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Carndonagh firm takes on the world 18.12.07

A TAXI texting service is set to take the world by storm from its hub in Carndonagh.
First conceived as a service to help hearing and speech impaired people book a cab, Text A Taxi, is operating throughout England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and went live only yesterday in Dublin.
The man behind the global service is Lawrence Kendall, who came up with the idea three years ago in a pub in his home city of Bolton, England.
"I was having a drink with my friend when two of his friends joined us. They were hearing and speech impaired and they relied very heavily on their mobile phones," said Lawrence. "When it was time to go home, my friend said he would have to book cabs for his two friends. I lay awake that night thinking about it and the next day I booked the domain name textataxi.com.
Lawrence, 39, chose Inishowen as his base after moving here several years ago with his Derry- born wife Lynda.
With a strong background in  
Lawrence Kendall.
software development and telecommunications, he has invested a whopping €500,000 in the business so far and is in the process of recruiting staff for his base at Pound Street, Carndonagh. He hopes to employ five people in the coming weeks.
Textataxi.com is his trademark with worldwide patents pending on the product. The company is currently in talks with a US firm keen to franchise the model in the States while Australia and New Zealand are target markets for the new year. The service, which is operational in Derry and Limavady, is expected to go live in Inishowen early next year.
"The students in Derry are loving the service. For people who are not hearing or speech impaired, Textataxi is also very handy when they are in busy and noisy environments and want to book a taxi," added the company founder. Calls cost a flat rate of €1 with no charge for confirmation texts. The Carn-based businessman says users can earn txtmiles™ with every booking they make, allowing them to cash them in for gifts. If you would like to find out more visit  www.textataxi.com .
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