The September 2001 issue of Call Sign contained an article called ‘the
longest partnership in the cab trade’. It was about Dial-a-Cab’s
dangerous dispatching duo of Ivor Belkin and Lou Gitlin who started
dispatching on Saturdays in 1961. The terrible twosome are still ruling
the Saturday dispatching roost today!
But that isn’t the only "longest partnership" record claimed by
Dial-a-Cab drivers. Neville Chapman (P99) and Chas Kissin
(P99J) bought their first joint taxi over thirty years ago and are
still partners today, buying a new cab every other year.
They lived fairly close to each other - just two streets away - but
only met through a mutual taxi-driving friend while Chas was still on
the knowledge in 1971. When he passed out in 1972, like most new drivers
he worked all the hours he could until finally settling into late
afternoon and evening work. Neville, meanwhile, was a confirmed day man
by then.
They were both renting cabs on a full flat basis and as you’d
expect, Neville’s stood idle at night with Chas’s doing the same during
most of the day. Then Neville’s brother in law, also a cab driver,
decided to emigrate to Canada and was looking to sell his cab. Chas and
Neville had a meeting and decided to buy the cab, (HGX 827K) and to see
if a full partnership could work - both financially and friendship wise.
They knew that not all partnerships were success stories.
Chas continues the story: "We did not and still do not have set times
for starting and finishing, but so far, the cab is always there for me
when I start work
at around 7pm and vice versa for Neville in the morning. We
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Neville Chapman. |
Chas Kissin. |
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NEVILLE AND CHAS…
THE TAXI TRADE’S LONGEST PARTNERSHIP! |
became
subscribers on Radio Taxis (Southern) aka
Mountview, but migrated to ODRTS when it was known as Lords at Shirland Rd
and still on voice."
Neville added: "We both had children at about the same time
in 1974 and our wives became even better friends because of this. I
moved, but not too far, and we bought a car between us which stood for
most of the time outside each others house, just used as transport to
and from our respective homes."
Chas and Neville then decided to see if the grass was greener
on the other side and returned to Mountview where Neville later became a
Board member. However, when Radio Taxis went live with their Pathfinder
dispatch system, the two partners decided that they didn’t like it and
returned to Dial-a-Cab, by now based at Brunswick House. "We
knew straight away that we had made the right decision," added
Neville.
Catastrophes have been few and far between with arguments even
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fewer –
although the opportunities were there!
"There was the time I drove over a mud-covered weighbridge
and ripped out the complete underside of our cab including the gearbox,"
said Chas, "but the worst part was that it happened on the day
Neville and wife Janice were moving to their new home! As though he
didn’t have enough on his plate that day!"
Neville is happy as a driver while Chas is a Marshal and a
rather controversial columnist with Call Sign! And both are still
sharing a cab!
So what’s the secret of a successful partnership? Chas gets the
final word:
"For our partnership to have endured so long, there must be some
magic as it’s lasted almost as long as our respective marriages! But
that doesn’t mean that I fancy Neville - his wife maybe, but not
Neville! But a good partnership in the cab trade is just like a marriage
- you have to work at it, through the good and the bad…" |
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