More than half a century after setting up South Yorkshire operator Brecks, Stuart Ulph is taking new bookings rather than retire. He explains why to Nick Larkin, and shares some memories
The 1967 Summer of Love may have been raging, but dominating Stuart Ulph’s mind was public transport in Rotherham. A part-time taxi driver and weekend ice cream salesman, Stuart had served an apprenticeship at the local Morris and MG garage Bucknalls, before working on fleet maintenance at Mothers Pride and local paper the Rotherham Advertiser.
“To get a Hackney Carriage licence plate at the time you really had to buy someone’s taxi operation, and this is what I did with a £999 Ford Zephyr,” explained Stuart.
A couple of other licences followed for Brecks Taxis, named after a district of Rotherham, along with a Commer minibus from local dealer TC Harrison. “Unfortunately no one told me the vehicle wasn’t to PSV spec so I had to part exchange it with another one via Terry Shaw at Kirkbys.”
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