Heysham entrepreneur turns taxi cab into party photobooth

The cab has been refurbished and redesigned to be used as a wedding car with a twist – doubling up as a photo booth for guests.

The cab is totally self sufficient, containing the latest technology for taking and printing photographs.

It is the latest venture from local entertainment and events company PartyU, who specialise in providing live entertainment, catering, decorations and photographs for weddings, birthdays and other special occasions, as well as promoting events within the nightclub industry.

Adam Wilde, who is behind PartyU, said: “It’s an idea that I have been working on for 12-18 months.

“The core of our business is photography but we are trying to offer a diverse option of what’s already out there, doing it differently to add a quirky factor that’s not expensive.

“I did a lot of research into different ideas and took the core of the business and looked at what we could do.

“I had seen old style black cabs with a camera installed and I wanted to turn that idea on its head.”

Adam searched for six months to find the right cab, eventually buying it in Blackpool.

The cab has undergone a full body and interior respray, full re-upholstering, carpets replaced, full LED conversion done and assorted mechanical replacements.

Adam has been helped in stripping and kitting out the cab by Northgate Autobodies director David Burke.

The cab and its renovation have cost around £7,000.

“It’s taken two months to complete and it looks absolutely fantastic now,” Adam said. “David has done an amazing job and it’s better than I could have imagined.

“We have gutted the whole cab and replaced everything. It’s gone from being an old London black cab to something that can be used at a wedding.”

The cab is now cream with a hint of PartyU’s custom purple.

“I wanted it to have a little bit of an element of pantomime but not to the point where it was too much,” Adam said.

Inside, the cab has been fitted with a Canon DSLR camera, which is mounted onto the glass divide between the front and rear of the cab.

There are two printers, one traditional style and the other a dye-sub photo booth-style fast printer,

It’s also kitted out with its own generator in case of power problems.

Based in Heysham, Adam is willing to cover a 60-mile radius with the cab.

Adam has previously worked in sales and marketing and has also been a nightclub DJ for 24 years, but he hopes his latest initiative will really take off.

“I have always found myself quite frustrated in running PartyU and not having that one great idea and hopefully this is that moment,” he said.

“I am really looking forward to it. Everybody I have spoken to about it has been very positive in their feedback, just based on the idea.

“I think the next 12 months are going to be very exciting.”

For more information fo to www.partyu.co.uk.