Des’s Cabs was founded by Desmond Brougham in 1963 using 2 Black 1960 FB Holdens, 1 White ‘s’ series Valiant (his own) and 3 new Brown and Fawn 1963 EJ Holdens.
After six months the base was moved to Des’s mother’s house at 28 McLennan Ave, Whyalla Norrie, South Australia and within the first twelve months Des’s younger brother Trevor had joined him in a partnership.
A further 3 new EJ/EH Holdens were purchased taking the fleet size to 9 taxis. At the time the opposition consisted of McFarlane’s blue Whyalla Taxis and Don Carr’s white Spencer Gulf Cabs. All vehicles were company owned and drivers were paid wages, at better than tradesman’s rates.
In 1967 McFarlane’s Whyalla Taxis closed and in 1969 Don Carr’s Spencer Gulf Taxis also closed leaving Des’s Cabs then with a monopoly and a fleet of 30 taxis. With Taxis Driver Earnings falling behind inflation over the years wages disappeared in favor of commission based earnings and individual ownership of taxis came in as a natural progression.
In 1970 the Taxi Base moved to new premises at 5 Oborn Street, Whyalla Norrie.
In 1972 E. K. Cabs started up in opposition to Des’s Cabs with an initial 6 taxis. Their taxis were new white Valiant Sedans and they were allocated separate taxi ranks by the Whyalla City Council.
On the 4th February 1974 Trevor Brougham was killed when his aeroplane struck a hill top outside of Port Lincoln. His eldest son Chris Brougham then took over the reigns aged just 20 years.
In 1978 Des’s expanded into Port Augusta founding Augusta Taxis Pty Ltd and starting with a fledgling three car fleet.
In 1979 Des’s acquired Whyalla Taxis (formerly EK Cabs) and was once again operating in a taxi monopoly situation in Whyalla.
In 1984 Brett Brougham was appointed as the new Port Augusta manager.
In 1993 Des's Adelaide Taxis Pty Ltd was founded as a new separate company in the Adelaide Market with the purchase of Blue Stripe Taxis, a seven car operation.
The Passenger Transport Act 1994 disappointingly saw the classification of all SA Country Taxis as Small Passenger vehicles.
In 1995 Port Augusta City Council's Taxi By-Law lapsed leaving it under the control of the Passenger Transport Board (PTB). The PTB denied this responsibility and left Port Augusta as the first and only unregulated taxi industry in Australia. Whyalla City Council followed suit in about 1999.
In 1999 data screens were installed in all Des's Whyalla and Port Augusta taxis and the two radio rooms were merged into one operation in Whyalla. Greg Quin was appointed as the new Port Augusta manager, Brett moved to Whyalla and Chris to Adelaide. Des’s taxi fleet colours were changed to Taxi Yellow in both Whyalla and Port Augusta.
In 2000 Des’s introduced full computer accounting using MYOB, survived the Millenium computer scare and the introduction of GST.
In 2002 Des’s Whyalla changed Fuel Suppliers from Caltex to SAFF, added Diesel Fuel and four extra pumps, installed a new Telephone System in Whyalla upgraded with digital XEN Master and a new telephone number group starting from 08 8644 7700, and adopted the national Taxi 131 008 as our main taxi booking number.
In 2003 Warren Hunt appointed as the new Port Augusta manager and Des’s won the Whyalla Bus contract necessitating the formation of new company Des's Transport Pty Ltd.
Chris’s youngest son Luke Brougham was appointed as the new Port Augusta manager in December 2003.
In 2004 Des’s purchased Groovy Grape Getaways, a tour company servicing the international backpacker market with tours between Melbourne, Adelaide and Alice Springs.
In February 2009 Des’s added Ezyrent Minibuses to it’s Adelaide operations, a self drive bus hire and charter bus operation.