ESTEVAN - The owner of one of Estevan's long-standing businesses is retiring after serving the community for more than half a century.
Jim Halladay's final day will be April 30. The owner of M&H Taxi Ltd. for more than 50 years, Halladay told SaskToday that he has enjoyed owning the business, but he believes now is the time to move on.
He bought into M&H Taxi after leaving the Estevan Police Service. His brother-in-law, Derald Marchand, was looking for a partner on a cab company. Halladay was just getting married and liked the idea of being his own boss.
"That's how basically we got started, and we ended up buying two of the original taxi companies, and amalgamated to make them one," said Halladay.
A few years later, Marchand went to work at the mines, and so Halladay bought him out. His parents helped with the purchase.
Like any other career, owning a taxi company and driving a cab has its good days and its challenging moments. There are times he has a hard time believing how quickly the 52 years have gone by, because he enjoyed the work, and there are others that are "frustrating", he said.
"But if you want to succeed, you must go on," said Halladay. "That's just basically what I believed is if you work hard enough at it, you can do basically anything you want."
The customers were the biggest reason he remained in the business for so long. Halladay said he enjoyed meeting the people. He needed to have the right personality, he said, and enjoy talking to clients. People appreciated the service M&H provided, and it allowed him to make a good living.
"It's a very rewarding job, though. People can say what they want, but I have made a lot of friends over the years, and a few enemies."
For roughly 15 years, Halladay has worked a 5:30 a.m.-5 p.m. shift every day. He said he used to work more when he was building up the business. Halladay occasionally worked at night as well, but his driver for the night shift has been with Halladay for nearly 23 years, and that employee's dedication meant a lot.
Halladay has taken up golfing in the past few years and his wife is an avid golfer. He said they plan on travelling around Saskatchewan and golfing at some different places while seeing different parts of the province.
"We don't know for sure [what we'll be doing]," said Halladay. "She just retired a couple of years ago herself, so it's play by ear and whatever happens, happens."
It wasn't tough to leave the business for holidays. He had good people working for M&H who believed in the same things he did.
His wife has always been there for him throughout his career. He described her as a very honest woman, straightforward and to the point.
Halladay has yet to find a buyer for the company. There were a couple of interested buyers, but regardless of whether somebody buys it or not, he decided a while ago that April 30 would be his final day. He doesn't have anything special planned for the final day; he just plans on delivering the same service as always.
"I was going to retire on December 31, when I turned 75," said Halladay.
If anyone is interested in purchasing the company, Halladay encouraged them to reach out to him to discuss it.
