Wick taxi firm wins major award
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IT took a day for a Wick taxi company owner to fully take in the fact his company had won a top award at a glitzy ceremony in Glasgow on Saturday night.
Brian Travers, who runs Jimmy's Taxis, attended the Scottish Taxi, Private Hire and Chauffeur Awards with his partner Lyndsay Gunn in the grand ballroom of the Radisson Blu hotel.
"I thought I'd be jumping up for joy but I was taken aback at the time when we were announced," said Brian on winning the Scottish Taxi Company of the Year accolade.
"I honestly thought we'd get something like the Best Uniformed Drivers Award and would have been ecstatic with that.
"It took till the next morning when we got home for it to sink in that we'd really achieved something."
Brian and Lyndsay were among almost 500 people attending the ceremony, with taxi and private hire firms from throughout Scotland represented.
Popular DJ George Bowie was just one of the celebrities attending the event that the couple got to meet.
Jimmy's Taxis has been running for 30 years. Brian bought over the company three years ago, running it back then with just a single taxi.
Brian says that since then he has rebranded the company as "a service fit for a city" with all drivers having uniforms, mobile phones and personal company cards along with in-car card readers, and he aims to "bring back pride" to the trade.
"I pride myself on being modern," he said. "With the addition of GPS tracking in the cars it makes it easy to assist with jobs and we are the only company north of Inverness to have a working app."
Though the company was nominated in three categories Brian expected one of the lesser awards, if anything, on the night.
The Scottish Taxi, Private Hire and Chauffeur Awards is the only awards set up for the taxi industry and last year Jimmy's Taxis was nominated for two awards, Small Taxi Company of the Year 2019 and Family Business of Year 2019 but unfortunately missed out on both.
Brian sent out a big thanks on the Facebook page for Jimmy's Taxis and said: "We were so close to something last year but missed out.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to walk out of that venue with the Scottish Taxi Company of the Year 2020... being a small company and going up against some fantastic operators," he said.
Brian went on to describe how it was a very "humble moment" when his peers in the industry walked up to congratulate him and Lyndsay.
"Thank you from all the team at Jimmy's Taxis," he posted online to his supporters and customers.
