AGM
By the time you read this report, you should all have received your pack containing information and ballot papers regarding this year's AGM. The AGM will be at the Brewery, Chiswell St and will commence promptly at 11am on 10 February 2002.
   As you can see by the Agenda and Ballot form, we do not have any Rule Changes or Propositions to discuss and I believe that this is a first for Dial-a-Cab.
   I would like to remind you that if you are not going to attend the AGM, you must complete the ballot form and return it in the envelope provided; failure to either attend the AGM or vote by post will result in a £50 fine.

Christmas Bonus
The Christmas bonus's that were payable to drivers have now been calculated and paid. A total of one hundred and forty four of you qualified having completed a total of 240 trips during November and December and then claiming an extra five pounds for every radio journey undertaken over and above that number. I would like to thank those drivers and indeed all of you, for providing such an excellent service to our account clients during the 'run up' to Christmas.
   I'm sure that you will be delighted to know that through that excellent coverage, we did not suffer any casualties regarding our account client base over the holiday period and for that, I am sure that we are all grateful because if current forecasts prove to be accurate, there seems little doubt that we will need all the account clients that we can muster over the next few months.
   During quieter periods such as that which we are currently experiencing, account clients will be scrutinising their expenditure even more closely to see if they can save money. You must be extra vigilant

regarding run-ins etc, please do not give our account clients cause to complain, because they do now have many alternatives. Any short-term gain could well have a long-term effect on both you, your fellow subscribers and the company in general.   
   I meet many drivers during the week and I have little hesitation in saying that a large majority - although all are individual businessmen who drive their taxi to make a living - also care greatly for Dial-a-Cab and the image we would like to portray.   We at DaC always do our best to treat drivers and staff as they would expect to be treated and I often feel that is repaid by a loyalty over and above that which one would expect in our business. Hence the number of drivers and staff who have been with the Society for such a long time in an industry not famous for loyalty to any one organisation.

New Appointment
Assuming that you have all read my comments in our Annual Report, you will remember that I informed you that Transport for London (TfL) were going to appoint a person who was to be responsible for Taxis and Private Hire.
   Well, that appointment has now been made and the new Director (that's his title) will take control from 4 February 2002 and will have his office at Penton St.
   His name is Ed Thompson, he is 48 years of age and he has been involved in several posts within the transport industry over the past 25 years. Some of these 

include spells within central Government, London Transport, consultancy work both at home and overseas and Parliamentary work.
   His brief for the last seven years has been to improve services to the customer at London Buses where he has been part of the senior management team. Some of his responsibilities there involved business planning, fares and ticketing policy, customer research and marketing and supervising major projects. All this was with the aim of improving services to the customer.
   However, of one thing I am sure,  you will never have experienced anything in the past as you are about to sample in the taxi industry. For in the licensed taxi arena alone, we already have
around 2400 'directors'...!
   So, welcome to the taxi trade Mr Thompson. I hope your reign proves successful for our industry and with all your experience, I hope you settle in quickly.

Credit Card Booking
We intend to increase the volume of trips that we receive where customers intend to pay via Credit Card. You will notice over the coming weeks that we will be making a concerted effort to provide more work for you via this method.
   Elsewhere in this issue of Call Sign, Allan Evans will be recounting details of how Credit Card trips should be handled. I would urge you all to make yourselves familiar with this procedure, as it will be deemed extremely unprofessional if we offer the facility and then discover that some members are unfamiliar with how to action a Credit Card booking.
   Credit Card transactions are a way of life and are not difficult to process. Those of you who now accept them after shying away from them in the past, may find yourselves wondering what all the fuss was about...

Brian Rice