05/07/2026
When I started Harry’s Taxis, there were very few viable independent taxi firms around. The big companies had huge advertising budgets, established brands and years of experience behind them.
For me, this was a complete Hail Mary.
My goal for the first year wasn’t to become the biggest or the busiest. It was simply to survive.
If I’m honest, despite wanting it to succeed more than anything, I’ve always been a bit of a pessimist. I genuinely expected it to fail.
Those early days were incredibly hard. Trying to find the right market, getting the name out there, creating systems, building routines and learning how to run a business from the ground up. Every day felt like another lesson.
Fast forward to today, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built.
We now have a fantastic team, and something I’m equally proud of is the network of independent local taxi businesses we’ve built relationships with. Every one of them is on their journeys on the challenges of running a business as I am.
Running a business isn’t easy. It’s stressful, demanding and, at times, completely thankless. But it’s also rewarding, exciting and one of the biggest personal challenges you’ll ever take on.
When I first started, I heard plenty of comments like:
• “You’ll never make it work.”
• Other drivers saying “You’ll only give everyone else the rubbish jobs while you keep the best ones.”
In the last few weeks we didn’t have any availability for one of our regular customers so we reached out to Bex and she took our regular to Scotland and as of late c&p were off to stand-stead in London.
Thankfully, the people around me know that’s never been what Harry’s Taxis is about.
Today, we’ve got Swanny and Dan looking after the minibus, Ruth and me covering the cars, and we work alongside some brilliant local independent operators, including
Jonno’s Taxi,
Darlington Wheel + Minibus,
Bex.Taxi022
C&P Taxis
the industry independent leader Woodys taxi service Darlington,
Brian Burniston K & L Travel
Arc travel minibus
Tracy Simpson
We’re not trying to build an empire.
We’re helping to build strong, independent local businesses that put customers first, support one another and prove that working together is better than working against each other.
I couldn’t be prouder of what we’re creating, and this is only the beginning.
So watch this space.
