Driver Hire

After purchasing their franchise business in 2021, they achieved a substantial rise in turnover, moving Leeds West from 81st place up to 19th in the Driver Hire network rankings based on turnover.

They’ve built an enviable and growing client list, and they regularly find work for dozens of drivers every week. The business has just celebrated several record weeks in the current year.

Tim and Fiona are modest about their success and attribute much of it to the other – but it’s clear their structured approach, with a focus on their individual strengths, has played a major role.

Time for a change

Prior to Driver Hire, neither Tim nor Fiona (husband and wife) had any meaningful road transport or recruitment industry experience. Tim worked for P&O Ferries as a mini-cruise and events development director, and Fiona for the NHS.

The pandemic brought about a change in their situation. Tim was made redundant, whilst Fiona had never been busier – working on a Covid ward at Bradford Royal Infirmary. This was a time to consider their future. Tim explains, “We recognised we had different but complementary skills, and felt we could work well together running our own business.”

Tim had time to investigate their options, and a search for a suitable franchise business led them to Driver Hire.

“Whilst we both moved into uncharted territory, we had a good understanding of customer service,” says Tim. “We understood the importance of treating customers and drivers how we’d like to be treated ourselves, and this gave us confidence we could make our business work.”

Driver Hire core requirements

Driver Hire is a round-the-clock recruitment business which requires significant commitment. It also involves sales (winning new customers), recruitment (attracting candidates – typically drivers), customer service (caring for customers and candidates), and ensuring the business functions effectively (administration and finance).

Complementary roles

Tim and Fiona created a clear business plan with defined roles for both: Tim was going to focus on supporting customers and candidates, and Fiona was going to focus on more administrative tasks. However, Tim explains, “It quickly became apparent that Fiona’s naturally caring nature was perfect for engaging with clients and candidates and building trust.”

So, they quickly changed their roles to better match their skills and support the business.

Now, Tim focuses on three key areas: business strategy, business development, and finance. He sets the strategy for 3 months ahead – planning the customer sectors to target and identifying target customers. He then leads the business development activities (supported by their Senior Recruiter) to generate new clients and help grow revenue. In addition, he manages all the financial aspects of the business: invoicing, payroll, and cash flow management.

Fiona’s key focus areas involve managing the existing client and candidate relationships (to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction), handling the day-to-day bookings (matching candidates to clients), and managing and developing the team.

Fiona is supported by their Recruitment Consultant/Resourcer – to ensure the business has enough new drivers to meet customer demand, and of course, this helps more people into work.

This clear designation of roles provides focus and ensures all the key weekly tasks are consistently covered, week-in-week-out.

Client and candidate satisfaction

Fiona’s focus on supporting and helping clients and candidates clearly works. They asked every customer to provide feedback, and their Google score increased from 3 out of 5 in 2021 (when they first started), to the current score of 4.9 out of 5.

Perfect partners in life – and dynamic in business

This dynamic duo works well together. They’re both highly personable and care about doing their best for their clients and their drivers.

Fiona concludes: “There’s a real sense of achievement in running your own business, finding work for drivers and going above and beyond to meet customer needs. We’ve developed great relationships with people who we genuinely like and can have a laugh with. And we’ve found that we actually like working with each other too!”

If Tim & Fiona’s story resonates with you why not get in touch to see if Driver Hire is the right fit for you? Just click the button below to get the ball rolling