Young Dumbarton entrepreneur gets royal seal of approval

Jul 10 2009 by Tina Kemp, Lennox Herald (main ed)

A FAMILY wedding set the wheels in motion for young Dumbarton entrepreneur Asif Ali.

And the 23-year-old’s luxury car hire firm has been given royal approval to step up a gear.

Asif launched Palladium Executive Hire in October last year, catering for clients seeking top end of the market chauffeur-driven cars such as Rolls Royce Phantom, Bentley Flying Spur and Mercedes S Class.

He received financial backing from the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business – and had a chance to say a personal thank-you when he met Prince Charles in Glasgow recently.

Asif had always wanted to run his own business – but it was preparations for his brother’s wedding which was the catalyst.

He said “My father owns a hotel and when I graduated last year I started looking at franchise opportunities as a first step on the self employment ladder. During this time we were busy preparing for my brother’s wedding and he was looking for a top premium luxury car for the occasion.

“We discovered the model my brother was interested in was only available from chauffeur driven companies in London and, when I researched the matter further, I found lots of couples were contacting London-based companies for their special day for the exactly the same reasons.”

Asif received a start-up loan from the PSYBT and further financial assistance through its BT Scotland E-ntrepreneurs awards scheme, which will enable him to concentrate on the website and promotional side of the business.

Asif said: “In the current economic climate, clients are much more discerning, but they also don’t want to compromise on luxury for special occasions such as weddings. At the moment this forms the majority of my bookings and in the future I would like to be able to extend my offering to supercars such as Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

“In the meantime I am just enjoying building my business and learning everything there is to know about being my own boss.”

Alan Bonas, head of communications at BT Scotland, praised the young businessman. He said: “Asif is showing that he has everything it takes to run a successful business. He is a great example to other young entrepreneurs of what can be achieved even in these tough times.”