Minicab boss saw the road ahead was turning green

NICKO Williamson was ahead of the game when he set up Climatecars – an eco-friendly minicab service – five years ago.

He had the idea for the business while studying history at Bristol University and drove past a petrol station that had been converted to sell green fuels.

‘I saw there was a real niche in the market for entirely green cars,’ he says.

After raising £200,000 from ‘friends, family and fools’, Nicko, 28, launched his minicab business. It now has a fleet of 120 petrol/electric hybrid cars that operate throughout London and this summer Nicko introduced an entirely electric car, the Renault Florence.

Turnover soared by nearly 25 per cent from £2.2 million in 2011 to £2.73 million to the end of March 2012.

Climatecars now has more than 800 regular clients, most of which are other businesses including investment banks, Unilever and Absolute Radio.

But Nicko, who employs 24 staff at headquarters in Battersea, south London, as well as engaging more than 100 selfemployed drivers, says the focus in the coming months will be on increasing personal customers.

Having secured a further £600,000 in debt funding from Clydesdale Bank, Climatecars will shortly launch an iPhone app that customers will be able to use to book cabs and pay either by account, card or cash through the programme.