The Final Furlong…
By the time you read this, we will be entering the final phase in the long run-up to Christmas. There is not any doubt that we have been extremely busy this year, so much so that we seem to be inundated with service issues from clients and I am somewhat concerned that we will have some casualties this year - something that we have not experienced in the recent past.
   The Board of Management have done everything, we believe, within our power to protect your client base and future account work. We have suspended the opening of new accounts and have given the Call Centre the facility to increase run-in’s and add premiums where required, although in some instances this has proven to be counter productive as many drivers, if they see a job ‘sticking’ will hang off the button until a premium goes on, then they come in to cover the trip. This all adds to our problems as extra and unnecessary work keeps going through the system back and forth, until rejected and becoming a ‘late trip’.
   I have personally written to every account client informing them that there could be delays, run-ins may be increased with any fixed prices being removed. We have also had to insist that members complete the minimum of 40 trips per month in order to protect your client database. When you consider that Tom Whitbread had to send out 571 letters to subscribers who did not complete 40 trips during September when we were so very busy, well that is quite scandalous!  Of course I can accept that some members were on holiday, sick, in overhaul etc – but how many? Certainly nowhere near 571…
   We have also endeavoured to make drivers more aware of our predicament with an incentive for members and journeymen alike – a measure that the whole trade is talking about as no one has ever offered a top-of-the-range brand new taxi as a prize in a competition before. These are just some of measures we have put into place in order to try and protect your work and I’m sure there must be others that do not come to mind at the moment.
   There is no point members telling me their reasons for not covering work because I’ve heard them all a million times before: "Why should I go past work on the street to cover

an account ride?" "Why should I run from the West End to EC5 and go past work on the street?" "I am running further than the job is going!"
   The answer must be why shouldn’t you do any of the above?  There is not one of you that does not know the answer. However, it all comes back to the same thing and that is you are not covering the work as well as you can. Even at this time of the year, we still have lots of spare capacity regarding the amount of work our fleet could cover.
   I have now taken the unprecedented step of getting our young ladies in the building to phone some members to ask very politely why, when for example they have had sixty job offers during the morning rush hour, they have rejected all sixty? I do not want anyone to become involved in any arguments, just to ask the question why would anyone want to reject every single job that is thrown their way? Surprisingly enough, we then find that the next day those same members start accepting work!  There must be a moral in there somewhere!

Subscriptions too low?
Do you think that subscriptions are too low and that as a result some members are not concerned about making a return on their investment?  Or should we make subscriptions £250 per month and operate a ‘payback’ of perhaps £1 per trip? Everything is possible, but in my view the way in which we do things at the moment is the easiest and best. But we need you all to try a little harder at this time of the year because as I’ve already written, I have heard of every reason imaginable as to why our service can and should improve at Christmas. It is everyones and everythings fault except for the fact that our members are not accepting as

much work as they should or
can. So please do not inundate me with emails and letters explaining to me why it is all my fault and what I am doing wrong – I have even heard those before!
   How often in the past have you been having a bad day, when suddenly you get a radio job that gets you out of trouble and you end up with that bad day becoming a reasonable one? We have to ensure that type of work is still there in the future to ‘get you out of trouble’ at a time when you need that bit of assistance. You can hardly expect account clients to phone us up at a time that only suits us.
   Ok, I ‘ve had my moan, so now I can tell you that it looks very much as though November is going to be the best month this Society has ever had - and I don’t just mean the best November - I mean the best month we have ever had since we started trading fifty two years ago! But we must do everything possible to maintain our progress…

Condolences
I recently attended the funeral service for the late Margaret Oddy, wife of the LTDA General Secretary Bob Oddy. I had only met Margaret a few times at cab trade functions, but she came across as a very warm and elegant lady. Judging by the number of people gathered at the service and the tributes that were made, my assumption was obviously correct.
   I have never attended a more moving service and she will be sorely missed by everyone that knew her, obviously even more so by Bob, their children Jane and Ben and also their grandchildren.
   My sincere condolences go to Bob and all his family and friends on their irreplaceable loss.

Christmas
Finally, I would like to offer all members and their families a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Prosperous New Year.