How to find drivers for a new taxi company

An established firm recruits drivers with a busy circuit behind it. A new firm has to recruit with nothing to show yet: no history of work, no regulars, no other drivers vouching for you. This guide covers how to find drivers for a new taxi company: where they are, what you can and can't find out about them, why one would take a chance on you, what to check, and how many you need to open. For a firm that's already running, read taxi driver recruitment instead.

Where do you find drivers for a new taxi company?

In your own council's licensed pool. The Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards describe a "triple licensing lock": the operator fulfilling a booking must use drivers and vehicles licensed by the same authority that granted its own licence. So outside London, a driver licensed by the next council can't take jobs on yours.

The Department for Transport publishes the size of every council's pool. Here are four, at 1 April 2026:

Two things stand out. Where a council issues dual licences, rank drivers can do your private hire work too, and in Torbay every one of the 550 driver licences was dual. And some pools are crowded with operators: Torbay had 199 operator licences for 550 driver licences. Look up your own council in table TAXI0104 before you plan anything.

What can you find out about licensed drivers in your area?

You can find out who's licensed, but not how to reach them. Section 51(3) of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 requires each council to keep a register of the private hire driver licences it grants, with the driver's name, when the licence was granted, how long it lasts and its number. The council must keep the register at its principal offices for the public to inspect, free of charge, during office hours.

Some councils go further and publish online. Surrey Heath Borough Council, for example, publishes registers of licensed drivers, licensed vehicles and private hire operators.

What you won't get is a phone list. The register is there for the public to check a licence. Use it, and the DfT figures, to size the pool and see who's licensed. Then find the people the slow way.

Where do new firms actually meet drivers?

Through people, mostly. With no circuit to show, your first drivers will come from trust: someone who knows you, or knows someone who does.

• Drivers you already know. If you've driven, worked in an office or used a firm regularly, start there.
• Dual-licensed rank drivers. Rank work has quiet hours, and your pre-booked jobs can fill them.
• Drivers at other firms. Some will try you alongside their current firm, where the council allows it.
• Referrals. Every driver you sign knows others. Ask, and pay a referral bonus once the new driver has settled in.
• Local driver groups and job sites. Post what the work is, what you charge and when you pay, in plain words.
• New entrants. People starting their licence now will be ready in months, not weeks, so start talking to them early.

On working for two firms at once, councils set their own rules. Nottingham City Council's driver conditions let a private hire driver work for more than one operator, but the driver must give the council a signed offer of work letter from each operator before starting, give 7 days' notice when starting or stopping with an operator, and display only one operator's side panel at a time. Check your own council's driver conditions before you suggest it.

Why would a driver leave a bigger firm for a new one?

Because you offer something the big firm doesn't. No driver moves for a logo. They move for work, money and how they're treated.

1. Steady work they can see. Show what's already booked: account work, school runs, airport pre-books. A diary of real jobs beats any promise.
2. A fair, clear settle. Say what you charge, commission or rent, in one sentence. Our guide to commission or weekly rent helps you choose.
3. Pay on the day you said. Every time, with a statement they can check.
4. Respect from the office. Someone who answers the phone when a driver rings in, and doesn't send them across town for a short job.
5. A proper app. Jobs arriving clearly on a phone, not shouted over a radio.

A new firm has advantages too. Early drivers get first pick of the good work and a say in how things run. Don't promise earnings you can't back with booked jobs, though. A driver who joins for a figure and doesn't see it will tell the rank.

If you use Dispatch AI, jobs go straight to your drivers on your own branded app, and Apple and Google usually approve the app within one to two weeks. That's worth sorting before your first drivers start.

What should you check before a driver's first job?

Check the licences, the car and the paperwork, and write down what you saw and when. Here's the list for a new firm:

You don't repeat the DBS check. The council does the enhanced check, and section 6.1 of the Standards asks councils to have drivers on the DBS Update Service so they can check for new information every 6 months. Your job is to see the current licence and keep a record of it. Where a driver's immigration permission ends, the Home Office guidance says the licence lapses and must be returned to the council within seven working days.

Insurance is a subject of its own: see taxi business insurance.

How many drivers does a new taxi company need?

Enough to cover the jobs you expect at your busiest hour, plus one for sickness and holidays. Work it out from bookings, not from cars.

Example, with stated inputs. You expect 40 bookings a day in your first month. Each takes about 45 minutes of a driver's time, counting the drive to the pickup. That's 40 × 45 minutes = 30 driver-hours a day, or 210 a week. If each driver does about 40 hours a week, 210 ÷ 40 = 5.25, so you need six drivers, and a seventh for cover.

The average hides the peaks. Forty bookings spread over 18 hours is easy. Forty with twelve of them between 3pm and 5pm on a school day needs more cars at once than the weekly sum suggests. Plan for your busiest hour, then use keeping drivers busy in quiet hours to stop the extra drivers drifting away. Owning cars versus working with owner-drivers is weighed up in starting a taxi company without owning cars.

When should you start recruiting?

Start talking to drivers while your operator licence is being processed, but don't give anyone a job until it's granted. Section 46 of the 1976 Act makes it an offence to operate a private hire vehicle without an operator licence, so your first booking waits for the licence. The councils in our licence timeline quote anything from 5 working days to about 16 weeks: see how long to get a private hire operator licence.

The waiting time is useful. Collect names, agree terms, check licences and get your drivers onto the app. Then you open with drivers ready on day one, not a phone that rings with nobody to send.