When I first started at Interline I worked primarily as a minicab driver but I also moonlighted at a chauffeur company based in the City for a few months whilst a friend of mine was away travelling. It was certainly an eye opener as to how the other half lived.
The company had a contract with the BP head office and we would drive executives and their wives to various functions. The usual format would be to collect the wives from their home, drive to BP near Waterloo station and then on to the function. The better placed the executive, the nicer the house we picked up from. Hampstead, St Johns Wood and Richmond were favourites but I always seemed to land a couple who lived near the common in Barnes. They were South African and had previously lived on a huge ranch near Capetown. I don't think Barnes Common was quite on the same scale. There was certainly a distinct lack of emus which they used to breed !! Really lovely people but you knew that life had been very kind to them and money was not a problem.
One evening I collected the lady and she asked if I would pick up a copy of Vogue magazine for her. As she flicked through the magazine she obviously spotted something that she liked and made a phone call. I have changed the names but the conversation went something like this.
"Hello Trudy it's Ruth How are you? Good , Good
Have you got this month's Vogue? Of course you have. Have you seen the Manolo's on page 248
Aren't they lovely. His shop is just round the corner from you. I won't have a chance to get into London this week. I am a size 5. Would you pick me up a pair and we will sort it out when I see you next. Thanks Darling bye."
So we picked up her husband and onto Claridges. Vogue magazine was left on the back seat so of course I had to look. The Manolo's on page 248 turned out to be a pair of boots. They were a snip at £1295!!! How many people can you ring up and ask them to buy you something for £1295?
On another occasion as I was getting ready to leave the chauffeur company offices the controller took a call from an American gentleman who had a booking that evening. He wanted to confirm that his chauffeur was also a bodyguard. The company did not offer that service. However I am 6' 3" and weigh about 18 stone. The quick thinking controller explained that whilst they did not have a bodyguard/chauffeur they did have a chauffeur that looked like a bodyguard and as the booking was in 1/2 an hour I would have to do. At first I agreed to do the job but then the thought hit me. Why does this guy need a bodyguard? On the run from the Yakuza! Drug deal with the Colombians gone sour. Or, most dangerous of all, a woman scorned.
I was told the newly invented position of bodyguard/ chauffeur paid an extra £20. Well you would take a bullet for £20 wouldn't you. It turned out he was an oilman from Texas who was travelling abroad for the first time. The first part of his trip was a visit to the companies operation in Nigeria where you only left the compound in 3 car convoy with armed guards. He thought he needed similar protection on the mean streets of Mayfair. Thankfully he had managed to meet his "niece" who was from Norf Laindon, thought Texas was a diy centre and seemed to need rather a lot of pocket money to buy fings wot I need innit.
Interline does not do bodyguards and I am now a little long in the tooth. We can, however, offer E and S Class Mercedes along with luxury MPV's. The corporate client may choose to use them for senior staff and important guests. To sink back in those leather seats and relax as you are transferred from Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted to your London base is a rare treat. Equally they can be a huge asset if you have to spend the day travelling between appointments and need to work en route. Privately you may wish to treat yourself on that special night out for dinner or to the theatre. Your chauffeur can be booked to take you and then be waiting for you when it is time to go home. Our offices are based in Harrow but we cover all of London and the Home Counties.
Please visit our website http://www.interlineonline.com/ for further details. You can book online or if you would rather, telephone us on 020 8864 7888
Kind Regards Chris
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