FROM TAXI DEPOT TO WEDDING TRANSPORT, DAVID ANDREWS WEDDING CARS CELEBRATES 60 YEARS OF
MOTORING.
Synonymous with customer care, David Andrews has plenty to celebrate over the span of decades since starting in business. What began as a simple taxi depot business in 1963 with one vehicle, a Morris Oxford, has steadily grown into a large family-run wedding transport enterprise with an impressive fleet of vehicles fifty years later.
Andrew McCracken started his own taxi depot in December 1963, where anyone could work. Forward thinking, he added his first wedding car to the business in 1965, a Humber Pullman. His son, David, also joined the business. During the 70s, the taxi service began to faulter due to the Troubles, so Andrew and David focussed their efforts on expanding the wedding transport. In 1978 they added Ford Granada Limousines to their wedding fleet. In 1981, the two services split into two businesses with the taxis being run under Enterprise and the wedding transport trading under David Andrews.
The 80s saw a boom in the business’s fleet expansion, where their overall bookings for weddings increased from twenty a year to over a hundred. Going against the trend, they also started offering wedding cars in a range of colours other than the classic black. They even had two of their Ford limousines painted white and bought a Rolls Royce Shadow to match. By the end of 1988, they added two more Rolls Royces and four more Ford limousines to their growing fleet.
Always keeping a keen eye out for new opportunities to keep the business cutting edge, they started adding vintage reproduction vehicles like the Royale Drophead to their selection of vehicles. While it was designed to look like a 1940s’ roadster convertible, the vintage car had a newer engine and gearbox.
By the mid 90s, weddings were becoming grander and more lavish celebrations, with customers wanting more room for their larger bridal parties. Two-car wedding packages were now overtaking just a single vehicle for the big day, and David Andrews replaced their Ford limousines with Daimler limousines, which were considered a fancier option. At the end of the 90s, they added six of the newest vintage style Royal Windsor cars in a range of two-tone colours: silver and grey; black and cream; and silver and blue.
In 1999, David’s daughter Jenny joined the business and helped bring their family enterprise into the digital age so that they could connect with their customers through email and the company’s first website. David’s son Peter also joined the business. The new millennium brought plenty of positive changes. Business required a larger vehicle that could transport more people, and David Andrews purchased the latest vintage style vehicle, a five-seater Imperial. With wedding celebrations growing in demand, 2006 proved to be a record-breaking year for the companyn who provided transport for 910 happy couples! In 2009 they replaced the Daimlers with new vintage style Balmorals that could seat up to seven people.
Over the past decade, David Andrews has continued to invest in different styles of vehicles to further diversify their fleet, including a range of modern vehicles such as Mercedes, Chrysler and Limousines, as well as a few retro classics, VW Beetle and Camper Van.
Having survived the rapid downturn in business brought on by Covid, David Andrews has worked steadily to recoup pre-pandemic business, and has stayed true to moving with the times and changing demands of clients. With a huge increase in remote bookings, shifting away from in person bookings, the business has invested in a brand new website and online booking platform to meet the new digital demand of today’s clients. Traditional face-to-face bookings are still available, where clients can view the impressive selection of wedding cars in David Andrew’s showroom at 33 Saintfield Road.
From one vehicle in 1963 to a substantial fleet of 34 luxury vehicles, David Andrews’ fifty years of success is down to clever ingenuity and top-class customer service.
For more information, tel: 028 9069 3131 or visit: www.davidandrewsweddingcars.com
