Members Bio

Having spent 22 years in military logistics and another 9 years of the same within the commercial world, I felt it was a good time to start my own business. As driving had been at the forefront of my career thus far, it was only fitting that this passion continued. After doing some research, I realised there was a gap in the market for a chauffeuring service in my area and so in 2004, I established my company; Cole Executive Hire; in partnership with my good lady wife, Janice.
We had both qualified as advanced drivers back in 1989, so the decision to aim our business at the corporate and high end private clients was the direction for us to go. Over the years, we have built up a great long term reputation with our clients and have since obtained further business through their recommendations to friends and colleagues alike.
Our aim was (and still is) to act as our clients personal chauffeur, so they have no need to employ a full-time driver. In most cases, we will drive them in our luxury cars but it has been known for me personally, to drive them in their own high-end / high value cars such as Bentley's, Ferrari's and the like, either within the UK or across Europe. Nothing is too much trouble for us.
In recent years I had become all too aware that there were drivers in the industry calling themselves a chauffeur when actually they were nothing more that a basic taxi or private hire driver (no disrespect to them as they do provide a valuable service in their own right). However, there is a lot more to being a chauffeur than just using the name.
When I heard about the creation of the Guild of Professional Chauffeurs (GoPC) from one of the founding members, I attended one of their seminars back in 2019 and even though I had been an advanced driver for some 30 years, knew that I wanted to prove I still had the skills.
The opportunity presented itself to me in July 2021, when I attended one of the assessment weekends. It was both challenging and rewarding and when they announced that I had been successful, I was 'over the moon' to say the least. I am now a full member of the Guild and believe that anyone who thinks they are a chauffeur, should seriously consider applying to join this fantastic organisation at the earliest opportunity.
Becoming a full member not only gives you the right to wear the GoPC lapel badge with pride but will also allowing you to be amongst some of the most experienced chauffeurs in the UK and the networking benefits too.