EARLY start in the Audi this morning. A quick squeegee down of the side windows to remove the heavy dew – unlike the frost yesterday – but still a morning for the Audi’s heated front seats and heated door mirrors.

I’m off to the office first before going on to meet Mark Roden, the new general manager for fleet and vehicle remarketing at Toyota and Lexus. This is the first time both the Toyota and Lexus functions have been merged, so I’m intrigued to find out what Mark has to say and their plans for the small business market.

The other day I was with one of Toyota’s biggest customers for the hybrid Toyota Prius. I had been commissioned to interview Jonny Goldstone, the managing director of Green Tomato Cars – a London-based taxi firm – for a feature for Professional Driver magazine.

Green Tomato Cars now has 100 Toyota Prius hybrids – a lot of cars – for an environmentally driven private car hire firm. But the business itself is still small. They actually employ only 20 people – all the drivers are self-employed. But what really struck me about the outfit was the family nature of it all.

During the interview several drivers came in – greeted Jonny and exchanged the usual pleasantries – which showed a genuine warmth for the company. And the genuine concern for the customer was also evident – again something you don’t often see in bigger companies.

“We had one customer who wanted to book us to travel from London to Coventry,” said Jonny. “But we explained that this wasn’t an efficient way to travel – that it would be greener and less expensive to travel by train. While the customer was on the phone, we booked them on the train for them.”

I think that says much about the ethos at Green Tomato Cars – and about many small businesses: putting expertise and experience at the forefront of customer care.

Further information

You can read more about Green Tomato Cars here in our small business focus story – How we run our business cars: Green Tomato Cars

…and the benefits small businesses bring to customers