Premier Carriage Historical Timeline

1. Premier Carriage Wedding Cars was founded. 1996

   At the start we were known as The Premier Carriage Company of Bournemouth. We owned and operated a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley locally.

2. Upgrade 1998

   The early days of internet. www.premiercarriage.co.uk domain name was purchased, and a website was created.

   

3. More wedding car owners 1999

   Following our success, we were approached by other wedding car owners wanting to work alongside Premier Carriage by offering their vehicles as alternatives to our own and later that year started the Marketing Services of different vehicle owners.

4. More Locations 2001

   The business kept growing at a fast pace and Premier Carriage became a limited company. By that time we had vehicles in most southern counties covering, Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire, Dorset, Hampshire, Berkshire, Surrey, East and West Sussex.

5. Update 2004

   Updated version of our website went live and a new logo was designed.

   

6. Starring 2005

   Started providing vehicles to Films and Television with credits including Agatha Christies ‘Poirot’ and ‘Marple’, ‘Downton Abbey’, ‘Foyles War’, ‘Heartbeat’, ‘EastEnders’, ‘Coronation Street’, ‘Call the Midwife’, ‘Churchill: The Hollywood Years’, ‘Endeavour’ Morse, ‘My Life with Marilyn’, ‘Mr Selfridge’, ’The Mummy Returns’, ‘Cold Feet’, ‘Jewel in the Crown’, ‘Dukes of Hazard’, ‘Bergerac’, BBC TV’s Holiday Programme and many, many more.

7. More Upgrades 2008

   Newer and updated version of our website went live that year. We had just over 350+ vehicles at that time covering all Southern England from Cornwall to Gloucestershire to the Eastern county of Kent.

   

8. Didier meets Michael 2009

   The current Managing Director of Premier Carriage, Didier Di Mario met Michael and became involved with the business offering a fresher outlook and help with Michael’s expanding business.

9. 5000 Bookings! 2011

   Premier Carriage marks a milestone with its 5,000^th wedding booking in January of that year.

10. Our first booking in Wales 2014

    Word of Mouth reached the Welsh capital, Cardiff and our first wedding car hire booking was provided in Wales.

11. 10.000 Bookings! 2015

    By the end of 2015 we had completed our 10,000^th wedding booking.

12. The Succession 2016

    Michael, the founder of Premier Carriage retired as Director and was immediately succeeded by Didier. A mobile-friendly website with new features was created. Following growing success Premier Carriage had to register for VAT in that same year.

    

13. eCommerce 2017

    Premier Carriage first started accepting online Card Payments using our brand new re-designed website with its user-friendly online booking form.

14. Awards 2018

    Premier Carriage won a selection of Wedding Awards and started its marketing of wedding transport in Scotland. Wedding awards included Gold Certificate of Excellence from BrideBook, 5-star WeddingWire recommended, Winner for Innovation and Excellence. List of our current wedding awards can be seen here and this year also marked a new milestone with our 15,000^th wedding booking.

15. Our first booking in Scotland & Awards 2019

    Our first Scottish wedding car hire booking was made in the spring of 2019. In August 2019 Premier Carriage’s website grows to offer over 750 Vehicles for wedding hire. Voted LuxLife Best of the Wedding Industry.

16. The COVID Crisis 2020

    The awful Covid-19 global pandemic decimated many Brides and Grooms hopes of getting married in the venues they originally chose and with the number of guests originally planned. For our part we managed to transfer over 1,000 wedding bookings in 2020 to new dates, with some dates being changed two or three times, as with any professional company this was completed without additional charge limiting the distress already caused to those needing to change their plans. Although still causing issues into 2021 we are hoping by the spring things may return to as near normal as possible. Our fingers are crossed !
    
    On the brighter side 2020 saw us win the title ‘Best Transport Provider of 2020‘ by the National Wedding Awards, indeed high praise in itself, plus we received the highest ‘5 Star’ rating from ‘Safebuy’.

17. Anniversary! 2021

    We are proud to celebrate our ‘25^th Anniversary‘ providing wedding transport to Happy Couples throughout the UK. With our company going from strength to strength we are looking forward to seeing what the next 25 years brings us… Whatever it brings we aim to remain the leader in our field.

    
18. Website and Supplier Platform Launch 2024

    In 2024, we recreated our website to meet modern standards, enhancing user experience and accessibility. Alongside this, we introduced a comprehensive platform for our suppliers, streamlining the process for vehicle owners to manage bookings, update their fleet information, and engage with clients more effectively. This dual update ensures that both our customers and suppliers benefit from the latest technology, further solidifying Premier Carriage's position as a leader in the wedding transport industry.