End of an era as Wirral's Huggins Coaches puts the brakes on
HUGGINS, the well-known Wirral coach firm, will close for good at the end of this month.The 46-year-old company which started out life as a black cab firm in Wallasey is being shut down because owner Eileen Huggins has decided she wants a rest at the grand age of 84!
The firm's 16 drivers and two office staff have received redundancy payments, school contracts have been returned to Merseytravel and the firm's operations shut down for good next Monday, August 31.
Eileen and her late husband Jack established Huggins in 1963 as Wallasey's only black cab firm, with four cars operating out an office in what is now the home of The Clairville pub on Wallasey Road in Liscard.
"We were the only taxis in Wallasey at the time," said Eileen. "Obviously things have changed quite a lot since then!"
When that entire stretch of properties was bought up by a local financier, they moved the operation 250 yards behind them to a semi-detached house on Valkyrie Road, where the firm's administrations offices remain today.
The business expanded into coach and bus hire, and soon there was the unusual site of three full-size coaches parked up the drive alongside an otherwise normal suburban house.
Over the years those coaches were used by thousands of Wirral youngsters travelling to Carlett Park College for further education, often driven by Jack Huggins himself.
To date Huggins has 20 vehicles which are now housed in secure garages owned by the company on the Tarrant Way industrial estate in Moreton.
But Eileen has now decided that at 84 she deserves a rest, and her business partners - son David, who is in his 50s, and Dave Simmons, who is 67 - agree, and buyers are being sought for the company's vehicles.
Eileen said: "The business is doing fine but we all agree that it's time to call it a day.
"I'm 84 and I think it's about time I had a bit of a rest.
"If I was ten years younger I'd happily carry on but I'm not.
"It's the end of an era though and I'd like to thank all our wonderful staff and customers over their years for their support."
Jack Huggins passed away in 2000, aged 79.
THE GLOBE
