We built Uber before Uber existed...

Fast-forward to early 2020: the organisation has grown to become one of the biggest independents in its domain with 200 drivers and a £10 million annual revenue.

How did British Airport Transfers achieve this?

Well, since 2008, British Airport Transfers has partnered with Switchplane to develop a complex end-to-end web-based platform to manage airport car bookings, right through from customer enquiry to driver allocation and payment.

In 2008, if you recall, there were only the options of pre-booking a minicab or hailing a hackney carriage at an airport or cruise terminal.

There are various features that make British Airport Transfers’ web-based system comparable to Uber - although, of course, far superior in terms of professional customer service and the excellent office team on hand to help in case of any queries!

• Get an advance quote based on pick-up location and drop-off location
• When selecting your destination, you can see your route on a map, estimated journey time and distance, making it clear where you’re heading
• Manage any diversions/stop-off points for the route
• Manage the number of passengers travelling and the type of vehicle to suit your comfort and luggage needs
• See your driver location before pick-up, giving you an idea of when to head down to your hotel reception
• Log into your account to make repeat bookings easier

From a taxi-management point of view, administrators can manage phone bookings on the same system as web bookings, view the locations of all drivers on a huge screen in their dispatch office, and communicate with drivers easily via an app.

= Uber before Uber.

How did this help?

By having their own custom software to improve efficiencies in bookings management - i.e. making it simple and straightforward for customers to book online, facilitate phone bookings, and ease repeat bookings - it has meant that staff can process bookings and manage drivers a lot more quickly. Ultimately, this means they can accept more jobs!

Not only this, but data is readily available to help inform smart business decisions - such as when to hire more drivers to meet demand.

Can we help your business in a similar way?

Yes, and you don't need to be a taxi company! Custom software can help bring efficiencies to many industries by reducing the amount of manual processing time needed. It’s not about replacing humans with computers, rather freeing up staff time to advance your business further.

If you want to have a chat about ways we could help your business with custom software, drop us a line.