The appointment of ACF Limousines as the latest UK authorised dealer for its range of Krystal USA’s stretch limousines brings twenty years of experience of working in vehicle sales, leasing and servicing to the table.

Nick commented; “We are delighted to have signed yet another first-class dealer for our rapidly expanding Krystal UK network.  The award of VOSA’s Single Vehicle Approval status (SVA) continues to bear fruit, as this appointment shows”.

He added; “The company’s forty one acre site in Burwell contains a twenty bay workshop with specially designed lifting ramps that will accommodate stretch limousines, as well as having limousine recovery vehicles. Its sales, support, mechanical and auto-electrical capabilities are what the limousine industry needs as it matures.  Couple those attributes with its long-term servicing record and commitment to customer satisfaction and it is a recipe for success”.

ACF offers expert limousine sales, including a loan limousine to replace the limousine being serviced or repaired, plus finance packages and part exchange.  Its experience in auto-electrics brings yet another dimension to the limousine industry, as it will also be offering customisation to not just Krystal limousines, but to any limousine, including customisation items such as smoke machines, UFO lighting and a whole host of interior options

ACF Limousine’s Managing Director, David Waldock, commented; “We are proud and delighted to become a Krystal UK authorised dealer.  We will bring a very professional level of sales, service and support to the UK limousine industry, which can only serve to benefit all.  We look forward very much to the future with Krystal UK and ACF Limousines working together to help drive the industry forward.”

The 2007 Dodge Sprinters produced by Mercedes Benz are available as a ten passenger Executive and a fourteen passenger double “J” seat models.

Inside is a double 32″ LCD TV’s, high and low bars, satellite TV and satellite radio. The Executive model also contains captain’s chairs which recline to 45 degrees and writing tables.

On the outside, the vehicles have custom Mercedes-Benz 18″ wheels and ground effects, back up camera, trailer hitch amongst other features. Prices vary from $98,890, for more information contact Jeff Brown on 001 800 546 6322 or visit www.lakeviewcustomcoach.com

Many clients who hire limousines for an occasion, whether it be an 80th birthday or party night out with friends, it is generally expected that alcohol will be provided with the vehicle.

Done in the right way, booze can turn a good experience into a great one – so to ensure everything goes smoothly, here are a few ideas and tips about selling alcohol to your clients.

Firstly, if you are intending to sell alcohol, you’ll need a personal liquor license for the person overseeing the majority of the alcohol-related business, and also a license for the premises. These are obtained by attending courses, usually over the space of a day, which culminate in multiple-choice examinations. Once these have been successfully completed, your license applications will go on to be processed by your local council.

As part of the process, you will have to specify the premises from which the alcohol will be sold and be able to prove that it is a safe and secure location. Following standard checks, you will receive your license and will be allowed to legally sell or give away alcohol.

Now that everything is legal and above board, you can start to plan how you’re going to go about providing alcohol to your clients. One way is to simply have a list of all your individual drinks and allow people pick and choose as they wish on the day of the hire. This can be a good option if it is a relatively small booking, or if the client has not specified any preference in advance.

Alternatively, a great idea is to prepare a menu of drink bundles or packages, which can be advertised in your brochures or website. Combinations of certain types of alcohol, such as cans of beer, multiple bottles of champagne, wine or spirits can be grouped together. For example, “Option A” might consist of five cans of beer and a bottle of champagne, “Option B” may be made up of three bottles of champagne, and so on. This is often a convenient way for your clients to choose what they want when making the booking, and can be made even more appealing by offering special deals or discounts.

Another way is to offer drinks packages tailored to certain events. For weddings, it’s a nice idea to offer one or two complimentary bottles of champagne for the journey to or from the service; sipping on a glass of bubbly after one of the happiest moments of your life can add that extra-special touch to proceedings, making it truly memorable.

For the big weekend hires on Friday and Saturday evenings, providing your clients with a list of cocktails (or bottles of spirits with which to mix their own) will be sure to get people in a good mood. Another possibility for these kinds of events is themed drinks promotions to match the party, such as Hawaiian, Spanish, etc. depending on what the client wishes. Vodka Martinis are sure to be a hit if a James Bond-themed party are on board!

It must be mentioned that in all hires, regular licensing laws in regards to age still apply. As such, care must be taken to avoid selling alcohol to those who are under 18. Particular attention should be paid to prom nights where youthful spirits can run high – just be sure they’re the non-alcoholic kind. Usually, the threat of immediate termination of the hire is enough to deter underage drinking in the limousine.

Of course, some limousine companies prohibit alcohol in all of their hires, as they are well within their rights to. The dangers of over-indulging can lead to unwanted incidents and legal complications, and for some it is more trouble than it’s worth. However, for the vast majority of bookings such trouble is unwanted by both parties, and is ultimately down to a judgement call by the operator.

With the advent of the 24 hour licensing allowing greater freedom of choice for you and your clients, there really has never been a better time to get into this exciting area of chauffeuring.

David Preece

The Taxi Regulator wants the Department of Transport to allow the stretch vehicles drive down lanes currently reserved for buses and taxis.

The city council’s transport committee meets this afternoon to discuss the idea and pass on its views. Labour’s Andrew Montague says he will be expressing strong opposition to the move, saying bus lanes should be used to keep the city moving, not to facilitate people taking up road space in massive limousines.

A chauffeur hire business in Sussex is celebrating the arrival of a vehicle which has led to an influx of bookings.

Platinum Cars (Sussex) has recently taken delivery of a classic 1971 Mercedes-Benz limousine which has been specifically tailored to match the rest of the busy company’s fleet.

Jentree classic coachworks based in Eastbourne, East Sussex matched the bodywork of Platinum’s current Mercedes-Benz S-Class so the company can offer ‘something old, something new’ to wedding bookings.

Owner Andrew Thompson told The Chauffeur magazine; “We were just in time for this season when we got it back in May, and managed almost twenty wedding bookings, and we are expecting around thirty next year alone.”

The classic Mercedes limousine has three bench seats and will carry seven passengers plus chauffeur. The vehicle has become popular as wedding parties can get to the church all in one vehicle rather than having several like traditional weddings.

Documents have been sent which highlight the changes which are planned to come into affect early next year and is aimed at cracking down on illegal operators. The documents feature extensive spider graphs so drivers and operators can find out if they need to obtain a license under the new laws.

The Road Traffic Safety Act 2006, section 53, repeated the part of section 75 of the local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1976 which exempted certain categories of Private Hire drivers and vehicles from the need to be licensed if they conducted their business by having hire contracts of not less than seven days.

Leeds City Council has expressed that there are a wide range of categories of drivers, vehicles and operators who were previously exempted, but who will now need to be licensed by January 2008.

As a general guide, the City Council has highlighted executive hire, chauffeur services, airport travel, stretch limousines and novelty vehicles as those who need to take note of the new regulations. This is not an exhaustive list, but does highlight that those who were, or who thought they could avoid being licensed by using ‘notional’ seven day contract, now very clearly must be licensed by the local authority for the area they operate in.

Leeds City Council is responsible for licensing Hackney Carriages and Private Hire vehicles and their drivers in Leeds.  It is the councils job to make sure the trade in Leeds is operated in a professional manner and that the correct standards of safety and comfort are satisfied by all vehicles, drivers and operators.

For more information on the new regulations or to find out if you need to be licensed, please contact Martyn Johnson, Principal Officer at Leeds City Council on 0113 2143366.

Commissioned and designed by U.S Autos with the collaboration of VOSA it has taken almost two years to bring a Hummer H2 up to COIF standards – and now a certificate was awarded in the middle of September.

The complete re-design and redevelopment by some of the UK’s best bus and coach engineers has resulted in a number of changes which are unique to this vehicle and has made it the first Hummer in the world to be bought up to these standards.

The vehicle was recently seen brake testing a MIRA where a team of trained engineers spent several days monitoring the vehicles stopping capabilities along with testing turning circles which all proved successful.

As the vehicle has received the thumbs-up from the COIF testing station, the H2 will now be recognised as an EU approved, Class M3, COIF’d PSV minibus which will allow it to carry up to sixteen passengers safely and legally.

Until now, the only limousine which was awarded a COIF was the Ford Excursion built by Executive Coach Builders which proved extremely popular with the limo industry. However, due to the popular Hummer vehicle since it hit the market around three years ago, there have been calls from the industry for a Hummer which meets all the requirements and can be operated completely legally.

The project has taken more than two years to complete and has cost many hundreds of thousands of pounds to get to this stage, and now orders are flooding in for the vehicle according to its sellers.

In accordance with 2006 regulations, a speed limiter to 100kph is fitted. The stretch is 180” and the major bodywork changes include raising the roof by 5” and increasing the size of both rear doors to 1210 x 530mm so either door may be used as the emergency exit.

Orders now being taken with a build time twelve weeks and are priced at £115,000 + VAT. They are available in any standard Hummer colour – non standard extra. Full three year warranty and a full spares support with finance packages available.

For the first time at Isleworth Crown Court the confident and patronising façade adopted by the tall, suited Syed Naqvi, visibly cracked and he looked stunned in the dock as Judge Stephen Powles QC sent him down for nine months.

“The Crown accused you of being arrogant,” said the judge. “And that cap fits you well. Your attitude pervades the pre-sentence report as well.

“You found a way of manipulating Emirates Airlines. You pretended you were a director whose details you had, and got the services of a chauffeur driven car for three hours. Then you pretended you had a first class ticket and you were entitled to chauffeur car services. You secured a reservation on the plane which you did not pay for and which was not released until 40 minutes before the flight. And then you did the same again.

“Had you done this only once and admitted it straight away, you might have stayed out of prison,” continued the judge. “But you chose to challenge the evidence and come to this court and tell lies. There was evidence from one chauffeur that he had been to your house a number of times before. But I am only sentencing you on the matters before the court.”

Naqvi, 24 year-old graduate of Syon Park Gardens, Isleworth, was earlier found guilty by a jury of five charges of obtaining services both from Tristar Cars Ltd – used by the airline for their chauffeur service – and the airline itself.

He would telephone the limousine service or the airline, tell them he had a first class ticket to Dubai and order a car “to the last house in the road” – prosecutor Alison Barker told a trial.

Despite never paying for a ticket, “he even had the arrogance to complain when a Volvo rather than a Mercedes turned up,” said counsel. “He wanted a flashy car to impress the person he was picking up from the airport. This is a man who wants a flashy life”.

On one occasion he was driven to Gatwick Airport where car and chauffeur waited while he met a friend and was then driven back home – a round trip of four hours. His antics cost the airline more than £5,000.

“This young man is not on trial for being arrogant. He is on trial for systematic dishonesty, believing himself to be too clever to be caught, or that the company, Emirates Airlines, were too lofty to bother with an irritant such as he,” said counsel.

A ‘frequent flyer’ with Emirates, he was blacklisted in 2003. “They didn’t want him on their airline anymore,” she said. But it was when the company made the connection that the police were called in and Naqvi, who had used the names Paul Holland and Mohammed Syed, was arrested.

He had two previous convictions for deception and was subject to a community punishment order when he committed these offences, Ms Barker told the court.

His counsel, Lewis Petersen, said he now had a job with Reid Accountancy and intended to put these matters behind him. He hoped to train as a teacher, he added.

But Judge Powles may have put an end to that career. “I accept you have ability and intelligence and you are skilful and could be of great use to the community,” he said. “But you have chosen to use that ability in crime. There is not a hint of remorse and only one sentence is appropriate”.

So many drivers find a bout of illness can lead to extreme financial difficulties, so the union can now offer a policy for only £15 a month. It offers cover for drivers guaranteeing £300 a week or 75% of earnings whatever is the least when the worse happens. Also, included in this is death benefit of £10,000 and accident insurance.

The GMB’s research shows for similar cover elsewhere around £45 a month is being quoted, so once again its size and bargaining ability presents drivers with peace of mind! The scheme is only available to members, so if you want it you must be a member of GMBPDB.

If you are self-employed, you are possibly the fourth most dangerous occupation, the stress associated with the long hours culture and of course the problems associated with the job means you are some of the most vulnerable workers to health problems in the country.

The GMB Professional Drivers Branch is assuring that once substantial numbers of drivers join this scheme the premiums will fall. It is aiming to reach a premium of nearer £10 a month once this occurs.

The event planned for October has already received interest from the national media and will be a great opportunity to raise thousands of pounds for charity. The organisers are hoping to make a world record attempt and at the same time raise up to £100,000 for charity.

NLCA members and other operators are being invited to take part as more than 200 limousines are required to make this record attempt and raise the £100,000.  The Mayor of Blackpool has already agreed to cater for the convoy and close off the Golden Mile for the event.

Clients will be charged £20 per head to travel in the convoy and sponsors/advertisers are being offered space on the side of the vehicles for £100 per side.

If you have a stretched limousine and wish to take part in the event, please fill-in the form below or call Peter on 0113 2790016.