Little’s Chauffeur Drive has invested £1 million in a new fleet, as the company celebrates its strongest financial year in the company’s history.
The family run, global chauffeur business, which was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, has announced growth of 42% since 2020 (the last normal year of trading) and 100% growth in its workforce in the past 12 months.
The new fleet will be delivered throughout 2024 and will include sixteen new Mercedes V class people carriers which will operate out of the company’s bases in Edinburgh and Glasgow. The new vehicles take Little’s total fleet up to 50 cars. These new cars are all equipped with the latest safety features and vehicle technology, and because they can accommodate up to seven people at a time, the carbon footprint per head per journey is reduced. Investment in these new vehicles is part of Little’s commitment to reducing the overall carbon footprint of the business and impact on the environment – and 59% of its Scottish fleet is now hybrid.
In the past 12 months, Little’s has also significantly invested in its workforce, growing the team to 70 employees, and recruiting office based roles and chauffeurs mainly in Scotland. Two thirds of the senior leadership team are women and the company offers flexible working to encourage a diverse workforce. Staff retention has been at 92% in the past 12 months.
Little’s began trading in 1966, growing to becoming Scotland’s largest chauffeur drive company by the 1990s. In 2020, Managing Director Heather Matthews was forced to put the business into a ‘financial coma’ as global business and leisure travel was affected by COVID-19. When the team came back from furlough and people started to travel again, it was the COP26 conference in Glasgow that helped bring the company back to life. Since then, Little’s has continued to manage the global travel logistics for its diverse range of clients from the business and leisure sectors, the media and entertainment world and major events.
Heather Matthews commented, “There’s no doubt that the last few years have been very tough in our sector, but we have shown how resilient we can be, bouncing back from an incredibly challenging period to making this significant investment in the future health of our business. Our team have worked hard in the last few years, to ensure the business was ready to respond when people started travelling and going back to their offices again after COVID.
“Our ability to adapt, the strength of our team here in Glasgow and beyond, and our unrivalled service is what has kept us operational and profitable and we look forward to continuing to grow the business over the next few years.”
Little’s was awarded Silver by Green Tourism in 2022 in recognition of their sustainable approach to business, which includes planting 709 trees in the Corporate Grove via Trees for Life, offsetting 177.25 tons of carbon, use of Cano Water in cars instead of single-use plastic bottles, the company’s strict no-chemical policy when washing vehicles, a robust recycling and waste management system, and a dedicated ‘green team’ to drive change and keep sustainability at the forefront of the business agenda.
Click here to find out more about Little’s Chauffeur Drive.
