Recession?
   Most of you would have been concerned recently when every time that you opened a newspaper or turned on the radio or television, there is talk of recession. There was no doubt that the American market - the  Dow Jones - was having a tough time and in February this year it reached a two-year low, which in turn sent a shiver through the  American Banking Sector. Their first reaction was to look at their costs just in case this mini recession did come to pass. They looked not just in the States, but also worldwide and yes of course, our Taxi trade is one of the first cutbacks.
   Some of our Clients have made no secret of the fact that they required the same service as in the past, but were looking to make savings of up to $1.5m (they like to talk in dollars) on their taxi account. Well, they do say that when the States sneezes, the UK catches a cold, however a series of interest rate cuts in the  States and here have hopefully done the trick and put some much needed confidence back into the  American economy. At the time of writing, the Dow Jones is just a few hundred points off an all-time high, so let's hope there is no more talk of recession with these recent recoveries, because there is no doubt that the economy can be talked into a downward spiral. I am always a little concerned regarding our dependency on the USA, after all the economy in the UK and Europe is very strong at the moment.
   As I stated earlier, one of the first casualties of any recession is the taxi trade, yet at Dial-a-Cab we are finding our figures very encouraging. We are now into our ninth period of the Financial  Year and our turnover is up 19% on last year, an excellent result by any standards and long may it continue with no more talk of recession. For your information, the taxi trade in London is always seen as an excellent barometer concerning the economy in    London and the south east, in fact the Bank of England have meetings with my Finance Manager and I to see how Dial-a-Cab is doing and if we have noticed any downturn in our figures - what do you mean you don't believe me...!

Corporation of London
   I recently attended a meeting

with the Corporation of London where those present were expressing their concern over the number of complaints they had received regarding the lack of taxis in the City of London at night. Perhaps I should explain further that it wasn't exactly a shortage of taxis they were 
complaining about, but a shortage of taxis for hire. It appeared that most taxis in the city were not for hire as they were radio taxis already hired and on their way to pick up their passenger. I explained to them that if radio taxis were not all engaged via the telephone, there would be even more members of the public on the street looking for taxis.
The members of the Corporation went on to say that perhaps it would be a good idea if they recommended to the powers-that-be that radio taxi work in the city should be done by private hire vehicles leaving the radio taxis free to be hired by members of the public off the street - I wonder where they got that from? Hopefully that idea has now been eradicated, but who knows? It has, as you all know, been a concern of mine for a few years now, which brings me on to my next point.

Impotence
   The Editor informs me that we have had several letters, all of which have been printed and responded to, regarding Dial-a-Cab's involvement within various trade bodies. Well, you can't please all the people all of the time, but it's a fact that meetings would take place, like the one above where Dial-a-Cab would have no involvement or input, which could be disastrous for the radio taxi industry thereby making us impotent. I always find it extraordinary that some people (although I do respect the fact that they are entitled to an opinion) think that everyone else is trying to sell them down the river; why should that be? So far as I am concerned, it is a simple choice, meetings will take place and decisions made without my

or Dial-a-Cab's contribution if we resign from everything. However,  I hope the majority of you have enough confidence in me to represent you with your best interests at heart - because that is exactly what I do. Also, if you cast your minds back, it has been  Dial-a-Cab that has raised 
the contentious issues first regarding our industry, the reform of the Knowledge, ground transportation, taxis banned from having radios etc. Some of you might not like what I have to say - but at least you get the truth first from myself and Dial-a-Cab, that is a record that I am proud of.

Tenders for New Business
   Both Allen Togwell and myself have been visiting existing and prospective new clients as they prepare to put their transportation business out to tender. Their tender documents contain and talk about the same thing, having one telephone number to order a taxi or car, indeed, to cater for all their ground transport needs. I subscribe to the theory that for Dial-a-Cab to lease or purchase cars does not come in to the equation, because I believe that we could not compete with the car companies on price for reasons that I will be happy to discuss, at a later date.
   So we have a simple decision, or perhaps not so simple given the politics within our trade. Do we tell these corporates, some who spend up to £10m per annum on ground transportation that we cannot tender for their business or do we handle all their business and sub-contract the car work out to reputable car companies? Even worse, a car company could be given the business and they could sub-contract out to a taxi company bearing in mind that one of our competitors is already working with a car company and will be tendering for work in conjunction with that car company. That puts us in an even more difficult position. I think that on this particular topic that I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't.
   Finally, as the Editor only produces eleven Call Signs a year and not twelve because he thinks he's entitled to a holiday, there will not be a magazine for July, so I will speak to you in August when you can find out if we did or didn't tender - can you wait?

Brian Rice