|
7/7/05
I believe it would be remiss of me if I did not mention the atrocities that
occurred in London on 7 July. I think most people who live and work in
London believed that this type of murder would occur and that it was always
a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’. You cannot legislate against this type
of terrorism in a free society, all we can do is to be extremely vigilant
and endeavour to cut the odds of this type of atrocity happening again.
As we are all aware, bus and tube services were suspended with
taxis and private hire being the only means of transport in London. You can
no doubt appreciate the atmosphere in Brunswick House; it was a mixture of
anxiety and trepidation, not knowing if any other bombs were going to
detonate and if so, where the next target would be. Everyone here in the
building conducted themselves in an extremely professional manner and every
member of staff - on all shifts - reported for work in the normal way. Their
effort and attitude can only be described as magnificent and I was extremely
proud of each and every one of them. It was, however, very sad to see that
type of commitment be associated with such an awful day.
I also understand how difficult it was for you, the members who
worked that day, with the horrendous traffic conditions that emanated from
road closures and security alerts. Under the circumstances, you too did an
absolutely magnificent job. I have received numerous letters and emails from
our top clients asking me to relay their thanks to our staff and members /
drivers who endeavoured to give a service on 7 July.
Minimum
Trips
I think you will agree that we have been extremely busy in recent times
although, as seems to be the norm, August will be quieter than other months
with many people going on holiday. We have been very successful in winning
new business and London’s successful bid to hold the 2012 Olympics here will
in itself also generate much more activity from our corporates, with the
finance houses and legal profession dealing with funding and contracts etc.
With this in mind, the BoM were faced with a choice of either increasing the
size of the fleet or insisting that rule 4(b) be adhered to. We decided on
the latter option which states that every member / journeyman on Dial-a-Cab
should complete a minimum of 40 credit rides per month. Before anyone tells
me that the rule says 20 credit rides per month, it also contains the
phrase: Reviewable from time to time by the Board of Management
– well, we have reviewed the situation and feel that 40 trips per month is
not unreasonable. Consequently, the trips that will
|
count towards the total of 40 are
credit rides and credit card trips received
through the system. The process will begin
as of 1 September 2005.
To the vast majority of you, the Board invoking rule 4(b) will not
make a scrap of difference because you do more than the minimum anyway,
however, to the
members / journeymen that do not comply,
please make sure you do as from 1 September as failure to comply with rule 4(b)
could result in a complaint being made against you.
It’s
the way you tell ‘em!An article
was recently cut out of The Badge newspaper and put into my pigeonhole at
Brunswick House. This is obviously a good way to ensure that I read the
article in question, although I couldn’t possibly imagine whose writing it
was on the top of the paper!
After reading this absolute load of rubbish and nonsense which was
written by one of our members, Mr Grant Davis, the first thing that struck
me was the disclaimer from the Editor and Management Committee of the LCDC,
stating that the contents of the article ‘do not necessarily represent those
of the Editor or Management Committee’. What it
actually
means is that “…the article is a load of
claptrap and lies and we could get into
trouble for publishing it, so we’d better
put the disclaimer in so that no further
action can be taken against us.” Well,
that’s not true because if an Editor
knowingly prints something that is
defamatory or libellous, then the disclaimer
becomes void. What is even more interesting
is that I am led to believe that Grant Davis
actually sits on that Management Committee
of the LCDC. Hmmmmm!!!
The article also set me wondering why one of our members would want
to write to The Badge instead of Call Sign
in an attempt to rubbish Dial-a-Cab.
Suddenly it hit me - the reason he did that
is because it takes away my right of instant
reply. Had I been given that courtesy by him
in writing to our magazine, I could have
pointed out to members immediately the
nonsense that was contained within his
article. What I’m a little concerned about
is that some people within our industry
would have read the article and |
assumed it to be
correct, and why
wouldn’t they if there was not another article correcting the nonsense that
was contained within it? We at Dial-a-Cab produce the best publication
within the taxi industry in London. Call Sign Editor Alan Fisher, has
a completely free hand producing the publication. If Grant Davis had sent
that article to the Editor, I have no doubt that he would have published it,
the only difference being that I could have replied and at the same time
exposed his article for what it was – a load of nonsense. Mind you, I have
come to expect that from Mr Davis…
History
of the Radio Circuits – Without the Missing
Bits!
I read with some interest in the last issue
of TAXI newspaper, an article written by
Barry Hooper, who according to the title
beneath his photo is an LTDA Executive. I
have known Barry for many years as a man of
strong principles – or so I thought! In his
latest outburst, he gives his version of the
three major radio circuit histories on his
way to criticising them in one form or
another. Our two competitors were criticised
because they are not any longer mutual
trading companies and according to Barry,
that is a bad thing.
However, I seem to remember that Barry was quite prepared to head
Driver Services for ComCab and further more
as I recall, he worked for them for
approximately twelve to fifteen years
enjoying the salary, together with his
annual bonus, sick pay – and not forgetting
his pension and company car! Oh yes, and his
annual honorarium from the LTDA! But now he has the audacity to
criticise their set up. Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t it the LTDA that
sold 80% of ComCab to Singapore and wasn’t Barry - at the time - part of the
LTDA?
“I never made the decisions,” I can hear him say. But Barry, if
your principles were so strong and you disagreed with the sale – you should
have had the courage of your convictions and resigned. It is only now after
you have left ComCab that you criticise their structure, however, you were
quite prepared to work for that very same regime.
Finally, there are two things in Barry’s article that I
wholeheartedly agree with:
- He writes:
“Admittedly this is my personal view which some may say is that of a
dinosaur.” Yes, I agree with that…
- He states: “Many
of you on the circuit (Dial-a-Cab) will tell me to mind my own business,
and with justification.” – Yes Barry , mind your own business!
Brian Rice
Chairman, Dial-a-Cab
|
