From There to Here...!
I have now been ensconced for almost a year and can honestly say that my period of introduction into Dial-a-Cab has been both extremely interesting and challenging. Having worked as an accountant for many years, I've been involved in a wide variety of business environments, but none have been quite like DaC.
   Prior to DaC, my longest engagements were as Financial Controller at Tarmac Homes South Yorkshire (building 750+ private houses per year) and latterly as Group Financial Director of the Instone International Group (specialist marine travel brokers) and my first sojourn into a service industry.
   During my 10 years at Tarmac, I came in contact, both on and off site with a wide range of characters as you can imagine, and was 'indoctrinated' into their system on many occasions, particularly in my early days. Once accepted into the fold, I learned a great deal about all aspects of their trades and became involved in everything from JCB's going missing, to sewers where the contents were supposed to defy gravity (ie. flow uphill) to houses being constructed in the wrong place! My involvement in the business prompted me to embark on the project of planning and building my own house (in effect practicing what I preached) and I can honestly say that whilst the work was hard and sometimes stressful, the end product justified the effort and gave me first hand experience of the many problems which can occur through no fault of your own.
   Instone, a specialist marine air broker supplying crew travel to the shipping industry, provided a completely different challenge. The decision to provide a global network of offices, demanded a significant amount of travel as part of my brief, particularly to the Far East and in particular the Philippines (Manila), Hong Kong, Singapore and India, being major sources of ship's crew and / or embarkation points. This appears to be a very enviable position to be in, seeing new countries and conducting business with new people from different cultures. However, like any other vocation, travelling can become tedious, starting new businesses can become frustrating and the routine of airport to office to hotel unpleasant - sometimes! Over the

10 years I was employed by Instone, I experienced many different cultures, many different work situations and on a few occasions, life-threatening circumstances, most of which involved aeroplanes or manic driving in Metro Manila!
   A classic high-volume low-margin business, Instone serviced a number of large conglomerates including the likes of Shell, Mobil, Carnival Cruise Lines and Kuwait Oil Tankers and in this respect, I believed on joining DaC that there would be many similarities. Indeed there are some similarities, but the incredible transaction volumes at DaC coupled with the restrictions of Mutual trading, makes for an exceptionally absorbing and challenging business.
   During my first year, I have seen the retirement in April of long-serving Secretary Trevor Clarke, who gave committed and dedicated service to the Society over his 15-year tenure and the appointment of Financial Accountant, Warren Smith, who was employed just prior to Trevor's departure and has taken over his accounting role.

AGM
My first AGM in February of this year gave me a tremendous insight into the culture of DaC and demonstrated what being a 'Mutual' really means. I hope that I will be able to make a positive and informative contribution to this year's event. The details are:
SUNDAY, 10th FEBRUARY,
THE BREWERY, CHISWELL STREET.
PLEASE PUT THIS DATE IN YOUR DIARIES.

'Bottom Line' Talk
In financial terms, 2000/2001 has been one of consolidation, with the expected impact of the new MDT's on depreciation kicking in mid-term and the tailing off in turnover levels not
materially affecting the 'bottom line'.
   Sales turnover, in fact, increased in the year by 14.4% to £42.5 million, providing a pre-audit surplus of £750K, whilst costs, excluding

depreciation, have actually only kept pace with related increases in turnover and inflation apart from a few areas where we have invested in developing and improving performance.
   To keep one step ahead of the opposition, the Society's web site has been developed to incorporate an online booking facility that has proved to be very successful. But the jewel in the crown was the introduction of the DaCport, providing the opportunity for our major clients to interrogate their own data on our network via the Internet. This facility is the envy of our major competitors and in sales tendering terms, is putting us one step ahead.
   Since the end of the financial year, there has been a downturn in business volumes, which was exaggerated in the City by circumstances post 11th September, which has knocked the confidence of our large American corporate clients and coincided with a re-alignment of the major financial markets - which many commentators believed to be over valued.
   My previous jobs have always been 'bottom line' focused and that is where DaC is slightly different. DaC being a Mutual trading company exists to provide work for its shareholders / members and not necessarily to make profits / surpluses. However, when the going gets a little tougher, a little more competitive and certainly more price orientated, it is in my view vital to be able to generate the cash or facilitate the borrowing power to enable the Board to be innovative in its approach to the market and remain ahead of the opposition.
   I believe that in trading terms, the 'black cab' market will become much more price sensitive and competitive and it will be vital to respond to these conditions if the Society is to continue to perform at similar levels to those achieved over the past 5 years. In my experience, those organisations that are first on the ladder of innovation are those that generate a long term and successful future and control the shape and development of their respective trades.
   I look forward with great expectation to my second year at Dial-a-Cab...

Howard Pears
DaC Finance Manager /
Company Secretary