A graduate from De Montfort University (DMU) has been getting festival-goers from their sleeping bags to the stage in double-quick time at a festival last weekend, thanks to his new business venture.
Daniel Jones – who studied arts management at DMU – now runs a transport company that shuttles people around the sites of major UK festivals and events, including last weekend’s Strawberry Fields Festival in Leicestershire.
Using a fleet of hired golf buggies, Cambridge-born Daniel and his FESTAXI team transferred hundreds of people from the car park to the campsite – or from the campsite to the stage areas – on the festival site in Heather near Coalville.
“The idea for the business came to me when I was at the Latitude festival in Suffolk last year,” said Daniel, 28. “I was so tired after walking the huge distances between the campsite and the stages that I lay down on the grass and thought ‘I could do with a taxi’.
“It dawned on me that a golf buggy – with an eco-friendly engine – would be the obvious solution.
“When I got back to Leicester, I pitched my idea in DMU’s start-up bursary competition and was lucky enough to win £500.”
Daniel’s FESTAXI service made its debut at this year’s Latitude festival, with a pool of golf buggies ferrying festival-goers around the site. Since then, the team has also provided a shuttle service at the Relentless Boardmasters festival in Newquay. But Daniel is already looking ahead to the autumn, when the traditional festival season is over.
“Although most of the music festivals take place in the summer months, there are plenty of trade fairs and major indoor events coming up,” he said. “We’ll be exploring the idea of providing electric buggies to all sorts of indoor events, both at home and abroad.”
Daniel’s business – which is based in Leicester – has also been supported by a grant from Enterprise Inc: a £3 million initiative run in partnership with the region’s universities to support 500 young entrepreneurs in the East Midlands.
Students like Daniel are encouraged to start and run business ventures during their degree course, or immediately after graduation, with the help of a £2,490 bursary and £3,000 of business support.
Amy Liddington from DMU’s Campus Enterprise Opportunities, the team that runs the Enterprise Inc programme for DMU students, said: “The programme was set up to help young entrepreneurs like Daniel turn their business ideas into reality. We’re delighted that we were able to give him the advice he needed to get his business off the ground and look forward to watching the FESTAXI service go from strength to strength.”
For Daniel, the start-up support from Enterprise Inc provided the boost he needed to follow his dream. “The funding gave me the kick-start I needed to leave my job and make a go of the business,” he said. “Knowing that someone else thought my idea was good gave me the confidence to go for it – and I’m enjoying every minute!”
For more information about FESTAXI, visit www.festaxi.com
