Kindness is the engine of a good luxury service.
Like many startups, Ruby Services’ original story begins with one person.
Mohamed Zouikri basically had a full client portfolio set up long before starting the company. It may sound glorified, but no, it also demanded a lot of hard work along the way, when he finally decided to set off in his Mercedes and commit to Limousine Services as a full-time project.
On the occasion of this first blog, I sat down with Mohamed.We had a good talk about the last twenty years, as well as what the future might bring.
20 Years counting.
Mohamed got entangled into the 5 stars world on the Riviera from an early age. He started out at the Michelin restaurant Louis XV in Monaco. Where he worked under the wings of the famous Alain Ducasse, known as “the” artisan of flavors.
After years on the Riviera working at 5 stars hotels like château St Martin in Vence, rélais & chateau Le St Paul and not to forget La Chêvre d’Or in Eze, Mohamed decided to relocate to St Barth. Here, he could enjoy the exceptional views of the Caribbean ocean from a tropical paradise, the 5 stars resort, Le Toiny, where he worked for 8 years.
It was also here Mohamed’s passion for entrepreneurship started sprouting. He started wondering why nobody imported Grand Crû wines to the French island, with a fast-growing luxury industry and a Yacht harbour with 15 megayachts at berth.
Mohamed started his first business, Absolutely Wine, where he imported Grand Cru wines as the first cave at St Barth. He sold the business in 2006 and relocated to New York. From here he could run his second company, Vacation in Paradise, where he organized the full stay for Americans on St Barth. He also met his wife in New York and after a few years, they decided to return to the Riviera.
Now Mohamed's desire was to transform his passion for high-end customer service and luxury cars into a profession. He gained good experience working with Chabé, the oldest and biggest limousine transport company in France. He discovered that the majority of private chauffeurs on the Riviera are seasonal, one-man business and there was a real potential for a well-organized company on the Riviera.
Today, years later, Ruby Services can pride our themselves of permanent contracts with a large number of private clients, media and yacht management companies interacting with the French Riviera.
What does the word service mean to Ruby?
Our competitiveness was kindled and nurtured from the willingness and ability to offer a large range of integrated services and as well from our ability to provide a rapid and multilingual service.
Our integrated services can be everything from buying the right flowers to getting the right table for our clients. Our chauffeurs are trained to highest standards and focused in their pursuit. Therefore, we are not afraid to mention that we outplay others, when it comes to safety and professionalism.
The French touch.
“Do you fear the popularity of rental cars without a driver especially during a sanitary crisis?“ We are of course watching the developments closely, but we believe that high service is the core of the leisure industry. People are at the heart of luxury and there will always be a demand for us”. “Is the French touch essential in luxury transport?” Ruby represents luxury and service in the “old fashioned” French way. None of my drivers are arrogant, I only hire, the “walk the extra mile” type of person. We have had more and more customers from the United States lately, who says that there are no companies worthy of their names back home, in spite of the states being the mother country of limousines.”
