My deepest regret about being in business now is that my parents never got to know about it and that we started our family business after they both passed away, both aged 88. My mother died in 2011 and my father in 2014, after which the idea about being in business ourselves came alive in 2016 when we formed DB Weddings Cars and then 2017, when DB Executive Travel was birthed, becoming DB Executive Travel & Wedding Cars.

It was my parents who were my example of exemplary customer care when together with my uncle, my father’s brother, they ran a garage business, G & K Barnes Ltd for all their working lives. So, I grew up in the family business environment, and was trained in my early teenage years and early 20s about looking after customers and learning that the customer is always right.

In addition to the above, my own older brother, Adrian also ran his own business until he became terminally ill and then sadly passed away recently in May 2019. After my parents deaths, it was Adrian whom I turned to and shared about our own quality chauffeur business, who was always very interested and provided me with so much encouragement - in fact, he would often tell me that I should be charging double the price I was for such good care!

Today, we have a very solid support network, along with many regular clients, and multiple new clients every month, as well as our own family who provide that support, encouragement and feedback. We are thankful to every one of them and every single supporting comment and client testimonial that is sent to us.

So what training did I receive over 40 years ago that has such a strong bearing in the way we run our executive chauffeur business now?

My first introduction to customer care was when I had a weekend job serving customers on the petrol pumps, when I was also required to check the tyre pressures, oil and water levels, wash the windscreen as well as ‘fill her up with 4 star’, as I was often asked.

Payment was made by hard cash in those days, so I learnt how to add amounts up in my head, and give the correct change.

At the end of each shift, I was then required to balance the till, to ensure that the monies we received were equal to the takings reported on the pumps as well as the stock of other items like oil and accessories sold. I have to say that there was a huge amount of trust given me, but then I shadowed the experienced attendant for some time of course, until I was competent to be on my own.

In the early 1980s, after having started my own accounting career, I then moved back to work full time at the garage as their management accountant, along with being Forecourt manager, when I was once again back on the pumps occasionally, but also training and looking after other staff to provide the set high level of customer care that I was taught many years previously. Those were the days of course, when computers and mobile cellphones as they were initially called, were just being introduced!

Also, during my 15 years working in a major corporate company, which I often refer to, when I was travelling often across mainland Europe and the USA, I spent too much time at airports waiting for my arranged ‘lift’ to the office or hotel, and then experiencing what I would call as sub standard driving and customer care. During those times, I was learning the pain points of a traveller, which enables me now to provide totally the opposite with our executive chauffeur and wedding car business.

Today, I am very pleased that our youngest of 3 adult daughters, Hannah, has developed such a high level of customer care as well, which is confirmed by our clients who she usually speaks to on the phone before I get to meet them. Hannah has a wonderful telephone manner that is extremely calm and she is able to reassure clients whether for weddings or executive chauffeur services, that they will be looked after.

Our guarantees are able to be delivered because of the background we have along with the 100% commitment in the team to ensuring that clients will be kept safe and comfortable, while we guarantee that we operate legally and reliably.

In answer to my headline question, ‘Do I regret being a chauffeur now?”, the answer is absolutely not, apart from the fact that I am not able to share our vision with my parents, but those who know our family have kindly said that they believe my parents would have been proud of what we have achieved and would have been our biggest supporters. I would like to think they would.