Taxi Driver Jobs in Surrey & South-West London
Clocktower Cars are recruiting. We are interested in PCO and local authority licensed drivers who want to use their knowledge, experience and driving skills with an established firm — and who want control over their own schedule rather than somebody else’s shift pattern.
We have been working out of the Epsom Clock Tower for years, with twelve offices across Surrey and south-west London and operator licences held with seven authorities. If you are already licensed, you can apply using our driver application form or call the office on 01372 747 747.
Who we are looking for
The short answer is a licensed driver. The longer answer:
- A current private hire driver licence from Transport for London (a PCO licence) or from one of the local authorities we are licensed with.
- A full driving licence, and the enhanced DBS check that came with your badge — ideally maintained through the DBS Update Service.
- Your own licensed vehicle, or a licensed vehicle you rent from a fleet.
- The patience for customer work. Airport passengers, school parents and account customers all want the same thing: a driver who turns up on time and makes the journey easy.
If you do not hold a licence yet, start with our guide to becoming a taxi driver in the UK. It sets out exactly what the application involves, using the published requirements of two of our own licensing authorities — and they ask for quite different things, so the borough you apply in matters.
Which licences we accept
In private hire, the driver licence, the vehicle licence and the operator licence all have to be issued by the same authority for a job to be lawful. That is why we hold operator licences with seven:
- Epsom and Ewell
- Reigate and Banstead
- Mole Valley
- Elmbridge
- Guildford
- Waverley
- Transport for London
If your badge is with one of those, we can put you to work. If it is with a neighbouring authority not on the list, call the office and ask — it is a question worth putting to a person rather than guessing.
The work on our board
Airport transfers
The longest single jobs we dispatch, and the earliest. Gatwick is around nineteen miles from Epsom, Heathrow about twenty-four, London City forty-nine, Luton fifty-eight and Stansted seventy-three. Pick-ups at four and five in the morning are normal and they are the jobs most drivers want.
Account and corporate travel
Household and business accounts that travel every week, invoiced monthly rather than paid in the car. Steady, repeat, and the customers ask for drivers by name.
School contracts
Term-time work booked for the whole term. Predictable hours and no hunting for the next job. It requires an enhanced DBS check and safeguarding training, and in Epsom and Ewell there is a restricted school run only driver licence for drivers who want this work and nothing else.
Local journeys
Station runs, hospital appointments, shopping trips and evenings out across our twelve branch areas — the bread and butter between the bigger jobs.
Same-day courier work
The same fleet runs our same-day courier service — documents, keys, parcels and awkward boxes moved by a licensed car with a named driver. It fills the gaps in a day that would otherwise be dead time.
Where you would be based
Twelve offices, so there is almost certainly work near where you live. Our branches are at Epsom (head office, at the Clock Tower), Bookham, Carshalton, Chessington, Ewell West, Godalming, Guildford, Kingston, Reigate, Sutton and Weybridge.
Working from a base close to where the jobs start is worth more to a driver than almost anything else, because every mile driven empty costs fuel and earns nothing.
How the money works
Most of our drivers are self-employed, which is the standard arrangement in private hire. We take the bookings, agree the price with the customer and dispatch the work; you cover the car, the fuel and your own tax.
Money reaches you in three ways, depending on how the customer paid: cash collected in the car, card payment taken by the office at the time of booking, or account work invoiced to the customer monthly and settled through us. Most drivers have all three in a week.
We do not publish rates on this page, because what a driver earns depends on which work they take and what their vehicle costs them to run. If you want to understand that properly before you apply, our guide to how taxi drivers get paid sets out the mechanics and the levers honestly, without inventing a salary figure. For the specifics of working with us, ring the office and ask.
What we ask of you
- Keep your licence, badge, medical, insurance and vehicle testing current. Lapses cost you working weeks.
- Turn up at the time on the booking. On an airport job the whole schedule was built backwards from a check-in time.
- Look after the passenger. Help with the cases, wait until the door closes on a late drop-off, and be easy to deal with.
- Treat the safeguarding training as real. School and account work puts you alone with children and vulnerable adults, and the obligation sits with the driver as well as with us.
- Tell us early if you cannot make a job. A car already on its way to a pick-up cannot be anywhere else.
Not licensed yet?
That is a longer road than most people expect, and it is worth knowing what is involved before spending money on it. Depending on the authority you apply to, you may need to have held a full driving licence for anything from twelve months to three years, pass an enhanced DBS check, meet the DVLA Group 2 medical standard, sit a knowledge test covering local geography, numeracy and written English, and complete an approved child safeguarding course.
Our guide to becoming a taxi driver in the UK compares two of our own authorities side by side so you can see how much the detail varies. Come back when you have the badge.
How to apply
Fill in the driver application form and we will come back to you, or call the Epsom office on 01372 747 747 and speak to somebody. If you would rather drop into a branch, the numbers and addresses for all twelve are on our about page.
Have your licence details and your badge authority to hand when you get in touch — it is the first thing we will ask.
Frequently asked questions
Is Clocktower Cars recruiting drivers?
Yes. We are interested in PCO and local authority licensed drivers across Surrey and south-west London. Apply through our driver application form or call the Epsom office on 01372 747 747.
Which driver licences do you accept?
A current private hire driver licence from Transport for London (a PCO licence) or from one of the seven authorities we hold operator licences with: Epsom and Ewell, Reigate and Banstead, Mole Valley, Elmbridge, Guildford, Waverley, and TfL. In private hire the driver, vehicle and operator licences must come from the same authority for a job to be lawful.
Do I need my own car?
You need access to a licensed vehicle, whether you own it or rent it from a fleet. The car has to be licensed by the same authority as your driver licence and meet that authority’s vehicle conditions.
Are drivers employed or self-employed?
Most of our drivers are self-employed, which is standard in private hire. We take the bookings and dispatch the work; you cover the vehicle, the fuel and your own tax and National Insurance.
What kind of work would I be doing?
A mixture: airport transfers to Gatwick, Heathrow, Luton, Stansted and London City, account and corporate journeys, school contracts, local journeys across our branch areas, and same-day courier work on the same fleet.
Can I choose my own hours?
That is one of the main reasons drivers come to us. Self-employed drivers decide when they work, though the money follows the work, and the work is heaviest early in the morning for airport runs and in the evenings and at weekends for local jobs.
Can I do school runs only?
Epsom and Ewell operate a restricted school run only private hire driver licence, with a proficiency test instead of the full knowledge test. If term-time school work is what you want, that is a legitimate route in. The DBS and safeguarding requirements are not relaxed.
I am not licensed yet — can I still apply?
Get licensed first. Our guide to becoming a taxi driver in the UK sets out what two of our own authorities require, and the requirements differ sharply between neighbouring boroughs, so check the one you intend to apply to. Come back once you hold the badge.
How long does it take to hear back?
Get in touch through the application form or by phone and we will come back to you. If you want an answer the same day, ring the office on 01372 747 747 rather than waiting on a form.
Apply now
Use the driver application form, or call 01372 747 747 and ask for the office.
