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Blueback Celebrates 2nd Birthday with £3M financing.
Added: (Tue Nov 29 2005)
Blueback Celebrates 2nd Birthday with £3M financing.
The arrival of Steven Schwarz, previously CEO, DHL Shared Services and Nick Butcher, previously COO, DHL EMEA signals the next step in the development of Blueback into the industry leader and of the evolution of the minicab into a genuine service industry.
Looking back 2 years, Founder, Scott Pielsticker and Co-Founder, PJ Darling took the entire taxi and minicab experience apart and put it back together based on what consumers were asking. It all starts with setting up your account online and booking online. Upon arrival you receive a “Textback” on your mobile letting you know that your uniquely branded “blue backed” vehicle has arrived driven by your vetted, trained and uniformed driver.
Along the way your driver is guided by 3D visual and audio navigation and tracked via GPS as well as offering his or her customers free spring water and a daily newspaper. Afterwards, corporate clients can provide and track feedback online as well as receive monthly service reports with their customisable invoices.
Blueback continues to bring customer-focused improvements to the industry with the launch of its latest generation of in-car data terminals which will allow account customers to sign for their journey and provide feedback ensuring audit-proof journey confirmation and plenty of feedback to help in managing the entire customer experience.
Looking back to November 2003, Blueback started business with 100 journeys in its first month. With 15% monthly growth over the last 2 years they are now taking over 10,000 journeys a month from a portfolio of over 1,000 corporate and personal customers. Founder, Scott Pielsticker comments, “I’m hugely excited about having built a remarkable service brand in just 2 years and would like to thank the entire team for an amazing effort and commitment but it’s just the beginning. With the investment of £3M and the addition of Steve and Nick to the team we’re on track to consolidate and lead the London taxi and minicab industry over the next few years.’
Arriving CEO, Steve Schwarz, adds, “I’m really looking forward to joining Blueback. The team has built an excellent platform based on total commitment to service excellence. We’re all excited about taking the company to its next stage of development and fulfilling Blueback’s enormous potential.”
Editors Notes
Scott Pielsticker, Founder and CEO teamed up with school friend PJ Darling (Co-Founder and Director of Marketing) three years ago after having read an article about the minicab industry in the FT while on a flight to Toronto. Being a serial entrepreneur Scott realised that the £2BN London taxi and minicab marketplace was at a significant point in its history after legislation came into force legalising the minicab industry. With PJ on board early it ensured that the team delivered a customer focused brand capable of leading the consolidation of this hugely fragmented industry.
Press Release November 2005
For further press information, please contact:
PJ Darling
Blueback Limited
0207 845 7852
07866 495 183
pj@blueback.com