Downturn?
I know everyone is talking about a downturn in the economy, but at this moment in time I have not noticed anything unusual concerning our business. Of course all our clients -especially the larger ones - are looking at their costs and endeavouring to save money wherever they can and move more work towards cars, as they see this as a way of cutting their expenditure on transport. However, as I have already stated, I have not noticed any downturn as yet, in fact the first third of our financial year shows a small increase in turnover of £1million and trips that we completed in January were up 1% over the corresponding period last year.
   So as you can see, although we are not experiencing the massive growth that we enjoyed over the past two years, business is not looking too bad at the moment. Personally, I will be satisfied if we can maintain the status quo!

PCNs
As you will see elsewhere in the magazine, some letters have gone to various Boroughs from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) concerning the number of parking tickets that our members are receiving. We are endeavouring to enlist support from anywhere we can in an attempt to eradicate the

victimisation our members are
experiencing. In the past I have
spoken to the Mayor’s office, TfL, the PCO, MPs and even the Boroughs themselves in an attempt to rectify the situation. Enlisting the support of the CBI is just the latest development in this saga.
   There is also a meeting later this month with certain Boroughs and a joint representation from the radio circuits in a further attempt to resolve the situation. In addition, some of our members
have been extremely successful in their own right in fighting these PCNs if they felt the parking tickets were unjustified. I must say that these members have my utmost admiration, as they have taken it upon themselves to pursue a situation when they felt an injustice/s had been done. The easy solution would have been to bring the PCNs to us for payment, as they were on a bona
fide credit ride at the time of the alleged incidents, however, they chose to fight the Boroughs concerned and in every case they have been successful – so well done to them.

Channels and signals
As I explained at the AGM, our number one priority at the moment is to improve signals. As you are aware, we have converted our voice channel to data and made it channel 9 in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on our other channels. However, we have been extremely fortunate - and I mean really fortunate - in that we have obtained another three VHF High Band channels from Ofcom. I really can’t stress how important or significant this is, because to obtain these extra frequencies is nothing short of a small miracle. As I explained earlier, signals have taken over as top priority and our new terminals have moved to second spot in the list of priorities. After all, there is no point in buying the latest super HD Plasma TV and then after you have installed it, find out that the new piece of equipment cannot receive a television signal. It is then

practically useless!
   So our old voice channel (channel 2) is now the new data channel 9, our three new channels will be – not surprisingly - channels 10, 11and 12. Channel 10 will be sited on Brunel University at Englefield Green, channel 11 on the Trellick Tower and channel 12 at Guys Hospital. We are optimistic that we can have all the new sites up and running by the beginning of April. Like everything else, there is of course a drawback and that is our MC Micra radios are only equipped to accommodate eight channels whereas our Tait radios can accommodate sixteen channels! But before you all rush off to Roman Way requesting a new radio, I am informed that Dana at Roman way has devised a new piece of equipment for the MC Micra that means it is compatible and can accommodate all of our new frequencies. Because we now have the new site at Englefield Green and another at Shooters Hill - the two sites that are furthest apart - we have decided to split the channel at Englefield Green and re-use it at Shooters Hill. This will be Channel 13 and will of course show on your terminal as channel 13. The reason we can split this channel is because the sites are so far apart, the signals will not overlap.
   I hope the above makes you all aware of just how determined we are to improve signals. However, of one thing I can assure you, they will never, ever be perfect!

Fare Increase
As I informed you in the last edition of the magazine, the 4.7% tariff increase has now been ratified and will commence on 5 April this year – again, you heard it first in Call Sign!

Credit Card Fraud
I would like to remind all members that when completing a credit card trip, the card MUST – and I repeat MUST – be swiped through the terminal. If you do not swipe the card it could mean you have completed a fraudulent trip. It would also mean that you might not get paid for that job.
   If the passenger doesn’t have the card, you must not do the trip…

Brian Rice
Chairman
Dial-a-Cab