Dial-a-Cab on the move?
I mentioned in my last Chairman’s report
that we had made an offer for a much
larger, well equipped building to carry
this Society forward into the future.
This building is in the vicinity of our
current office, Brunswick House.
I said that I would keep you informed of our progress and the
following will seem very familiar to
some as it appears that what occurred is
fairly normal practise - although not
something that Dial-a-Cab would usually
become involved with.
So to bring you up to date; we made an offer that was below the
asking price. The Vendor came back to us
with a price that was below the original
asking price, but still in excess of our
offer, so we increased our offer
slightly. However, the Vendor was
intransigent and insisted on his new
price - which we then agreed to bearing
in mind that it was still below the
original asking price.
Consequently, the BoM believed that the deal was done, only to be
informed a few days later that there
were another two interested parties. We
were not impressed as we believed the
deal had been done, even though nothing
had been signed at that stage. We were
then informed that they were going to
hold a ‘Best Bid’ auction, which means
that the three parties involved would
put forward three new bids (higher of
course) and the party that made the
highest bid would secure the property.
The Agents were told in no uncertain terms that we were not going
to become involved with that scenario
and would not be increasing our bid.
Needless to say, our bid was not the
highest. So at the time of writing, we
have not been successful with our bid
for the new building. That, of course,
does not mean that we will not get it
eventually, as something could happen
regarding negotiations that transpire
between the two parties. I don’t know
why, but I am still dismayed at the way
some people do business - it is not the
Dial-a-Cab way. |
A Visit to City Hall…
I believe that it will be reported on
elsewhere in the magazine, but I’d like
to write briefly regarding a meeting I
had with two of the Mayor’s advisers.
The main thrust of the meeting was
concerning the consultation document
regarding signage. The two advisers are
both very experienced people - Anni
Marjoram and Mark Watts - and were both
very sympathetic to our argument. I just
hope they have as much influence on the
Mayor’s decision as I believe that they
have.
Anni Marjoram is the Mayors adviser on women’s affairs (hmmm…) in
London and there is no doubt in my mind
that safety for females is at the top of
her agenda - and rightly so. It was
obvious to her how dangerous exterior
signage could be, especially to those
that would adopt bogus signage as a
fraudulent sign of authenticity.
To those of you that are unaware of Anni Marjoram’s credentials,
then all I can say is that it is far,
far better to have her on your side than
against you! She makes a great ally, but
not too good as an adversary!
The meeting also gave me the opportunity to discuss the very
serious situation regarding the issuing
of parking tickets to our members and
once again, they were very sympathetic.
They both realised that the direction in
which things were going would be a
restriction on our trade. There is no
doubt they both have a great deal of
influence on TfL, however, it remains to
be seen as to how they deal with
individual boroughs.
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I believe the meeting was probably one
of the most encouraging and productive
that I have ever attended at City Hall
and I just hope my optimism is
justified. It is also very encouraging
to see that all our trade organisations
are taking the matter of parking tickets
very seriously, as there is little doubt
it is an infringement upon our trade.
Licensed
driver numbers
Just to keep you informed regarding our
numbers - that is the number of licensed
taxi drivers in London for the year
2004/5. I have little comment to make on
the subject other than relay the facts
to you.
It appears yet again that our numbers fell last year; there were
589 new green badge licences issued,
whilst 508 were surrendered and another
135 assumed to have retired, resulting
in a net loss of 54 drivers.
Not that many, you may say, but this keeps happening year after
year and the number of applicants on
Knowledge appearances also fell by 12%
to 1323. It is up to you to decide
whether or not a shrinking industry is
in our best interests!
Increased
run-ins
We intend increasing run-ins on the 1
May 2006 from £3.80 to £4.20. At the
time of writing, I have written to all
customers advising them of the above.
However, as you can imagine some clients
are under contract and consequently you
could be advised that the new run-ins
will not apply to a handful of clients -
although I am optimistic that most will
accept the new terms.
While on the topic of fares, I’m pleased to tell you that the new
fixed prices at the HoC have been
implemented. They are now much more
attractive and I’m sure that will
reflect in the service provided by our
members.
Brian Rice, Chairman
Dial-a-Cab |
