Member Article

Delta Taxis Bags Four Million Extra Bookings A Year

A partnership with the world’s largest supplier of jute bags has helped Liverpool private hire company Delta Taxis increase its bookings by four million a year.

Delta Taxis, one of the UK’s largest call centre based taxi firms, and Jutexpo first worked together in 2009 to create an eye-catching promotional bag to hand out across the city.

Designed to include the Delta Taxis logo and phone number, the bag was part of the company’s overall marketing campaign to enhance its position as the city’s first choice taxi firm.

The Jutexpo jute bags have since helped increase the Merseyside-based taxi firm’s annual bookings from 7.8million in 2009 to 11.7million in 2016.

The distribution of the bags has expanded over the years and 300,000 have now been handed out to local people in key locations across Liverpool.

The sustainable and environmentally-friendly reusable jute bags replace the need for up to 624 disposable plastic bags over their four-year lifespan, meaning Delta Taxis customers have reduced plastic bag use by up to 187 million in the last eight years.

Established in 1968 Delta Taxis has grown to have 250 staff members, over 2,000 taxi drivers and now deals with up to 47,000 bookings a day.

The bags are now regularly seen across the city – and have even made it as far as Gambia, after being used to store wool as part of a project teaching school children to crochet blankets for the elderly.

A Delta Taxis spokesperson said: “Back in 2009 we recognised the environmental benefits of a branded ethical shopping bag, which is also a great product to provide a perfect canvass for the Delta Taxis brand to be promoted en masse to and by members of the public.

“It’s been a successful and unique eight year partnership with Jutexpo. Throughout the years they have always ensured product quality assurance with their bags.”

“In addition to Jutexpo quality we ourselves oversaw great design concepts in house. Our creative director used to be an award winning handbag designer, which helps!

“We now get 40,000 bags each time we order and have 20,000 large and 20,000 small bags arriving in a few weeks.

“Based on an average of two passengers per booking, you could comfortably say that passenger volumes have increased on average by over a million each year since adding Jutexpo jute bags to our marketing portfolio.

“The bags have helped create a change in culture with people hopefully soon saying to each other, ‘Remember when we used to just get a free plastic bag and throw it away each time, how mad was that?’”

Jutexpo Managing Director, Barrie Turner said: “Since our partnership began we have supplied Delta Taxis with 300,000 bags and it’s been great to work with them and help enhance their brand.

“This has been a clever and fun initiative and with each of our jute bags reducing the need for over 600 disposable plastic bags we offer an environmentally-friendly marketing product for companies across a wide range of sectors.”

The new 5p charge for single use plastic bags was introduced in England on October 5 2015 to help reduce litter and protect wildlife. Similar bag taxes were introduced in Scotland in 2014, Northern Ireland in 2013 and Wales in 2011.

Founded in 2002 Jutexpo has grown to be the world’s leading suppliers of environmentally-friendly reusable jute bags, having 80 per cent of the UK market.

Jutexpo’s jute bag production rose from 5.5million bags per year before the English plastic bag tax was introduced in 2015 to help reduce litter and protect wildlife, to 8.5million in the year of the bag tax and 7million a year since.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Andrew Turner .