As I was saying about
building sites!
If you remember, I informed you in my
last Chairman’s report that we were due
to relocate buildings over the Easter
weekend, but I was somewhat sceptical
because the new building looked like a
building site to me! Well, I was more
correct than I would have liked to have
been and it was indeed still a building
site on that anticipated moving date
weekend.
Consequently, we are now aiming for Saturday 6 May – also a Bank
Holiday weekend and as such will
probably be quieter than a normal
weekend. Our intention is to switch over
our systems during the very early hours
of the morning and these are, of course,
our despatching and telephone systems.
We anticipate that our despatching
system could be ‘down’ for up to four
hours!
Naturally, all your clients will be informed of this scenario
closer to the time and when we are
absolutely certain that our moving is
going ahead, we will also inform you,
our members, probably by data terminal
of the date and time of the move and
confirm that all work will be despatched
by voice – now that will certainly be
interesting! Subscriptions
increase
You have received the bad news that we
shall be despatching by voice - albeit
for a reasonably short period – so now
the good news. Subscriptions are
only going to be increased by £4 per
month as from 1 June this year! I |
think most of you will agree that this
is a modest increase, which will mean
the basic subscription for members
increasing from £115 per month (plus
VAT) to £119 per month (plus VAT).
I know I will receive correspondence condemning the increase from
the usual suspects, but I feel confident
that the vast majority of members will
recognise the need for a small increase
to compensate for inflation and to also
help towards the annual staff salary
increase. I believe that Dial-a-Cab
still represents excellent value for
money, in fact the best within the
industry.
In addition to the above, for a journeyman sharing a taxi with the
owner, the increase will be £2 per
month to £72 and a second journeyman
from £16 to £20 per month. Naturally,
for a journeyman who has sole use of the
vehicle, their subscription will be the
same as full members - £119 per month
(plus VAT)
DaC fleet recall…
As part of an ongoing programme and in
our endeavour to improve |
signals, it will necessitate a fleet
recall. This will be to install new
software into your terminals,
which will give us the facility for
channel re-use. That means that we will
be able to install the same channels on
the same frequency but in different
locations, although still using our
current aerial sites. We believe this
will go some way to help improve signal
strength.
We anticipate the operation taking place later this year - possibly
June - when we have settled into our new
building. The upgrade process will only
take a few minutes for each mobile and
will be performed at various locations.
Obviously, all members will be informed
of the exact timetable closer to the
time.Happy
birthday to him!
Finally, it would be remiss of me not to
mention the fact that this current issue
of Call Sign marks Editor
Alan Fisher having been in place for
exactly ten years! I would personally
like to thank Alan and his proof-reader
Linda, for doing such an excellent job
during the past ten years.
I believe the magazine is still as fresh as it was ten years ago
and is undoubtedly the best publication
within the London Taxi industry, indeed
as it has been during the past ten
years. I have no reason to doubt that
Call Sign will continue to be
the best in the industry – so happy
birthday!
Brian Rice
Chairman
Dial-a-Cab |
