HIRE SPIRITS

A new West Midlands car hire business has taken delivery of the very latest in four-wheeled luxury, after acquiring a brand new £250,000 Rolls Royce Phantom.
Because of its value, the Phantom has to be stored in a special secure garage in the Birmingham area when not in use.
Paul Lambert, from Wolverhampton, is general manager of the new business, Platinum Executive Travel, which offers a 24 hour-a-day, 365 days-a-year service to clients looking for “safety, luxury, discretion and quality of service”.  He will also be the man behind the wheel.  Mr Lambert said: “It’s a very nice, refined car – no other car can compare to it.  It drives superbly and the features and extras are just unbelievable.”
Platinum director Saleem Iqbal said: “The business was aiming for the top drawer in terms of customers; people looking to travel in style and able to afford one of the world’s classiest cars – with a chauffeur the Phantom costs £200 per hour or £1,500 for a complete day.”
        “But it can also give ordinary people a touch of luxury for that special occasion,” he added.  The firm is also introducing a wedding car hire package to make a couple’s big day extra special.”

EXPRESS & STAR – Monday 23rd October 2006

Two Rolls are better than one

SOLIHULL has always enjoyed a reputation as an upmarket area and now residents are being given the opportunity to travel anywhere in style in one of the most expensive cars money can buy. 
The Rolls Royce Phantom is still a relatively uncommon sight on British roads – in large part due to its £250,000 price tag – but now a borough entrepreneur is offering people the chance to ride in a chauffer-driven Phantom. Saleem Iqbal is so sure people will be queueing up to use them that he has even ordered two of the limousines.It might not match the entire fleet recently delivered to a Hong Kong hotel but Mr Iqbal’s Phantoms are the only ones currently available for hire in the Midlands. Mr Iqbal, who already has a car sales business based in Hay Mills, got the idea for the Phantom hire business while in London a few months ago. He said “I was picking up someone at Heathrow and saw a Phantom and it made quite an impression.  I checked out the market in Birmingham and discovered there wasn’t one”. After finding out it would cost people thousands of pounds to get one to come to Birmingham from London or Manchester Mr Iqbal decided to give it a go himself. Most of the business he expects to be weddings but he anticipates there will be others who want to hire a Phantom for less salubrious occasions. Already one woman from Solihull has used the company to take her on a shopping trip to Harrods. And the reason Mr Iqbal has ordered a second vehicle is because he feels there may also be customers from further afield. “If someone from Russia or Dubai flies in and wants to book the car for a month it means we have lost it for that whole time and can’t accommodate other customers.  We can’t really afford to sit there twiddling our thumbs so now we are awaiting delivery of a second one.” To find out more call 0121 706 2900 or 07812 000000 or visit www.platinumet.co.uk

Solihull Times – November 2006