The courier arm of Addison Lee is the fastest growing part of the private hire firm’s business and the company is gearing up to use its fully-owned fleet to offer a niche luxury delivery service in London.
Addison Lee’s 4,500-strong car fleet includes 800 Mercedes and these will be used to provide a chauffeur driven delivery service, which will be able to deliver premium items to customers within one hour of ordering.
The chauffeur will wait as customers try on the item in case they want to return it.
David Bruce, business and corporate development director at Addison Lee, revealed the company hopes to launch the service in the third quarter of this year.
The concept behind the luxury service is to make the customer “feel very special” in a way that distinguishes itself from other delivery options.
Last year Addison Lee bought chauffeur business Tristar as it seeks to “lift” its brand.
“When you have lots of new entrants competing very quickly and cheaply there is only one way to take your business and that is more premium,” said Bruce. “The Tristar business is a white-glove chauffeur business and that has allowed us to think about service at an even higher level and it will bring the whole Addison Lee business up to that standard.”
Addison Lee also prides itself on the quality of its drivers and Bruce revealed that the company rejects four out of five prospective drivers.
“We have a very high standard of people representing our brand because they are representing customers’ brands as well,” said Bruce.
Addison Lee is receiving enquires every day from big name retailers and brands including Farfetch, Gucci and Prada as they seek to tap in to the demand for fast same day delivery, according to Bruce.