Pub landlord sets up free taxi service
A PUB landlord who was forced to scrap a free lift service for customers has now set up a complimentary taxi service in a bid to save his business.
Sean McGahern, of the Royal Forester, in Callow Hill, has seen a drop in trade since Wyre Forest District Council ordered him to scrap his free pick-up and drop-off service last year.
To get people back through the pub door, he has teamed up with Bewdley Taxis – under the guidance of the district council – to bring back a free service over the festive season.
Pub-goers will be picked up by the firm’s drivers and taken to the Royal Forester and Mr McGahern will drop them home at the end of the night. The taxi fare will also be footed by him.
He said: “I’ve lost so much trade since they took me off the road, so for Christmas-time I’ve had to start this partnership with Bewdley Taxis.
“I’ve lost 20 to 50 customers every Friday and Saturday night. If I didn’t do it, I would go out of business.”
Mr McGahern, joint landlord of the pub with his partner, Maxine Parker, was forced to scrap the free service as the district council claimed he was doing it for profit and needed a vehicle and personal licence, which he claimed he could not afford.
Following a u-turn from the district council last year to give Bewdley landlord Paul Glover-Winfield a private-hire vehicle licence to use his tuk-tuk to ferry customers between his two pubs – the Cock and Magpie and Hop Pole Inn – Mr McGahern has bought a VW camper van, which he plans to use as a novelty vehicle for his service.
The van is currently being fitted out and Mr McGahern said he would work with the taxi firm until the vehicle was on the road.
He added: “In the past, local taxi firms struggled to cover my rural location during their very busy periods. Therefore I can offer a lift home in my comfortable novelty vehicle so none of my customers have to worry about drinking and driving.”
source:
http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/
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