Hiring a private driver in the Cotswolds to drive our own rental car

It's an interesting idea- but I believe the rental company's insurance policies will be an obstacle, with their stringent requirements (including age) for additional drivers?
You should research this now, in your planning phase. Good luck!

getting a driving licence in the middle of high school is not the ritual here as it is elsewhere - I know many teeneagers and young adults who have yet to take up driving - and when you consider that insurance on a car for a young driver can approach £2000 a year you will have an idea why not.

I'd be astonished if your rental company would allow that. Also the driver would expect to be paid and that would violate the driving for hire laws.

After you've checked it out further please come back and post what you've found - I'm happy to be proven wrong

Very unlikely you'll find someone - my kids are young adults and don't have licences yet, and I certainly wouldn't let them drive as teenagers... and I suspect any adult who is willing to work as a driver will have their own car.

As the others have pointed out, it is very unlikely that you will be able to find a young adult to drive your car around, and it would probably be unlawful.

What I would suggest is that you go ahead and rent a car for yourself for those places that you feel comfortable driving to, but then find a driver and car that you can use for those places that are out of the way or crowded, keeping in mind that it would be more expensive.

Honestly, driving in the UK is not all that difficult. The Cotswolds are a little bit more crowded, but UK drivers are generally polite and understanding of tourists, although they may be muttering under their breath.

We have rented cars three times and driven in Britain. The last time was in 2017 when we rented for four weeks and visited the Cotswolds, as well as South Wales much of Western and Northern England.

Driving on the left does require a strong focus to stay on the left, especially at turning in intersections.
We didn't visit large cities, the largest was York.
The worst part of driving was dealing with the parking lot of the perimeter around London (M25). Traffic in and around London is to be avoided. It is not a problem in the Cotswolds.

Also, British drivers are very polite, especially compared to other countries.

I echo the sentiments of prior posters regarding the validity of your request. However, I offer how we handle driving in England if you will have a travel partner. The driver is assigned only driving duties without any navigation responsibilities. The driver must ignore glancing at the cars gps or any handheld mapping device (e.g. phone). The front seat passenger has all navigation duties and communicates to the driver upcoming turns, etc. We find the division of these duties increases safety and reduces driving stress.
We also recognize navigation “glitches” shall occur and this is a “no blame” environment. Hence the focus remains on safe driving. We add ample time to travel to any destination in order to reduce stress and avoid speeding.
Tip: invest in researching best places to park at each destination. This research will save time and travel angst. We have found parking away from the tourist destination and walking is of great benefit to increasing travel enjoyment.

Thank you all very much. You brought up points that I had not considered (rental car contracts) or was unaware of (British driving laws). All of your suggestions are great ones!

Taking into consideration all the good advice you've been given, I would suggest that you NOT rent a car for yourself, but rely on taxis, which are plentiful around the Cotswolds. There are also buses which connect the villages, running on regular schedules.
I think you'll be happier relying on taxis. This also releases you from the hassle of returning a rental car with damage at the end of your trip. Damage can happen while your car is parked somewhere and you are away from the car. Parking spots can be tight throughout the Cotswolds and someone else could scrape your car. Never mind tickets you might get for accidentally parking in a no-parking zone or tickets for speeding, however little you are over the speed limit. For what you are asking, taxis and buses are the way to go IMHO, and this will save you from wasting money on the rental car (and any charges for damage when you turn it in--which is a big headache to deal with). It also saves you from getting lost or having to navigate on narrow roads or one-lane farm lanes. There are rocks walls or bramble bushes on the side of some of the more narrow roads. We once had to pull off of the road into a driveway to let a large farm tractor pass through on the road. Not stress-free driving.
Then there are the pleasant walks to be done in the Cotswolds, from one village to another, a look around, lunch, and a walk back beside a stream.
Some villages are close to one another, so you may wish to take a short hike/walk from your home village to one of these each day. There are walking trails, including The Cotswolds Way.

Or you could walk one way, then call a taxi to take you back to your home base.

Taxis for Cotswolds:

Cheltenham/Winchcombe:
Starline Taxis: 01242 250250
Bishops Cleeve Private Hire: 01242 696676

Cheltenham/Winchcombe/Broadway/Guiting Power:
P-Private Hire: 07540 437546
Cotswolds Executive Cars: Tina- 07919 160630 or Steve- 07538 184691

Broadway/Chipping Campden/Moreton-in-Marsh:
Cotswolds Executive Cars: Tina- 07919 160630 or Steve- 07538 184691
Mark Jepson: 07895 028448

Bourton-on-the-Water/Moreton-in-Marsh/Stow-on-the-Wold/Guiting Power:
Hope Private Hire: 07585 308838 or 07748 983311
Stow Cars: Edwin- 07946 525039

those taxis mentioned sound like some of them are for the north Cotswolds. 01242 for example is Cheltenham and surrounding. Stow taxis would be for Stow on the Wold. The other numbers are for mobile phones so I have no idea of where they cover.

It would be good when reaching out to them to ask if they are local for the ride you want.

I don't use taxis because I have my own car when in the Cotswolds, but taxis are indeed a good idea Just don't try to get one at school or doctor going time or at school chucking out time.

You won't be able to rent a car and then pay someone to drive it for you as standard car rental companies do not allow this. If you wanted to do so then you would need to go down the lines of renting from a specialised company that deals in rentals for commercial use. Obviously these are designed for use by taxi drivers etc and they deal with specific commercial insurance.

I'm not sure what the contractual requirements would be if renting a vehicle through such a company, I suspect a short rental period that you would require would not be something that most would provide.

I’ve used Cotswold Executive Cars. They were responsive and reliable. I would not hesitate to use them again. The trip was between Moreton on Marsh to Chipping Campden.