# Winning corporate accounts for a taxi firm

> To win corporate taxi accounts, find the person who books travel at each local business, offer them fixed prices, a list of authorised bookers and one monthly statement, and prove you're reliable over a trial month. Check the company on Companies House before you give credit. If you agree no payment date, GOV.UK says a business payment is late 30 days after the invoice or the journey.

By Joe, founder of Dispatch AI. Updated 2026-10-11. The web page: https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/winning-corporate-taxi-accounts/

Corporate taxi accounts are the steady work under a taxi firm: the same offices booking the same runs, week after week, on a single bill. This guide is about winning them. It covers who actually books taxis inside a business, what they'll ask you for, how to pitch without breaking the marketing rules, how to price the account and what to check before you let anyone run up a bill.


## Who books taxis for a business?

Usually not the boss. The person who decides which taxi firm a business uses is whoever gets the job of booking: the office manager, a PA, the receptionist, someone in HR or facilities, and in bigger companies a travel manager or the procurement team.

So aim your pitch at them. The managing director signs off the account, but the office manager is the one ringing you at 4.45pm on a Friday for a client's ride to the station, and they're the one who moves to another firm when you let them down.

The corporate taxi clients worth chasing in most towns fall into a handful of groups:

- Solicitors, accountants and estate agents, who send clients and staff to court, meetings and viewings.
- Garages and car dealers, who need courtesy lifts while a customer's car is in the workshop.
- Factories, warehouses and distribution sites with shift workers and no late bus.
- Recruitment agencies and training providers moving people to sites.
- Hotels and venues, which book for their guests (our guide to [hotel and venue partnerships](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/hotel-and-venue-partnerships-for-taxi-firms/) covers those).
- Councils and other public bodies, which buy through formal tenders instead (see our guide to [council school transport contracts](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/winning-council-school-transport-contracts/)).


## What do corporate clients need from a taxi firm?

Corporate clients need to know the car will turn up, and they need the paperwork to be easy. A business taxi account takes the cash and the expense claims out of their staff's hands, so everything you offer should make their month-end simpler.

| What they need | Why they ask | What to have ready |
|---|---|---|
| One bill a month | Nobody wants 40 receipts on an expense claim | A monthly statement listing every job with the date, passenger, route, booker and price |
| Control over who books | So staff can't put personal trips on the account | A list of authorised bookers for each account, and a rule for anyone not on it |
| Known prices | Budgets, and no arguments about the fare | A fixed price list for their regular routes |
| Their own references | Their finance team codes every cost | A purchase order number or cost centre on each booking |
| Proof you're legal | Their insurers and their duty to staff | Your operator licence, insurance certificates and safeguarding policy |
| One person to ring | Problems get sorted fast | A named contact in your office, with a mobile number |

You need the right records anyway. The Department for Transport's statutory standards expect councils to make operators record the passenger's name, the time of the request, the pickup and destination, the driver and vehicle, and who took and dispatched the booking, and suggest keeping those records for at least 6 months. An account client asking "who booked this?" three months later should get an answer in seconds.

The day-to-day side of running accounts, from purchase orders to statements, is in our guide to [business accounts in your booking system](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/business-accounts-in-your-booking-system/).


## How do you find corporate clients near you?

Start with your own bookings. Some of the businesses that would open an account already ride with you, paying by card and claiming it back.

1. Look through the last three months of bookings for company names, work email addresses and business park pickups.
2. Note who asks for receipts. A passenger who wants a receipt every time is claiming the fare back from somebody.
3. Ask your drivers which offices, sites and hotels they pick up from most.
4. List the business parks, industrial estates and high-street offices within your area, and the firms in each.
5. Ask the account customers you already have whether a sister office or a supplier needs a taxi firm too.

A short, real list of 20 businesses you can name beats a bought list of 2,000 you can't.


## How should you pitch a corporate account?

Send a short letter or email to the person who books, then ring them a few days later. Keep it to what they get: fixed prices for their routes, one statement a month, a named contact, and a trial month before they commit.

Know the marketing rules before you start. The Information Commissioner's Office says the PECR rule on marketing emails and texts doesn't apply to corporate subscribers, so you can email a limited company without its consent, as long as you say who you are and give a valid address to opt out. Sole traders and some partnerships count as individuals, so they need consent or the soft opt-in. Before you make marketing calls, screen the numbers against both the Telephone Preference Service and the Corporate Telephone Preference Service. When you hold a named person's details, UK GDPR applies too, and the ICO says legitimate interests will often suit business marketing, once you've done its three-part test.

Take three things to the first conversation:

- A one-page price sheet for the routes they'll use most: the station, the airport, the court, the other office.
- A "how to book" card for the reception desk, with your number, your WhatsApp and the account name to quote.
- Copies of your operator licence and insurance certificates, so they don't have to chase you.

Then offer a trial: one month on account, on agreed terms, with a short call at the end to see how it went.


## What goes in a supplier questionnaire?

Bigger companies won't sign you up from a phone call. They'll send a supplier questionnaire, and answering it quickly and fully is half the battle.

Expect questions on:

- Your company details: legal name, company number, registered address and bank details.
- Licences: your operator licence, and confirmation that every driver and vehicle is licensed.
- Insurance: hire and reward motor cover, and public liability.
- Safeguarding: your policy, and the checks on drivers and office staff. The statutory standards expect a basic DBS check on everyone who takes bookings or dispatches cars.
- Data protection: how you store passenger details, and whether you've paid the data protection fee to the ICO.
- Modern slavery: a business with an annual turnover of £36 million or more must publish a modern slavery statement covering its supply chains, so large clients ask suppliers what steps they take.
- Payment terms and how you invoice.

Keep a folder with every answer and every certificate in it. The second questionnaire takes ten minutes.


## How do you price a corporate account?

Price it as a fixed list of routes, not as a discount off whatever the meter says. The client wants to know that the office to the station is the same price every time, and so does your controller.

Decide the extras before you're asked about them:

1. Waiting time: how long is free, and what you charge after it.
2. Cancellations: what a late cancellation or a no-show costs.
3. Bigger cars: the price for an estate, an executive car or a minibus.
4. Out of hours: whether nights and bank holidays cost more.
5. Payment terms: how many days after the statement you expect to be paid.

Remember that an account is credit. Example: an account spending £1,500 a month, paying 30 days after a monthly statement, means you've always got roughly £1,500 to £3,000 of its journeys unpaid, and your drivers still want paying weekly. Set the price with that in mind. Our guides to [pricing taxi fares](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/how-to-price-taxi-fares/) and [taxi zone pricing](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/taxi-zone-pricing/) cover how to build the list itself.


## What should you check before you give a business credit?

Check the company, set a credit limit and agree the terms in writing. Four checks take ten minutes:

1. Look the company up on Companies House. The register is free to search and shows the registered address, the date it was set up, its officers, its filed documents and any insolvency information.
2. Check its accounts are filed on time. Overdue accounts are a warning sign.
3. For a large business, look it up on GOV.UK's check when businesses pay invoices service. A business that meets two of £54 million turnover, £27 million on its balance sheet and 250 employees must report, at least twice a year, how long it takes to pay its suppliers.
4. Start with a credit limit you can afford to lose, and raise it once they've paid on time for a few months.

If they pay late, the law is on your side. GOV.UK says that if you don't agree a payment date, a business payment is late 30 days after the customer gets the invoice or the service is done, whichever is later. You can then claim statutory interest at 8% plus the Bank of England base rate, and a fixed sum for recovery costs of £40 on a debt up to £999.99, £70 from £1,000 to £9,999.99, and £100 on £10,000 or more.


## How do you keep a corporate account once you've won it?

By being boring. The account stays as long as the cars turn up, the statement arrives on the same day each month and the office manager never has to chase you.

Ring your main contact once a quarter and ask what went wrong, not just what went right. Fix the small things fast: the driver who always rings instead of coming to reception, the statement that's missing the cost centre. And when it's going well, ask for an introduction to the next office. The ideas in our guide to [turning passengers into regulars](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/turning-passengers-into-regulars/) work for businesses too.


## Where does Dispatch AI fit?

Dispatch AI is booking and dispatch software for taxi and private hire firms. It answers your phone, WhatsApp, texts and emails, books the jobs at your prices and sends them to your drivers on your own app, and it has accounts for your business customers. You can see the plans on the [Dispatch AI prices page](https://dispatchai.co.uk/prices/).

## Frequently asked questions

### Should corporate accounts get a discount on your normal fares?

Only if the volume pays for it. A business that books 30 jobs a month on predictable routes is cheaper to serve than 30 strangers, but it also pays later and asks for more paperwork. You can keep account prices close to your public fares and win on reliability and the monthly statement instead.

### Do I need to be VAT registered to win business clients?

No. GOV.UK says you must register once your taxable turnover for the last 12 months goes over £90,000. If you aren't registered, you don't charge VAT at all, so a VAT-registered client has nothing to reclaim on your fares. If you are registered, your statements and invoices need to meet HMRC's rules, so check them with your accountant.

### What if a business would rather pay by card than open an account?

Let them. A business that pays by card for every job gives you the regular work without the credit risk. You can still give them the fixed price list and the named contact, and offer the account later once you know each other.

### Can staff book personal trips on the company account?

Only if the client says so in writing. Agree the rule when you open the account: who the authorised bookers are, whether staff can book their own journeys, and what your office does when someone not on the list tries to book. Put it on the account record so every controller follows the same rule.

### How do public sector clients choose a taxi firm?

Through a formal procurement, not a phone call. Councils advertise contracts and run them under the Procurement Act 2023, for example as frameworks or dynamic purchasing systems that firms apply to join. Our guide to [winning council school transport tenders](https://dispatchai.co.uk/guides/winning-council-school-transport-contracts/) explains how that works.


## Sources

- [Business-to-business marketing (Information Commissioner's Office)](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/direct-marketing-and-privacy-and-electronic-communications/business-to-business-marketing/) PECR and corporate subscribers, sole traders, TPS and CTPS screening, legitimate interests
- [Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery) payment late 30 days after the invoice if no date is agreed
- [Charging interest on commercial debt (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/charging-interest-commercial-debt) 8% plus the Bank of England base rate
- [Claim debt recovery costs (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/late-commercial-payments-interest-debt-recovery/claim-debt-recovery-costs) fixed sums of £40, £70 and £100
- [Check when businesses pay invoices (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/check-when-businesses-pay-invoices) large businesses report payment practices at least twice a year
- [Get information about a company (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company) free Companies House records
- [Publish an annual modern slavery statement (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/publish-an-annual-modern-slavery-statement) the £36 million turnover threshold
- [VAT registration: when to register (GOV.UK)](https://www.gov.uk/vat-registration/when-to-register) the £90,000 threshold
- [Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards (Department for Transport)](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards/statutory-taxi-and-private-hire-vehicle-standards) section 8: booking records, 6 months suggested, basic DBS for booking and dispatch staff

Dispatch AI is a trading name of CABO TECH SOLUTION AI LTD, registered in England and Wales, company no. 16255667.