Tuesday. 5:47am. Rain beating on the windshield of a car that has a slight whiff of air freshener and regret; here’s a useful source to see why it’s more likely than it should be to have a morning like this. The driver is on the third pass of the roundabout and is now trying to make up with his satnav, which hasn’t been updated since 2019. This is a true story. It’s a story that unfolds in Norwich each day.

Those who no longer play characters in the above story made one choice: they changed to a chauffeur service and then they stopped talking about it.

When it comes to chauffeurs in Norwich there’s a different set of rules. More “I know you booked me yesterday, I’m here and the engine is running” than “I’ll be there in a jiffy”. It’s this space – between asynchronous availability and reliability – that’s the key.

This works for Norwich. It’s small enough that it makes sense to have a driver who knows where they’re going, as opposed to claiming to know where they’re going. The inner ring road has moods. Market day at Castle Meadow is a special place. Anyone who has been behind a delivery truck on Prince of Wales Road at 8:30am knows that it is not confidence when drivers here are driving, it is competence.

Corporate travellers were first to catch on. The subtle, non-negotiable, appeal of a clean car, with a booked driver, in which to prepare for a meeting rather than watch the driver re-plan – that sells. A lawyer friend said he began to use chauffeurs so he could read his case notes without being sick from the breaking. Functional. Unglamorous. Completely persuasive.

Weddings, birthdays, anniversary dinners – chauffeurs take the stress of the logistics of events where all of the other things are already highly charged. Another thing to not worry about. That’s underrated.

Let’s give airport rides a moment. Live flight tracking means your driver will automatically update if your flight is delayed. You don’t send updates. You don’t negotiate on arrival. You arrive and someone’s waiting for you, sign in at the ready, not the slightest bit surprised at your arrival.

Evening bookings make good sense too. Norwich dinners should not be with one person sipping water while the rest are drinking wine or beer. Having a pre-booked chauffeur helps this problem.

It’s more expensive than a regular cab. So is the chance of a pleasurable trip. Some maths is easy to do