ABC Taxis,

It was back in 2009 that US2U Consulting began working with ABC Taxis in Norwich. In those days ABC Taxis had 60 cars and drivers and was looking to grow and develop the service it was delivering to Norwich and the surrounding areas.

We started by working with the Directors to develop the company vision which is "To be the best, most professional taxi service in Norfolk, delivering an excellent customer service experience by attracting the best drivers and staff. This will make ABC Taxis the preferred choice for customers and third parties."

Each year since then we have worked to support ABC Taxis by working on strategic, tactical and operational projects. These have included business planning, marketing support, corporate films, recruitment and HR policies and processes. "These days we have over 200 cars and drivers and offices with great staff in Norwich and Broadland. It has been tremendous to work with Rachel and her team to make a sustainable, positive difference to our company" said Simon Callender, Financial Director, ABC Taxis Ltd.

Congratulations to one of our long standing clients, ABC Taxis, on achieving their 20th anniversary. A number of the US2U Consulting team have supported ABC Taxis' business growth during the last 5 years and look forward to their continued success as the number one taxi firm in Norwich!

Rachel Blackburn is pictured with Simon Callender, Paul Walker and Dave Hall, Directors of ABC Taxis.

We are pleased to continue working with ABC Taxis on the next phase of their business development by helping them build on their growing success.

Their progressive attitude has allowed for really positive development and it is great to further assist them with their vision:

"To be the best, most professional taxi service in Norwich delivering an excellent customer service experience by attracting the best drivers and staff. This will make ABC Taxis the preferred choice for customers and third parties."

At the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce event involving all the Norfolk MPs back in February 2014, Rachel Blackburn, Director of US2U Consulting, raised the issue that it was taking over 3 months for a new taxi driver to get their licence from Norwich City Council, on behalf of her client ABC Taxis Ltd. As ABC Taxis planned to recruit 20 new drivers this year to meet customer demand, this clearly was a concern to them and also to the individuals concerned who are keen to start their new career.

Chloe Smith MP and Simon Wright MP agreed to help to solve the problem. Working with Rachel Blackburn who met with Norwich City Council to profile the process in more detail, it has been a team effort to resolve the issue. Norwich City Council have agreed that the process should take around 5 weeks and currently the experience when hiring the new drivers recently has been that it has been taking around 8 weeks - a significant difference.

US2U Consulting and ABC Taxis have also produced a film to make the recruitment and licencing process easier to understand from the new recruits point of view. This can be seen on the ABC Taxis website at http://www.abctaxisnorwich.co.uk/Recruitment.aspx. Chloe Smith also visited the ABC Taxis team as part of the process.

We have been proud to work with ABC Taxis in Norwich this year to support their vision of being the best, most professional taxi service in Norwich, delivering an excellent customer service experience.

One of the marketing strategies has been to create its Achieving Best Customer Service message, gain city centre presence and support the local community by sponsoring the SOS bus which provides a safe haven for people to attend at times of need.

The theme was the Olympics and there was excellent teamwork all round!

It was great to have a football goal donated by Harrod UK, an official London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games supplier.

"On behalf of all here at ABC, I want to say thank you for your hard work, time and effort that you put into the Lord Mayor's Procession. The day was a huge success and boosted our company and image to a wide range of the general public. The weather stayed dry and feedback was great; everyone had a fantastic time and it was nice to see the team making such an effort." Simon Callender, Director ABC Taxis Ltd.

We were proud to attend the Rev Active Awards ceremony with Simon Callender, Director of ABC Taxis, as he was presented with the award as the winner of the Green Product or Process Award.

US2U Consulting brought Rev Active and ABC Taxis together to achieve the environmental goals that we had agreed as part of the ABC Taxis strategic business plan. Established in Norwich in 1994, ABC Taxis received REV ACTIVE grant support to invest in eco‐cars, significantly reducing their carbon footprint and dramatically reducing costs. ABC have gone further though, acting as champions for low carbon business, encouraging their own customers and rebranding themselves from “ABC Taxis: Going to Gold” to “ABC Taxis: Going Greener”. The Company has launched a new low-carbon product and successfully differentiated itself in a competitive market through its exemplary green credentials.

Most of the US2U Consulting team have worked with ABC Taxis during the last 5 years to support them with their business growth plans. We are pleased to have supported them with their latest PR campaign to celebrate some of their achievements including liaising with the media and doing the photography. See the full article here.

Rachel and Kerwin Blackburn attended the "When I Grow Up" careers exhibition at Norwich Cathedral on Tuesday 15 December, aimed at providing inspirational careers advice to over 500 children from the Harleston schools in Norfolk.

The event featured around 80 organisations from a variety of sectors, and we were pleased to be featured within the "something a little bit different" section!

As part of our display we featured several of our clients to convey the benefits of becoming a Management Consultant, including fresh produce from Worldwide Fruit and G's Fresh, and an ABC Taxis recruitment film.

Unsurprisingly, however, Wayne Rooney's signed, match-worn football boots managed to steal the show, with many of the 7-13 year old crowd taking 'boot selfies' and vowing not to wash their hands again after holding them!

Emma Johnson, the schools' Cluster Coordinator, said "Thank you for bringing so many great activities and goodies for the children and sharing your passion for the jobs you do. The feedback from teachers and pupils has been so positive."

For the next year you will be able to see the US2U Consulting logo, as well as that of US2U client ABC Taxis, on the safety curtain each time you visit.

Laetitia Webb, Development Director at Norwich Theatre Royal said “We are delighted to get this financial support from US2U Consulting which means that we can continue to build on our education programme providing learning opportunities across the community.”

It was a pleasure to be invited to attend the Nelson's Journey Smiles Awards 2015 by ABC Taxis Ltd.

Nelson's Journey is a charity that supports bereaved children and young people. ABC Taxis was nominated for a "Best in-kind Support Award" as each month they provide a number of taxi journeys free of charge for the charity to transport children and young people to various support events.

Simon Callender, Director ABC Taxis, is pictured with one of their environmentally-friendly cars which carries the Nelson's Journey brand.

US2U Consulting congratulates ABC Taxis on their 25th anniversary of doing business and providing outstanding services to the community. US2U Consulting have worked closely with ABC Taxis for the last 10+ years to help enable their success and are happy to share this significant milestone.

Since starting in 1994, the company has grown exponentially into the largest Private Hire provider in Norfolk. They are incredibly proud to have the largest eco-friendly fleet with over 150 hybrid and electric vehicles, and over 230 drivers and 25 staff members.

As well as achieving 25 years in business, ABC Taxis is proud to report that they are on target to beat one million journeys in a single year for the first time ever in the company's history. This is a monumental accomplishment!

Rachel Blackburn, Director of US2U Consulting, reports, "It has been a positive journey so far with the directors, staff and drivers of ABC Taxis. This milestone is a great example of how collaboration between US2U Consulting and ABC Taxis has achieved significant business growth. We wish them the best for more continued success in the future.".

Rachel Blackburn and guests attended the 2012 Norwich School Ball and took the opportunity to promote US2U Consulting and ABC Taxis, a client of the company.

We also took the opportunity to promote another of our clients, NORCAS, that is a 'leading independent charity working with people, of all ages, who have problems with alcohol, drugs or gambling.'

US2U Consulting were pleased to attend the opening of The Enterprise Centre at the University of East Anglia on Thursday 8th October.

The Enterprise Centre comprises a number of carbon-neutral, locally-sourced materials including Thetford timber, Norfolk thatch, hemp and polished concrete, providing a range of economic and environmental benefits to make it one of the most sustainable buildings in Europe.

It is anticipated that the Centre will help foster an increasingly entrepreneurial culture both among UEA students and across the region over the coming years.

The event featured an inspirational talk by guest of honour Lord Bilimoria, a tour of the building and the unveiling of the Sir Brandon Gough lecture theatre.

To celebrate providing ongoing great service to UEA staff and students, and their mutual commitment to a greener environment, Rachel Blackburn arrived in an ABC Taxis Eco Car (pictured).

An excellent example as to how US2U Consulting can incorporate tailor-made films into your recruitment and staff engagement strategies:

We had a great afternoon photographing 13 of ABC Taxis' eco cars in Norwich.

It was ironic that we were photographing the anti-pollution cars on the high pollution day - you can only just see Norwich Cathedral in the background!