Around Colchester
Local journeys, priced by a person before you travel
Station runs, appointments, the weekly shop and the trips that are too short to plan around. Booked through the office, quoted for the route you are actually taking.
Straight answer
There is no local price on this site, and that is deliberate
Every fare on this website comes from a confirmed price list. Airport and port routes are on that list, so they can be priced online and the price is the price. Local journeys are not on it yet.
The obvious shortcut would be to estimate local fares from a per-mile rate. We will not, because an estimate shown as a price is a price you would expect us to honour — and if the route is longer than the estimate assumed, the conversation at the end of the journey is the one nobody wants.
So local work goes to the office, where somebody prices the actual route and tells you the figure before it is booked. It is one extra phone call and no surprises.
What we are asked for
The four journeys that fill a Colchester day
None of these are long. All of them matter more than their distance suggests, which is why they are worth booking rather than hoping.
Station runs
Colchester North and Colchester Town, timed to the service rather than to a rough guess. Useful in both directions, and especially late.
Appointments
Colchester Hospital and the surgeries around town. Booked to arrive early, because an appointment missed is an appointment rebooked in six weeks.
Shopping and errands
Into town and back with bags, or a run to a retail park where the bus stops nowhere useful. Tell the office if you want help to the door.
Short business trips
Across town to a meeting, or between two sites in a morning. On an account these land on the monthly invoice with your reference.
Business journeys can be booked on a corporate account — how accounts work.
Where we run
Colchester and the surrounding villages
Not an exhaustive list, and not a promise that a car is free at any given moment. If your postcode is not here, the office will still tell you yes or no in one call.
- Colchester town centre
- Greenstead
- Highwoods
- Lexden
- Mile End
- Prettygate
- Stanway
- Wivenhoe
- West Bergholt
- Marks Tey
- Tiptree
- Layer de la Haye
Worth knowing
Private hire means pre-booked, always
A hackney carriage can be hailed or picked up from a rank. A private hire vehicle cannot — every journey has to be booked in advance through a licensed operator. That is not a policy of ours, it is the condition of the licence.
In practice it means two things. You cannot flag us down, so a journey needs a call. And every journey we run has a booking record showing it was arranged before it happened, which is exactly what the licence requires an operator to be able to show.
Booking a local journey
- Call 01206 701701. The office is answered 24 hours, every day.
- Give the pickup address, the destination, the time and the number of passengers.
- You are given the price for that journey, before it is booked.
- Keep the reference. It is how the office finds your job instantly.
Questions
Asked about local work
Why can I not get a local price on this website?
Because we do not have a published price list for local journeys yet, and this site will not show a fare it cannot honour. Every price you see here is read from a confirmed list. Rather than estimate a local fare from a per-mile formula and then correct it at the end of the journey, the booking form sends local work to the office, where somebody prices the actual route.
How do I book a local journey?
Call 01206 701701. Tell the office where you are going from, where to, when, and how many of you there are — you will be given a price for that journey before it is booked.
How far in advance should I call?
For a school run, a hospital appointment or a train you cannot miss, as far ahead as you can — a pre-booked private hire journey is arranged in advance by definition. For anything time-critical, booking the day before is the difference between a car being available and a car not being available.
Do you cover the villages outside Colchester?
Yes — Wivenhoe, Tiptree, West Bergholt, Marks Tey, Layer de la Haye and the rest of the surrounding area. Tell the office the postcode and it will confirm.
Can you take a wheelchair?
Wheelchair-accessible availability is not confirmed and so is not advertised here. Call the office and ask before you rely on it — that is a question we would rather answer honestly on the phone than get wrong on a web page.
Are you a taxi or a private hire firm?
Private hire. That means every journey must be booked in advance through the office — we cannot be flagged down in the street and cannot pick up from a rank. It is also why a booking record exists for every journey, showing that it was arranged before it happened.
Priced in advance
Journeys we can quote online
Airport transfers
Fixed prices to Stansted, Southend, London City, Heathrow, Gatwick and Luton, agreed before you travel.
Seaport and cruise transfers
Southampton Port sailings, with the luggage room a fortnight away actually needs.
Executive and corporate travel
Accounts for firms in and around Colchester, billed monthly against a reference you choose.
Event and theatre trips
An evening in London without the last train home deciding when you leave.
One call and you have a price
Local journeys are quoted by the office for the route you are taking. The line is answered 24 hours, every day.