Royal Ascot Week information and history - Limousine Hire and Chauffeur Cars

 

With the dates of the most popular horse racing event of the year announced, many people will now start to think about setting the dates aside in their diaries, deciding on who will accompany them to the event and booking a limousine. The dates for Royal Ascot 2008 are Tuesday 17th June through until Saturday 21st June, Ladies Day is on Thursday 19th June. As a result of changes to the rules governing 'hire or reward' all limousine companies must be licensed from 1st January 2008. This has resulted in some withdrawing from the market and therefore, it is very likely that there will be a shortage of stretched limousines for Royal Ascot 2008.

 

Of course few racing events can match Royal Ascots rich history, with a racecourse which was founded by Queen Anne back in 1711 and will reach its tercentenary in 2011, now that should be an event to remember. During Royal Ascot week some 300,000 people will attend the event making it Europe's most popular racing event. The Ascot Authority, formed by an act of Parliament in 1913 has commissioned an upgrade of the racecourse facilities, costing an estimated £185m and was completed after just 20 months. The funding was provided by the Horserace Betting Levy Board, commercial lenders and Ascot's own reserves. As owner of the Ascot estate, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth reopened the racecourse on Tuesday 20th June 2006. The first four day Royal Meeting was held in June 1768 and it was subsequently extended to five days in 2002, The Queen's Golden Jubilee year.

 

The new Grandstand was finished in May 2006 includes some 265 private boxes which can seat anything from 6 to 40 people, there are also 7 restaurants. In addition, there is an 8,000 viewing capacity parade ring, located behind the stand and at the heart of the racecourse. The Grandstand was designed to curve in an arc to provide the best views of the track, bends, mile start winning post, and of course, Windsor Great Park. As part of their Founding Partner programme, Royal Ascot have also announced that the renovated Grandstand will include 1,000 indoor and outdoor high definition TV from Sony, which amongst other things will include betting information.

 

The Pavilion has also been refurbished, providing bars, betting facilities, a public library and a meeting hall. Ascot employs some 140 full time staff, but this rises to 6,000 during Royal Ascot week to cater for the 300,000 visitors. Royal Ascot Village is ideally positioned in the centre of the course opposite the new Grandstand, just yards from the finishing post. Because the Royal Ascot Village has a private viewing area on the rails it is an ideal location to view the Royal Procession and the finish of each race.

 

Royal Ascot is renowned as a sporting and social occasion and every year welcomes many people who may only attend this one race meeting each year, betting perhaps at Royal Ascot and the Grand National. There is a strong tradition at Royal Ascot of pageantry, fashion and style and this is equally true of transportation to and from the event. Visitors frequently choose to be chauffeured to Royal Ascot is a top of the range chauffeur driven cars, such as a Rolls Royce, Bentley Arnage, or Maybach. Plus the tradition of selecting the best stretched limousine available remains strong. Visitors frequently retain their chauffeur cars or limousines and park in the Silver Ring, with the chauffeur services companies providing open sided marquees, tables and chairs for their guests.

 

Cars for Stars is an award winning company offering a wide range of chauffeur driven cars and the very latest stretched limousines. The chauffeur cars available for Royal Ascot include the Rolls Royce Phantom, Maybach 62, Bentley Arnage,  the all new Jaguar XJ (LWB), latest Mercedes S Class (LWB), as well as Mercedes people carriers. Stretched limousine for hire area available in different shapes and sizes, in white, black, silver, metallic blue, vanilla white and candy apple red.

 

Cars for Stars is a franchised business, with offices in major locations throughout the UK and, all Cars for Stars businesses are licensed for private hire by the relevant local authority, in London this is the Public Carriage Office (PCO). This means that all Cars for Stars franchisees are registered for private hire, the limousines are licensed as private hire vehicles and the chauffeurs are licensed to drive the cars and limousines. The chauffeur cars and limousines do not have a private hire plate attached because of a successful application for exemption.

 

From the 1st January 2008, all limousine companies, that were not previously licensed to offer limousines for hire or reward, will have to be licensed. As with all licensed limousine hire operators, Cars for Stars is open to regular checks and scrutiny by the local authorities, the chauffeur driven cars and limousines offered for hire are also subjected to stringent and regular checks. All chauffeur's have to pass a medical and criminal records bureau check before they can be Licensed. Cars for Stars offers a package for Royal Ascot which includes an open sided marquee, tables and chairs.