in Crosby, and James who lives in West Derby, have been best friends since they worked in retail together as teenagers. They decided to start a business together after cricket fan James used an executive chauffeur service to watch England play at Old Trafford.
“We’d worked for other people for a long time so wanted to try something different and new,” says Michael. “I come from a retail background, where you’re judged on customer reviews and customer feedback. I’ve taken that element of my previous career into this so we’re always looking at how to improve and the small details are important.
“Our Google reviews are all five-star, and many of them say they were blown away by the detail and level of service. We’re transporting VIPs around the city, but it’s a VIP service that’s available to everyone at a reasonable cost.”