THE SERVICE
TBR Global Chauffeuring is a luxury ground transportation company operating in over 80 countries and providing premium transport solutions to business travellers, high-profile events and VIP clients worldwide. It handles the ground transport for major events, such as the Champions League Final, and international financial roadshows. I was travelling from Gatwick South to my home in East Sussex after a flight back from a conference in Malta.
PRE-TRIP
As soon as my transfer was booked I received a text message confirming the name and contact number of my driver, Lenny, and the time and place of pick-up. On landing at Gatwick, I got another text confirming Lenny had arrived at the airport and was waiting for me.
THE JOURNEY
The car – a fully-electric BMW i7 xDrive60 Excellence Pro luxury sedan – was so long it was way over the parking space lines. It was gleaming. Lenny put my bag in the boot and then opened the door for me. On my seat was an enormous square pillow and on the armrest between the two back seats was a brand new cosy blanket, wrapped in a ribbon, two bottles of Evian water, plus an envelope containing a personal, hand-written note from TBR’s CEO Craig Chambers. The seat had various comfort settings and a massage function, and there was a 31.3-inch ‘theatre Screen’, which dropped down from the ceiling and runs on Amazon Fire tablet software. This and all the other gadgets were controlled from a touch-screen tablet in each door. I was too tired to connect from my iphone to the screen so asked Lenny to put on some chilled music, which he did. I sat back and enjoyed the smooth ride, the back massage, and the super generous leg room.
THE VERDICT
I felt like a VIP from start to finish. Despite being exhausted after an overseas conference, I would have been happy to drive back up the M23 to Gatwick and down again. I even got to keep the pillow and blanket! It’s apparently part of the ‘Platinum’ service.
THE DETAILS
Heathrow to central London, Platinum (for high-touch VIPs) is £190 +VAT.
Bev Fearis
