Spiralling rail fares boost for chauffeur business

Nic Bartle, who spent four years in the commando infantry, has subsequently worked on jobs ranging from football ground and airport trips to driving and protection for the Saudi Royal Family.

Now Mr Bartle, 25, hopes to win contracts for Wharfe Chauffeurs as the above-inflation increase in rail fares tempts more business people to travel by road, particularly to London. The price of rail tickets rose by an average of 6.2 this month, while the Consumer Price Index inflation is at 3.3 per cent.

Mr Bartle said: "I hope to win work with the blue-chips as well as big hotels. I don't think the train offers enough value and comfort for the business traveller, and if you have two people travelling in a car, it would be cheaper than a train. It seems like a nice market, but it is a mass market we are looking at."

The entrepreneur believes the large professional services community in Yorkshire – Leeds is the largest legal centre outside London and the Big Four accountancy all firms have offices there – presents a major businesses opportunity.

He expects to turn over about 60,000 this year and hopes to raise this to 80,000 in 2012.

He has also taken clients to Manchester Airport, Leeds Airport and to football matches around the region.

Wharfe has two vehicles – Mr Bartle's BMW and a colleague's Mercedes – and also uses another Mercedes through Winns Travel, a family-run corporate and executive travel business in Sheffield.

Mr Bartle said he hopes to increase the number of cars over time and said he was not deterred by the uncertain state of Britain's economic recovery.

"I am trying very hard to take away the preconceived idea that chauffeur-driven cars are for the likes of Lord Sugar. Professionals at the senior level have only so many chargeable hours a week. The back of a car is not as good as an office but it is better than losing time getting flights or jumping between London Underground trains.

"I would like to cover the areas of Harrogate, Wetherby, York, Leeds and Sheffield.

"I would like to have a couple of vehicles on the road every day. The biggest market is in going down to London.

"I would like to use former Services personnel. They know how to act with dignitaries and know when people want to talk and when they want to be left alone."

Mr Bartle said former servicemen and women were also well-presented and knew the importance of training and providing a good quality of service.

During his time in the Marines, Mr Bartle, a former pupil at boarding school Sedbergh, in Cumbria, worked in fleet protection and new nuclear convoys. He said he began to consider setting up a business before he left the Marines in 2007.

The original Faslane Peace Camp was set up in 1982 in protest at the then government's decision to base the country's Trident nuclear submarine fleet there. There have since been numerous large-scale protests and several high-profile arrests.

Mr Bartle joined the Marines as an 18-year-old and spent a year in 45 Commando at Arbroath and nearly two years in the fleet protection group at Faslane and Helensburgh, but latterly began to think more about a new career.

"In my last couple of years, I became obsessed with business. My days were spent number crunching. Setting up a business, I was always thinking about the transport side of things.

"It is something I saw a lot of in London and I wanted to bring the service to the North."

Mr Bartle set up Wharfe after two-and-a-half years working part-time for the Saudi Royal Family.

He has acted as a bodyguard and a driver on the family's trips to Britain, as well as to Nice and Monaco. It is on these occasions that Mr Bartle has driven a Bentley for the head of the family.

"Their wealth is unparalleled. I feel very lucky doing that job and getting to spend time on their yacht."

Wharfe Chauffeurs began trading last month, coinciding with some steep rises in rail fares. Train companies were recently condemned when they announced an inflation-busting New Year increase.

East Coast, the operator of the London to Yorkshire line, said their fares would increase by an average of 5.4 per cent, with a 5.3 per cent rise in unregulated fares and a 5.8 per cent increase in regulated tickets.

All regulated fares will rise by inflation plus three per cent next year but in West Yorkshire the hike will be inflation plus five per cent, because of an additional commitment to provide more than 800 extra seats at peak times.

NIK BARTLE FACT FILE

Nic Bartle, who studied at Sedbergh school, in Cumbria, on a rugby bursary, joined the Royal Marines in November 2003.

He began at the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines at Lymstone, where he spent eight months.

In July the following year, he joined 45 Commando in Arbroath, in Angus, as part of the Maneuver Support Group, where he stayed until January 2006.

He later joined the Fleet Protection Group Royal Marines in Faslane, in Argyll and Bute, where he worked in vessel boardings and nuclear deterrent operations between January 2006 and October 2007.

Today Mr Bartle lives in York.