Our Chauffeurs

The professional chauffeur is of paramount importance in ensuring a service is performed effectively and efficiently. Our challenge has been to select and recruit chauffeurs of the required calibre here in London and ensure our overseas affiliates impose and maintain the same standards within their operations.

We believe our focus on financial sector clients has helped us define these standards more clearly and maintain them more consistently and whilst we obviously have to place a degree of trust in our chauffeurs, we have invested considerable resources in finding ways of ensuring they have the necessary information and support to perform their services flawlessly.

Driven Worldwide chauffeurs understand the nature of financial sector services, especially during financial roadshows and they empathise strongly with the priorities and objectives of our clients, such as the need to maintain complete confidentiality and the importance of communicating any deviations from their schedule.

Basic Service Criteria

The following is a brief summary of the basic criteria we expect all our chauffeurs to meet. These criteria are incorporated into a comprehensive legal service agreement which we insist our chauffeurs and affiliates enter into.

Personal Hygiene and Presentation

One of the most common complaints we hear from prospective clients is regarding poor personal hygiene of chauffeurs. This is a sensitive subject but we feel it necessary to stipulate the minimum standards that are acceptable in terms of personal grooming.

Attire

Our chauffeurs will wear a clean, dark, wool suit (ideally single-breasted) and a white or blue shirt, Driven Worldwide tie (if issued) and polished shoes, preferably of the lace-up variety.  Jewellery other than a wedding ring, watch and cufflinks should preferably not be worn.

Smoking

We emphasise to our chauffeurs that their non-smoking passengers will be extremely sensitive to the odour of tobacco, that they must not smoke in their vehicle and should wash their hands and brush teeth regularly. We request they avoid smoking within fifteen minutes of a service and remove clothing if practical to avoid getting it smoky. We also ask that chauffeurs avoid smoky environments during the working day if possible.

Eating and Drinking

A chauffeur’s working day can be busy and sometimes, it may be necessary for them to take lunch in their vehicles. We ask them to avoid doing so if at all possible to prevent the smell of food in the vehicle and obviously insist that they do not eat or drink in the vehicles if clients are present.

Mobile Telephones

All chauffeurs must have an operational mobile phone with them at all times and always be able to answer it in case we need to contact them or their passengers.

We insist that phones should be set to silent alert/vibrate so as not to disturb the passengers and that they operate their phones with an appropriate hands-free kits as required by law.

We ask that calls of a personal nature or that do not directly relate to the service in hand should not be taken whilst passengers are on board. 

Driving Standards

Our chauffeurs must always drive at a safe speed considering the road/weather conditions and the legal speed limit and must adhere to the Highway Code and traffic laws at all times.

Our clients should enjoy a smooth ride, defined by the lack of any discernible acceleration or deceleration because they may be trying to work, sleep or relax.

We emphasise that the ride the passenger experiences is considerably harsher than the ride the driver experiences and you should always drive more smoothly than you think you need to. At no time should the passengers be made to feel unsafe or that the chauffeur is not operating the vehicle beyond his capability.

Route Knowledge

We insist our chauffeurs have a thorough knowledge of their home location including the following:

• Airport locations and terminal layouts.
• The major arterial routes into and out of the city centre
• Locations of major hotels, restaurants, places of interest and key corporate addresses likely to be encountered during a roadshow.

 

Our chauffeurs will have far more than just a rudimentary knowledge of their city and should only need to refer to a map or a Satellite Navigation System if the address is obscure or out of town. In mot cases they will have had the opportunity to prepare or actually drive the route beforehand but will make use of maps and SatNav to augment their navigation where appropriate.

Conversation with Passengers

Whilst it is always polite when meeting a passenger for the first time to introduce himself and instigate some light conversation, we emphasise the great importance of not imposing on the passenger and knowing when to desist from sustaining the conversation further.

Music in the Vehicle

Our chauffeurs understand that music should not be playing unless the passenger wishes it to be and we suggest the chauffeur asks to passenger to express a preference in this respect so there is no misunderstanding.

Resting/Sleeping in the Car

Our clients should always see their chauffeur awake, alert and ready to assist them, however, there will also be occasions when the chauffeur is performing an extremely long day and may therefore need to rest briefly at certain times. However, the chauffeur should always use his discretion is identifying an appropriate rest opportunity whilst ensuring he is prepared to resume the service when required.

Confidentiality and Discretion

An important part of our agreement with our chauffeurs and affiliates is that detailing the need for complete client confidentiality. We emphasise that UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES may they discuss or divulge any information that you may become party to during the course of the service provision and they are reminded of the legal implications of contravening this instruction.

Consumption of Drugs And Alcohol

The consumption of illegal or controlled substances (unless under the guidance and prescribed by a qualified medical professional) is of course, strictly forbidden. We remind our chauffeurs and affiliates that when taking prescription medication, care must be taken to ensure the drugs are not contra-indicated for operating a vehicle/machinery and that they have no adverse effects even if they are not.

Alcohol must not be consumed at any time during a working shift or at least eight hours before hand and then only in moderation (less than four units).

We reserve the right to test our chauffeurs for alcohol consumption AT ANY TIME during a working shift. Failure to participate in such a test would constitute grounds for instant termination and we would also report the matter to the Police and any other relevant authority without hesitation.

Driven Worldwide Service Criteria

In addition to the basic service criteria we expect of our chauffeurs, you can also expect the following fro our chauffeurs the appropriate stage of the service:

Before the Service

They should ensure they have a copy of the Driven Worldwide/Driven A to B booking form and the latest Client itinerary (if available).

• They should either know or have prepared their route thoroughly to ensure they are entirely clear how to travel to each of the destinations.
• They will have the correct nameboard for the client they are meeting and use a nameboard with a particular client logo on if required and available.
• They will arrive at their pick-up point at least 15 minutes before the scheduled pick-up time.

 Meeting the Passenger

The should greet the client in a courteous and civil manner, assist them with their luggage and always open and close doors as appropriate, offer an umbrella if it’s raining and be willing and able to help the passengers with any task that might make their day easier, such as collecting some lunch if they are hungry and short of time.

Airport Pick-Ups

• When meeting a flight, they must also double-check which terminal it arrives into and monitor its progress to ensure they are ready for their pick-up in plenty of time.  Flight arrivals (especially long-haul) can change quickly so they will ensure the information is correct and allow enough time for the pick-up. We also encourage them to speak with the airline AND the airport to ensure the information tallies with the already crosschecked information we have provided.
• They will use a nameboard as instructed on the booking request and display it clearly. We advise our chauffeurs that one-inch capital letters are visible at 30 feet by a normal sighted person –and so they should write as big as the space will allow.
• We suggest they stand in a position that is as obvious as possible to an arriving passenger. Although it may seem better to stand away from a huge group of chauffeurs, this is most likely where a passenger would look to begin with.

Address Pick-Ups

If meeting from an address, the chauffeur will wait next to their vehicle with the requested nameboard clearly displayed. They will wait for the client and MUST NOT contact them to announce your arrival unless instructed to do so. If the chauffeur has not met with the within 10 minutes of the scheduled pick-up time, they will telephone Driven Worldwide and we will action accordingly,

Hotel Pick Ups

• Upon arrival, the chauffeur will announce their presence to the doorman or concierge so they can advise the passenger that their car is waiting.
• They will park as closely to the hotel entrance as possible and be ready to assist the passenger with their luggage and open their doors.

Route Selection

They will always use the most direct and quickest route unless instructed otherwise by the client. If the client makes a route recommendation that the chauffeur does not agree with, the chauffeur will politely state which route they think it better and why and then ask the passenger if they would still prefer to take a different route. The passenger instruction in this respect will always be followed, however, we feel it is appropriate for the chauffeur to make his recommendation.

Excess Luggage

As there may occasionally collect a number of passengers with an unexpected amount of bulky and/or excess luggage that cannot be accommodated in the requested vehicle, the chauffeur will organise the use a taxi or another Driven Worldwide vehicle.  When a taxi is used, you the chauffeur will settle the bill themselves and recharge the cost to the client.

Multi-Car Services

• When working as part of a team on a multi-car service, our chauffeurs are advised accordingly and provided with the contact details of the other chauffeur (s). They will establish contact prior to the initial pick-up to ensure they are both in situ in the same place at the same time, have similarly worded name boards and are ready to perform the service as a coordinated team.
• During multi-car services, a lead chauffeur will be assigned whose responsibility it is to co-ordinate the passengers' requirements and communicate any changes we have been instructed to make. The lead-chauffeur should co-ordinate meeting points, times and also that all chauffeurs submit bills for the same charges.

Drop-Offs

• When dropping a lone client to an address at night, the chauffeur will attempt to ensure the passengers are safely inside the building before departing.
• The chauffeur will check the interior and boot of their vehicle thoroughly to ensure there passengers have all their belongings. If there are any items left over that are no longer required, the chauffeur will take direction from the passenger regarding what should be done with them.

General Communication

Our chauffeurs wholly understand the importance of communicating their progress to us if for any reason the party is not adhering to their schedule or for any reason that could affect the successful performance of the service.

General Attitude

Our chauffeurs take their jobs and their responsibilities seriously and aim to provide a professional, attentive and efficient service at all times. They have accumulated years of experience in arguably the most demanding industry sector and not just the same year repeated many times.

From our chauffeurs you can expect, a ‘can do’ attitude, which manifest s itself in flexibility, experience, knowledge, effectiveness and professionalism.