Rapidly expanding Take Me Group makes latest purchase buying Crewe’s Westside Taxis
The Leicester based company has kept to its promise of adding a new taxi or private company to the rapidly expanding group every month.
Last week Take Me Group added Stoke-on-Trent-based Intercity Taxis to the roster in a deal worth between £3-4million.
Under the latest deal, Westside proprietor Stephen Robinson has sold his business to Take Me Directors John Gardner and David Hunter. Unlike most of Take Me’s acquisitions, this deal is not financed by MBH Corporation - the private venture group that backs Take Me Group, but has been privately funded by the two Take Me Directors. Take Me’s David Hunter said: “The 159 strong fleet starts our venture away from the midlands into the north-west.” Former Owner Stephen Robinson said: “David's team made the whole experience of selling very easy, they are honourable people and not backed by venture capitalists, which gives a more human approach. They are taxi men with a vision.”
Last month, Take Me Group bought Cambridgeshire-based Steve’s Taxis in a deal worth between £1-1.4million. Steve’s Taxis has a fleet of more than 100 vehicles operating in and around Huntingdon and St Neots. In February, Take Me added Birmingham-based TC Cars to its portfolio, in a separate £2million deal not funded through MBH. And last November, Take Me bought Farnborough-based Victoria Gosden Travel Limited (VGT) for a price between £1.3-2million, in a deal that was backed by MBH. The ambitious Take Me Group is based in Leicester and its main hub is the ADT Taxis business started by David Hunter and Ashley Butcher. Hunter said after the Steve’s Taxis deal that the group was working on further acquisitions and would be adding further companies ‘at a rate of one per month’.
