Newport-based taxi firm Dragon Taxis has branched out and opened a new office in Commercial Road, Pill.

The firm was formed in 1986 at the Stow Hill Labour club by brothers Tom and John Lavender, who grew the business and moved it to its Newport train station base in 1991. Local entrepreneur Paul Ragan acquired the business in August 2010 and made it part of Veezu Ltd, which has around 1,000 cars and growing in Wales and the Midlands.

Dragon is currently the largest taxi firm in Gwent with 220 drivers and 15 employees.

Matthew Davies, of Dragon Taxis, said: "Over the last year the business has grown and improved on all fronts. This is down to manager and Pill boy Jack Price. Jack has been involved with taxis since the age of 13 and has extensive knowledge of the Newport market.

"He was mentored by Andrew Barley, former operations director at Dragon, who sadly passed away a year ago. Despite this set back the business has flourished and is going from strength to strength.

"Following a review we felt that the time is now right. Jack, being a local boy, wanted to give something back to the area where he grew up and with the timing it also allows us to remember Andrew. He would have been very proud. The new branch will allow us to increase our journeys and provide competition to the existing taxi companies in the area."

The new office will mean the firm will be able to take on more staff to deal with the volume of calls.

Mr Davies said: "Over the last year or so it has been good to see the new developments in Newport, a lot more housing estates etc. We have invested in our systems and use the latest technology which ensures that the system automatically allocates the closest car to the job while GPS allows continuous vehicle tracking.

"We have also worked hard on raising the standard with uniformed drivers, car checks and responding to customer feedback. We are currently developing a booking app to move us to the next level."

He said that new developments like Friars Walk and the Wales International Convention Centre were fantastic news for Newport and would boost the local economy.

"I think people will actually want to come to Newport and stay in Newport rather than travel to Cwmbran, Bristol or Cardiff.

"From a taxi perspective more people equals more journeys and it will allow us to build on our existing business. Furthermore developments like this will allow us to showcase our VIP service."

Mr Davies said: "We are constantly expanding and looking for new ways to grow. We still don’t have enough drivers to cope with the demand

Both local and national expansion will take place over the next 12 months. In addition we expect journey and driver numbers to swell."