Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2011

Founded: 2006Founder: Nicko WilliamsonTurnover 2010: £1.6m Turnover 2011: £2.2mWeb: www.climatecars.com

Every day, millions of Londoners have reason to lament the congestion which ruins their journey plans, and the pollution which leaves their air smoggy and smelly. But now a young entrepreneur is tackling these two age-old problems head on, with a taxi service which relies on low-emission, environmentally friendly cabs. Nicko Williamson first conceived the idea for his business, Climatecars, back in 2006, when he passed an eco-friendly fuel garage and began thinking of ways to ‘greenify’ the private hire industry. At the time Williamson was just 22 years old, many other would-be entrepreneurs would have baulked at the idea of starting such an original and risky business so young. But Williamson decided to take the plunge – and has been amply rewarded for his courage.

Today Williamson presides over a business making more than £2m a year; revenue is set to hit £3m in 2012. Having started out with just five cars and three employees, Climatecars has grown to embrace 85 cutting-edge hybrid cars, and 17 full-time staff. Every aspect of the business, from the customer control room to the satellite tracking systems, is leading-edge, and the Climatecars experience has evolved to include uniformed drivers and free bottles of Belu mineral water – a far cry from the dingy, scruffy cab companies of old. Having appointed a new operations director plus an extra sales executive, and with the launch of a fleet of pure electric vehicles planned for 2012, Williamson is certainly not resting on his laurels. And demand is continuing to spiral. With so many big-name corporates looking to shed their ‘fat cat’ image in favour of a more caring, progressive stance, eco-friendly taxis present an affordable and convenient publicity opportunity – and no-one is more visible or respected in this area than Climatecars.

Judges’ comments: A carbon-neutral car-hire service with a fleet of Toyota Prius’, Climatecars has secured contracts with major organisations, such as Unilever, Absolute Radio and Virgin. Just 27, founder Nicko Williamson has moved quickly and smoothly from university graduate with an idea to an established and well-structured business. Judges were impressed with its customer service levels, strong growth in both turnover and profit and ambition of making Climatecars a £100m turnover company.Nicko Williamson, founder, Climatecars said, “I am delighted to have won Young Entrepreneur of the year. The award is thanks to the hard work from all of our team at Climatecars. We are looking forward to the year ahead and lots more growth and innovation.”

www.climatecars.com