Veezu moves into Merseyside with Britannia Taxis acqusition

Veezu has made a major strategic move into north-west England with the acquisition of one the region’s largest private hire operators, Britannia Taxis, which operates in both Liverpool and Greater Manchester.

The deal adds an eighth hub to Veezu’s operation and follows the recent takeover of City Taxis of Sheffield. Britannia Taxis was founded in 1994 and has grown to have around 500 drivers on its books, including the takeover of Merseyside rival Sapphire Cars in 2010.

The deal takes the total number of Veezu driver-partners to around 12,000. Launched in 2013, Veezu has pursued a strategy of building large regional hubs. It operates in Cardiff/Newport in South Wales; a west country hub covering Bristol, Bath and Swindon; and operations in Leeds, Sheffield, the West Midlands, Norwich and Cambridge.

Recently it has started rebranding local operations to Veezu with the aim of building a national private hire network. Veezu has invested heavily in data, technology and infrastructure to ensure that regional private hire operators such as Britannia Taxis remain deeply ingrained within their communities.

Jimmy Aden, managing director of Britannia Taxis, said: “From our humble beginnings as a familyrun enterprise, Britannia Taxis has flourished into a company with access to an impressive fleet of more than 500 skilled driver-partners across Merseyside and Greater Manchester. We take immense pride in helping the movement of people within our communities.”

“We are tremendously excited about joining Veezu and the future of Britannia Taxis. I have utmost confidence in joining forces with a larger enterprise that prioritises local interests and invests in improving the driver-partner experience.”

Veezu CEO Nathan Bowles said: “Britannia Taxis has earned a welldeserved reputation for excellence in Merseyside and Greater Manchester. Our appetite for growth shows no signs of wavering. Britannia Taxis follows the successful acquisition of City Taxis in Sheffield in March of this year, both of which complement our coverage in West Yorkshire through Amber Cars to help create a strong network of operators in the north.”

Veezu partners with WeFlex to help drivers purchase new electric cars

Veezu has partnered with WeFlex to help driver-partners purchase electric vehicles.

WeFlex, founded by former Climatecars boss Nicko Williamson, offers rent-to-buy schemes and flexible car finance exclusively for private hire drivers. The Veezu partnership will give the firm’s 12,000 driver-partners access to deals on electric vehicles.

Two Teslas have already been purchased through the scheme by driver-partners in Newport, South Wales, and five other EVs have been sold across their other brands.

Tarlochan Bath, business services support director at Veezu, said: “As part of our wider environmental social governance strategy, we are always looking at ways to improve our carbon footprint. This scheme, which not only encourages driver-partners to switch to electric vehicles but also offers a practical solution to help them do so, aligns perfectly with our long term business goals.”

India Cotton, Marketing Lead at WeFlex, said: “Being an approved vendor for such a reputable brand as Veezu is something we are very proud of. These first few sales are just the beginning, and we are looking forward to helping more Veezu driver-partners across the country.”