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Private chauffeur holding the rear door of a Mercedes S-Class in central London
Private Chauffeur Hire

Private Chauffeur Service

A private driver for hire by the hour, kept with you from the first stop to the last. One booking covers the whole day, and the same chauffeur drives every leg of it.
Booked by the hourThe same chauffeurChild seats fitted freeNo employment, no payroll
PRIVATE CHAUFFEUR HIRE IN LONDON

A Driver Kept for the Day, Not for a Single Journey

A private chauffeur service (personal driver hire) reserves one professional driver and one executive car for an agreed number of hours, with the passenger deciding the stops as the day goes on. Private driver services differ from a point-to-point transfer in one way that matters: you pay for the driver's time, so waiting outside a school, a clinic or a restaurant costs nothing extra.

Barons Transport prices private hire from £50 per hour on a four hour minimum, with 80 km of driving included. Eight hour blocks carry 160 km and twelve hour blocks 240 km. Every chauffeur holds a Transport for London private hire licence and has cleared an enhanced DBS check through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The company has operated from Covent Garden since 2015, and the dispatch desk answers around the clock.

The fleet runs Mercedes-Benz E-Class, S-Class and V-Class models alongside the Range Rover, so one household can move a single passenger on Monday and seven on Friday with the same driver at the wheel. Child seats in every stage, the Congestion Charge, ULEZ and parking sit inside the hourly figure rather than on top of it.

This page sets out the kinds of day a personal chauffeur is booked for, four reasons households pick hourly hire over employing a driver, how families travel together, the London postcodes and Home Counties routes covered, everything the rate includes, and the four steps that turn a first enquiry into a standing weekly arrangement.

Arrange a ChauffeurSee Hourly Rates
Private hire from
£50/hr
Minimum booking
4 hrs
Child seats, any stage
Free
Dispatch, every day
24/7
What a Private Day Covers

The Days a Personal Driver Makes Simpler

Four typical bookings, each handled by one chauffeur on one reservation.

  • As-directed hire

    Stops decided on the move
    Hours are reserved rather than a route. Add a gallery visit at midday, drop the 18:00 dinner reservation, or stay an extra forty minutes at a friend's house; the price agreed at booking stays put.
    Read more

  • The school run

    A familiar face at the gate
    Term-time mornings run on a standing booking. Children get in with a driver they already know, strapped into the correct seat stage before the car leaves the depot.
    Read more

  • Appointments and shopping

    No parking, no carrying
    Harley Street consultations, Bond Street fittings, a Sloane Street afternoon. The chauffeur waits outside each address, loads the bags, and nobody circles the block for a space.

  • Travel days

    Terminal to door and back
    The driver who drops you at Heathrow or Gatwick collects you on the return leg, timed to the tracked landing rather than the printed one.
    Read more
Each of these days once meant taking on a staff driver. Hourly hire covers the same ground without the employment contract.
Why Choose Barons

Four Reasons Hourly Hire Beats Employing a Driver

A salaried driver brings payroll, motor insurance, sickness cover and a car to maintain. Private chauffeur hire delivers the driver and leaves the rest with us.

  • A named chauffeur, not whoever is free

    Standing arrangements are assigned to one driver, so the gate code, the preferred entrance and the children's names are learned once.

  • Vetting on record

    Each driver's TfL licence and enhanced DBS certificate are kept on record, and clients can ask to see both before the first booking.

  • No payroll, no insurance, no gap

    Hire and reward insurance sits with Barons, holiday cover is arranged by the desk, and a replacement chauffeur steps in whenever your regular driver is away.

  • Discretion by design

    What is said in the car stays in the car. For clients who need tighter control, dispatch restricts the booking to a named driver only, so no other chauffeur ever sees the address.
    Read more
Family Travel

One Vehicle for the Whole Household

Two saloons for one family means two fares and two arrival times. A single seven-seater usually costs less and keeps everyone together.

  • Seven seats, one car

    Mercedes V-Class
    The V-Class carries up to seven passengers with a full luggage load, which is the difference on the airport leg.

  • Seats for every age

    Rear-facing, forward-facing, booster
    Give the children's ages at booking and the right stage is fitted and checked before the car sets off.
    Read more

  • A fortnight's worth of cases

    Mercedes Vito
    Holiday luggage often outgrows the head count. The Vito's larger boot takes the overflow without a second vehicle.

  • Occasions that run late

    The car stays
    Christenings, milestone birthdays and anniversary dinners are booked to the end of the evening, so nobody rebooks a ride at 23:00.
Tell the desk how many are travelling and how many cases, and the vehicle is matched for you. Where the day goes decides the rest.
Where We Drive

From the School Gate to the Cotswolds on One Booking

Distance changes the quote, not the arrangement. Every route below is priced as a whole rather than by the mile.

  • Prime central London

    Residents' parking makes a waiting chauffeur worth more than a hailed cab here, and most standing arrangements begin in these postcodes.
    • Mayfair
    • Knightsbridge
    • Belgravia
    • Kensington
    • Chelsea
    • St John's Wood

  • Greater London

    Consulting rooms, school gates and restaurant bookings across every borough, including the ones where a minicab won't hold.
    • Hampstead
    • Richmond
    • Wimbledon
    • Islington
    • Highgate

  • Weekends and country houses

    A day out or a Friday-to-Sunday stay, quoted as one figure with the chauffeur's time already counted.
    • Windsor
    • Oxford
    • Bath
    • Cotswolds
    • Surrey
    • Buckinghamshire

  • Airports and cruise ports

    Departures and arrivals handled door to door, with the pick-up on the way home set against the live flight or ship arrival.
    • Heathrow
    • Gatwick
    • London City
    • Farnborough
    • Southampton
    • Dover
Included

Everything the Hourly Rate Already Covers

Standard on every private booking, with nothing added later:
  • A chauffeur licensed by TfL and cleared by the DBS
  • Child seats in any stage, installed before the car arrives
  • Waiting time at every stop, for the whole booking
  • Congestion Charge and ULEZ fees where the route crosses a zone
  • Parking and terminal drop-off charges
  • Help with bags, cases and shopping to and from the car
  • In-car Wi-Fi, bottled water and charging for phones and laptops
  • Flight tracking on any leg that touches an airport
There's no night rate, no weekend uplift and no bank holiday premium, and the driver never handles payment at the kerb. Setting the arrangement up takes one conversation.
Setting It Up

How a Standing Arrangement Gets Started

A one-off day books online in a couple of minutes. A weekly pattern is better agreed by phone, because the detail is what makes it work.
  1. 01

    Outline the week

    Walk the desk through a typical day: the first pick-up, the likely stops, and where the plan tends to shift once it's underway.
  2. 02

    Add the particulars

    Ages of any children, mobility requirements, which entrance you use, and who to call if a school changes its timings.
  3. 03

    Meet your driver

    For recurring bookings we introduce the chauffeur before the first run, so you're choosing a person and not only a vehicle.
  4. 04

    Confirm the pattern in writing

    Fixed days, on-call hours, or a mixture of both. It's recorded on the account so nothing rests on anyone's memory.
Start Your Booking+44 (0) 208 997 7103

Call +44 (0) 208 997 7103 to arrange a private driver. The desk is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, and WhatsApp reaches the same team on +44 7872 552499. Most standing clients came to Barons on a recommendation, and their own words follow.

Reviews

What Private Clients Say

"Exceptional service from start to finish. The driver was impeccably dressed, the car was spotless, and they arrived 10 minutes early. Barons has become my go-to for all executive travel."

JW
James Whitmore

"I use Barons for all our client transfers. The professionalism and attention to detail reflects perfectly on our company. Highly recommended for corporate travel."

SC
Sarah Chen

"From airport pickups to day-long corporate events, Barons delivers consistently excellent service. The Range Rover for my team event was a particular highlight."

MP
Michael Parker
FAQ

Private Chauffeur Service: Your Questions Answered

How much does a private chauffeur cost in London?

£50 per hour, with 80 km of driving included in the first block. Longer bookings scale the distance: 160 km across eight hours, 240 km across twelve. Vehicle class and the collection postcode set the final figure, and it's confirmed before the day begins.

What does "as directed" mean on a booking?

As directed means the chauffeur follows your instructions stop by stop instead of a fixed route. The stops can change during the day while the hourly figure set when you booked stays the same, unless the day runs past the reserved block.

Can I hire a private driver for less than four hours?

No; four hours is the shortest as-directed booking. A single journey shorter than that is better priced as a fixed one-way fare between two addresses, which the booking form quotes instantly.

Do I get the same chauffeur every time?

Yes, on any standing arrangement. Drivers are assigned to the account rather than dispatched by proximity, and a named substitute covers holidays and sick days so the routine survives them.

Which kinds of day can one booking cover?

School runs, medical and dental appointments, shopping, business calls, restaurant evenings, airport and cruise transfers, and country weekends all sit on a single reservation. The car stays between stops instead of leaving.

Private chauffeur or executive chauffeur: which one do I need?

Private when a household pays, executive when a company does. Executive accounts run on Net-30 invoicing and are built around meetings; a private arrangement wraps around one family's week and is settled personally.

Is hourly chauffeur hire better value than several taxis or app rides in a day?

For a day with three or more stops, usually yes. A taxi meter keeps running while it waits and each app ride is priced at the demand of that moment, whereas an hourly booking fixes the cost before the first pick-up and includes the waiting.

Are child seats supplied, and which ages do they cover?

Yes, free, from newborn to booster age. Rear-facing, forward-facing and booster stages are all carried; give the ages when you book and the seat is in place, and checked, before the pick-up.

What happens if the day runs longer than I booked?

Only the hours beyond the reserved block are charged, at the same hourly rate. The desk confirms the extra time after the day ends; the driver never settles it at the door.

How is a private driver's vetting verified?

Every driver's TfL private hire licence and enhanced DBS certificate are held on file at the Covent Garden office, and clients can ask to see them before they ever book. Under the Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998, no chauffeur may carry a paying passenger in London without that licence.

In Summary

The Whole Day, One Driver

A private chauffeur service reserves one professional driver and one executive car for an agreed number of hours, and you pay for the driver's time rather than for a route. That single fact is why the same booking can absorb a school run, a Harley Street appointment and a Heathrow departure without changing hands.

Households keep the arrangement because a named driver learns the routine, the vetting sits on file, payroll and insurance stay with Barons, and what happens in the car goes no further. Families move as one in the V-Class with the right seat stage fitted before collection. Coverage runs from Belgravia to Bath and out to the cruise terminals at Southampton and Dover, priced per route. Waiting, parking, ULEZ and airport tracking are already inside the hourly figure, and one phone call sets up the whole week.

Arrange a Private Chauffeur+44 (0) 208 997 7103