Subscriptions Increase
August has been fairly normal - rather quiet as it usually is, with a good proportion
of the public taking their holiday to tie in with the childrens six weeks away from
school. Its funny how the current year always seems to be quieter than the previous
one, but so far our figures for August are slightly more robust than they were this
time last year. But no doubt a good talking point will arrive with this announcement
of an increase in subscriptions.
The BoM have reviewed the situation and decided to increase subscriptions
from 1 November 2005. The last time there was a subscription increase was in January
2004, almost two years since the last one. As you are obviously aware, most services
and commodities are increased on an annual basis including our meter tariff, so we
have decided to increase subscriptions accordingly. However, the increase will be
substantially lower than the tariff increase that we have received during the interim
period.
Although our financial year terminates at the end of August, it does
appear that we are going to have another very successful year with our turnover and
surplus increasing above the figures we returned last year. So no doubt some members
will ask why we are increasing subscriptions? Well, there are a number of reasons
why we have decided on this increase. Initially, we are in the process of developing
a new generation of terminals for Dial-a-Cab taxis that will be, in our opinion, far
in advance of what we have at the moment. In addition, a considerable amount of money
will be required to re-equip the fleet.
We also have to be aware of the market place and the subscriptions that
our two major competitors are charging, although it must be said that even with the
increase, we will still be substantially more cost effective than they are.
I also believe that it is a reasonable assumption that members expect
a small increase in their subscriptions from time to time just to keep pace with inflation.
The increase on the vast |
majority of your subscriptions will
be 4.3% over the two-year period, bearing in mind that the tariff increase over the
last two years is approaching 9%. Your next question is the obvious one - by how much!
As from 1 November, the subscription for a fully logoed taxi will be
115 + VAT (20.12). For members that joined before 1996 and do not have a logoed taxi,
the subscription will be 150 +VAT (26.25) and for a journeyman who is sharing a taxi
with the owner, the subscription will be 62 + VAT (10.85).
As you can see, the increases are quite small, but it does keep us
in line with inflation and the subscription of 115 +VAT - which will apply to the
overwhelming majority - works out at just 4.44p per day including VAT, which I am
sure the majority of you will agree is excellent value.
Cabvision and Dial-a-Cab
Earlier this summer I was in the back of one of our taxis that had just had a Cabvision
installed into the back of his taxi. I must admit that it looked impressive and I
spoke to the driver about it asking him how much he received etc.
Once you get past the safety message, the passenger can mute the screen
and just have the news televised in text form. This I did because as you might
expect, the member was taking full advantage in explaining to me how the company should
be run and what should be done to improve the members lot!
The subject then moved on to tennis as it was Wimbledon fortnight and
the driver went on to tell me that Tim Henman was going to be knocked out of the Championship
because he was
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losing or at least he was when the driver left for work! Suddenly,
on the bottom of the screen up came the message that Henman had won!
I told the driver the news because I had just seen it on his Cabvision
screen! I have to admit to being impressed at being able to get the latest news whilst
still talking to the driver and I could see that the technology involved was excellent.
I thought then that was just the thing Dial-a-Cab should be involved
with because we always like to pride ourselves that within the taxi industry, we have
always been on top when it came
to using the latest in technology.
So I made some enquiries and decided that we should sponsor the initial
safety message, the one that cannot be muted! So hopefully, from 1 September Dial-a-Cab
will have a presence on the Cabvision screen. At present there are 1,000 cabs out
there installed with the equipment and it has proven to be so popular with drivers
that I understand that there are no more sets available until next year.
Although we are sponsoring the initial safety message and it will be
made quite clear that it is Dial-a-Cab, we will also be telling members of the public
that they should always use a licensed taxi which is something for the whole trade!
Now for the get-out clause! Knowing me as most of you do, you probably
realise that under normal circumstances I would not mention this project until it
is up and running for fear that one of our competitors reads it and attempts to beat
us to the punch by advertising in that media before we do! However, as I said at the
top of the page, it is August and many people are on holiday, things are quiet and
the Editor has been on my case to write something! Consequently, I have broken all
my rules and actually written about something before it has happened. If we get beaten
to the post on this one, I can assure you that Alan Fisher will be in big trouble!
Brian Rice
Chairman,
Dial-a-Cab
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