Taxi Driver Online

THE JOURNAL (Newcastle, UK)

May 11, 2007 Friday

Innovation Award: Durham and Wearside

Winner: MJS Claim, Stanley, County Durham

A FORMER painter and decorator with a "can-do" attitude is driving ahead his innovative idea for a 24-hour replacement taxi service.

Michael Soulsby set up MJS Claim from his home in Stanley, County Durham, in January 2006 and has since pioneered the service for the region's private hire and hackney carriage taxi drivers, keeping them on the road when they would otherwise be out of action due a non-fault accident.

Soulsby had an aim to go from a one-man band to a national brand in two years. He has three staff and aims to increase his fleet of vehicles from 14 to between 25 and 30 by the end of the year. The service, which recovers damaged vehicles at the accident scene 24 hours a day with no fee to the client, was launched with no start-up funding or grants.

Soulsby entered the insurance industry while working as a painter and decorator, when a client offered him a job purely because of his "can-do" attitude.

He learned the industry from scratch and, when his former employer retired from business, decided to launch MJS Claim, after clients continued to ask for his help.

Runners-up: Argent Business and Conference Centre, Sunderland and UR-In The Paper, Stanhope, County Durham.
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