Having briefly mentioned
in my last report about the improving state
of our members general appearance, our
sudden immergence into summer since making
that comment has made me wonder whether I
have spoken too soon…
It seems
that at the first taste of sunshine, out
come the flip-flops, grubby vests and
shapeless stained track bottoms! As an
ex-tailor with a certain knowledge of what
makes a garment retain or lose its shape, it
is beyond me as to exactly what the wearers
of certain track bottoms do to make the
crutch droop to their knees and the elastic
leg bottoms shrink to half way up their
calves! I cannot imagine them being that
shape when they were bought, even if as I
suspect it was from a boot sale. Neither
would it be the result of how they were
washed, as many look as though the only
water they’ve ever encountered is slops
from a teapot! But what I find even more
intriguing is exactly what goes through the
minds of the wearers when, having put them
on, they look at themselves in their bedroom
mirror?
I’m
aware that not every male aspires to dress
like Beau Brummel particularly whilst at
work, but there’s a difference between
dressing like a dandy and looking an
absolute embarrassment. I’ve said on many
occasions that ‘appearance equates
attitude’ and experience continues to
prove this is to be true.
On
several instances recently, I’ve been
sitting in our main reception with a visitor
and witnessed the manner in which driver’s
have spoken to our receptionist and their
attitude when told they have come to the
wrong entrance. Smart drivers are generally
polite and accept in a courteous manner when
being told they should go to the Driver’s
entrance. Those dressed like a mess are
abrupt, impolite and aggressive. I’ve
noticed also that the majority of the latter
are young and the fact that they did not
recognise me indicates they are probably new
to the circuit.
So if as
I suspect that those letting our circuit
down are primarily amongst our newer
drivers, I would hope that rather than me
having to go into print yet again with the
obvious warning, that the longer serving
responsible members have a quiet word with
these individuals and explain the damage
they are causing to your Society’s image.
Demutualised v Non-PLC
We regularly see in Call Sign’s Mailshot
pages and at AGMs, comments from those who
feel passionate about various aspects of
Dial-a-Cab, from working procedures,
management, policies, politics, fixed prices
etc etc, but very rarely about offering
initiatives to improve their Society in the
eyes of our clients.
Apathy is
the first word that comes to mind, which is
a pity because the dramatic events taking
place as I write with our fellow
co-operative RTL on the verge of
demutualisation, will soon make Dial-a-Cab
the only driver-run radio taxi circuit in
London. What does that mean? Are we up
against a money-backed scenario similar to
Chelsea and Man United? Or are we going to
be an Arsenal who with ability and style,
made both of them look third rate?
For the
past five years we’ve had a better balance
sheet than our competitors and are
technologically light years ahead. What
better foundation could any company have on
which to build and prove to the corporate
sector and public at large that being a
non-PLC has not and will not stop us from
being the best in the market place? I would
therefore ask each of you to take time out
to stop and consider the position you are
now in and to decide whether and how as a
member of Dial-a-Cab, you wish to play a
part in cementing our success.
In
marketing, regardless of the product, it is
all about image, packaging and public
perception. As I write, minicabs are in the
news yet again over continuing assaults
against young women while police and
politicians spout the usual blandishments
about their success in bringing it under
control, something we all know to be
absolute nonsense. You cannot force these
women against using minicabs, but you can
influence the attitude that many have
towards licensed Taxis and in particular a
radio taxi circuit such as Dial-a-Cab.
I’m not
being facetious when I say to those who don’t
shop often – Matalan, Primart and CostCo
sell nice slacks for less than a cockle and
four short sleeve shirts for a score, ideal
for sitting in a stuffy cab and looking
presentable when collecting and dropping off
your passengers with a smile and a thank you
for using our service. Yes - that’s all it
will take for you to play your part in
keeping your Society at the top of the
league.
As for
RTL and the possible demutualisation – of
which I gather almost 80% of their
shareholders voted in favour - I personally
wish them every
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success. After all, what
right do I
or anybody else have to question
that democratic decision?
Vendettas Against the
Chairman?
During my early days at DaC when attempting to
build a Sales and Marketing department, one of
the biggest hurdles I and my subsequent
colleagues in Sales repeatedly had to climb
was to convince prospective clients of the
credibility of using a company
with a Board of Management that was made up of
a group of annually elected cab drivers. I’m
pleased to say that this is no longer the
case. In fact any questionable credibility of
the BoM appears now to be solely from amongst
those within our own trade, including I might
add, not exclusively our own members.
Make
available to certain cab drivers the space to
pen their opinions - be it in Call Sign or any
of the trade papers - and it will be used
continually to attack anybody whose views they
don’t share. Having myself in the past been
a regular target from a vociferous section of
our trade, I have personal experience of what
it’s like to be on the receiving end of
statements based on ignorance, lies, jealously
and in some instances, just pure hatred.
Fortunately, having spent a
major part of my working life in Sales in some
capacity or other including in my very young
days as a door-to-door salesman flogging
encyclopaedia’s to families that could
barely afford to put food on the table, I’ve
been subject to all manner of verbal abuse and
have learnt to take it in my stride.
What I find particularly disturbing now is the
wider damage it can do to the cab industry as
a whole. Far too much bitterness is being
aimed at people who instead of being attacked
should be receiving praise.
What I also
find disconcerting is the misconception
amongst those who appear to be on a personal
crusade - or should I say vendetta – against
our Chairman Brian Rice claiming that he alone
is responsible for making certain decisions.
Not only is this assumption totally incorrect
and thereby warrants any attack to be
completely unfounded, it also discredits the
integrity and worthiness of the remainder of
his Board.
Knowing
Brian Rice as I do, he is more than capable of
defending himself without any assistance from
me, but innuendoes and ridiculous comments of
late are such as to have wider implications to
others, myself included.
I have
served with four different Chairmen including
Brian. All of the previous three prior to
Brian held that position with distinction,
withstood the pressures of the post admirably
and worked to the best of their ability within
the confines of a Friendly Society, the
economic situation of their respective periods
and in particular with often volatile internal
politics. However times change and so do
attitudes, ability, expectations and
commitment. For example, there were policies
and ideas that had less chance of being
acceptable to members in the past than they
would today. Technology and varying degrees of
business that would have been restricted to
the minds of professionals, sit a lot easier
with our present Chairman and I might add,
with the current Board. Commitment has also
moved forward. In past times, the Chairman’s
duties were such as to allow them capable and
I might add, deem it necessary financially to
find time to drive a cab. Today this would be
absolutely impossible and also totally
unprofessional. What many do not realise is
the business activity expected of the current
Chairman after a days work at the
office. On many instances he is in an
ambassadorial role to further the image of DaC
and the taxi trade, while on other occasions
he is ‘networking’ amongst leaders in
industry or with the media. And it isn’t
just our Chairman who has been responsible for
showing the professional side of the licensed
taxi industry in London; there are others such
as Geoffrey Riesel of RTL, Mike Galvin - and
his predecessor Geof Kaley - at Com-Cab.
The unions
serve a purpose for those who agree with
demonstrations and confronting the PCO, but it’s
the radio circuits and those who run them that
have given the trade credibility amongst the
business sector and to a certain degree to
those that matter in Government. So why
the hell are our own people continually
attacking them?
There is
almost Ł200million worth of taxi business
from the corporate sector directed into
licensed taxis, would these
attackers prefer it went to minicabs? One
minute they are whinging about roaders on a
fixed rate below the meter, next they are
whining when there is a unified agreement to
implement a cash cover charge. Can you wonder
why transport ministers over the years have
never been under any pressure with demands
from the cab trade, when various factions and
individuals within the trade are forever
pulling in
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different directions?
For many
years DaC were in the shadow of a major
competitor because of the perception that they
were more professional than us. Much of this
was due to the image projected by their-then
CEO. This is no longer the case, but only
because of a policy adopted when Brian Rice
first became Chairman. It was agreed that a
concerted effort would be made to raise DaC’s
image by every means available, together with
a determination by the whole Board to lead DaC
into the most successful period in its history
and our Chairman, myself and the rest of the
BoM are proud of what has been achieved.
In my opinion -
and I’m not trying to do a Max Clifford -
what makes our Chairman different from his
predecessors and to the angst of his
detractors, is his insatiable interest in
every aspect of our Society, his ability and
desire to get involved in making DaC a
success, very much like a CEO rather than a
Chairman but without the financial benefits.
However, having said all that, there is one
thing our Chairman does not do, nor has the
power to do or even the inclination and that
is to make decisions without discussing and
seeking ratification from his Board. Any
increase or decrease in the fleet or
subscriptions or on policies, procedures,
take-overs, demutualisations or as the author
of one recent strap line put it ‘working
with the enemy,’ is the decision of the
entire BoM and in some instances only on the
proviso that the decision is unanimous. And
when I refer to the Board, I’m not talking
about a bunch of dummies; ask any former
chairman or past board members that I have
served with and they will confirm that when I
question or disagree with something, I for one
am no shrinking violet in making my voice
heard and I might add - perhaps ashamedly at
times - not always in the most diplomatic of
manners! So I resent the notion that I, or my
fellow Board members, have no say in decision
making.
So to those
that have made it an obsession to continually
attack the Chairman for the work he undertakes
for the betterment of our Society and to a
certain degree the cab trade, it is the whole
Board you should be aiming your bile at, not
just the Chairman…
Working With the Enemy?
Finally before getting off my box and in
answer to the ‘Working with the Enemy’
article, I’ve said it before but I’ll say
it again, there is a lot of money being
ploughed into the PH industry from powerful
sources and they are not going to go away. TfL
and the PCO have given them recognition and
respectability and us not using them to serve
the needs of a number of our senior clients
will have no bearing whatsoever on their
continued existence. To suggest otherwise
shows blatant naivety. Dial-a-Cab with
its large fleet size and technology wields a
power that the biggest PH company in the UK
are years away from emulating. However, just
as in a game of chess, a pawn on its own is
fairly insignificant, but put it alongside the
queen and together they can be a force to be
reckoned with. Conversely, should the pawn
become surplus to requirement then it can
quite easily be dispensed with little or no
consequence.
Fear and
suspicion should play no part in business if
the objective is to make everyone a winner.
Unlike the cab trade, modern businesses
embrace everything that is new and use it to
their advantage – it’s called
progress. For example, DaC was the first
in our field to take advantage of the
emergence of e-commerce and our-then
investment in future development has resulted
in us having technology that our competitors
can only dream about.
What we don’t
do is gloat about our successes, we prefer to
keep a low profile. We are, after all, cab
drivers and it doesn’t do to heap self
praise or else you become a target for the
green eye brigade of which there has been a
small group in the cab industry for as long as
the 30 odd years I’ve had a Bill. They will
no doubt also be there for the next 30 years
stuck in their own little time warp, hell bent
on dragging the industry backwards. They will
raise their head whenever there is a suspicion
that a particular person or group is earning
more than they think they should be, or is
sitting at a desk rather than driving a cab or
dressed like someone they they
feel they are not meant to be.
And I will
continue to smile when I hear those same
people use the cab driver phrase of "Be
Lucky," when what they really mean to say
is "Be Lucky – but not luckier than
me."
Allen Togwell
DaC Marketing
allent@dialacab.co.uk
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