Knightsbridge-based car club cashes in on supercars

by Rebecca Burn-Callander - Friday, 30th May 2008 -

Chirag Shah and Anastasio van Bilderbeek only launched Quadriga last month, but their high octane car rental business is 0-60mph in record time.

Car clubs have been done before, but Quadriga is different. “We cater to three separate demographics,” says Shah. “The petrolheads, who already own a supercar but want to try out the other models; wealthy individuals who like the cars, but are too economically savvy to buy one; and we also have an eco-range, for drivers looking to downgrade their costs.”

The firm was set-up with £300,000 in the kitty. Shah owns a 52 per cent stake and provided most of the finance, but van Bilderbeek came up with the original idea. Together, their plans are ambitious: an eastern expansion should take the company to Shanghai and Dubai over the next few years.

“Asians are the most brand conscious people in the world,” says Shah. “We’ll invest in a fleet of identical Ferraris for that side of the world. Clients will rent the same car over and over, to pretend it’s theirs.”

On home turf, the Knightsbridge show room puts Quadriga within spitting distance of its British customer base – the private equity folk based in Mayfair, St James and Piccadilly. And if the young company continues on its current course, it’s heading for a £1m turnover within a year.

Prepare for super-charged growth.

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