This is due to its 24-hour diagnosis service branch at Cane Garden, St Thomas, says managing director Richard Dawe.

In fact, business is so good, he says, that UCAL is looking to acquire more space to accommodate its rapidly growing clientele.

Dawe said the success of the company was overwhelming because when it first started no one gave it a chance.

Speaking from the Transport Board's headquarters at Weymouth, St Michael, Dawe admitted he did not expect business to take off this quickly since the company had not yet embarked on any aggressive marketing campaigns and the public associated UCAL with buses.

"Business has been very, very good since we opened at Cane Garden. We really didn't know exactly what we'd be looking at or how successful we would be because obviously we're competing with bigger commercial companies.

"It was a new venture for us. We really didn't know what to expect, but management really felt we should not put all our eggs in one basket, and the response has been excellent," said Dawe.

He added that in June alone UCAL had 48 new customers and had also been able, despite the competition, to retain its clients.

Dawe also said UCAL had seen a 100 per cent increase in the jobs coming from the Transport Board which were now up from 700 to 1 400 a month.

"The problem is that we have to wait for the Transport Board to tell us what repairs they want. We can't just take up a bus and repair it, but things are a lot better," he said.

Stressing he was extremely proud of UCAL's recent success, Dawe said the only hindrance was that a lot of people still tended to see it as the company which repaired Transport Board buses.

"We are more than just buses, because we're doing all the police vehicles, Ministry of Health, CBC, Water Authority, Sanitation Service Authority, taxis and a vast clientele of private vehicles. We've actually done that within a year," he added.

Dawe said his vision was to see UCAL erect its own building so it could be a recognised establishment, with its sign out front showing it as a business standing on its own.

However, he stressed that without the Transport Board UCAL would not have the platform on which it was now building.

Dawe will be travelling to London later this month to finalise arrangements for engineers of UCAL to be trained at the London bus transport system as part of its thrust in offering the best service to clients.