Allen Togwell responds to Paul Jenner…
In this edition of Mailshot there is a letter by Paul
Jenner (L19), who many of you will remember stood
unsuccessfully for the Board at the last AGM. It would appear
his defeat still rankles and he has selected me to feel the
brunt of his angst. Still it makes a change, as it’s usually the
Chairman that gets that honour…
Paul’s first gripe is with my comments in the May issue of
Call Sign when I wrote about the growth of minicabs over
the past 30 years and the taxi trade organisations failure to
show leadership in regaining the initiative. When I spoke about
the trade organisations doing more, I was referring to the trade
as a whole, a trade which works in an insular environment and
receives no guidance whatsoever on what’s best for their
industry. For example, I honestly believe that if every green
badge driver had been on radio, as in most European cities,
minicabs would never have existed. But now unfortunately they do
exist, they exist in a big way and like it or not they are here
to stay. And no matter how much people such as Paul Jenner do
nothing but whinge, it won’t make them disappear.
Since being licensed by the PCO, the public and business sector now
accepts PH as a legal and creditable means of transport. They
have set standards against which comparisons are made to our
trade. Particularly with regards the quality and comfort of
their vehicles and the appearance, helpfulness, courteousness of
their drivers and of course cost. All of which is totally
ignored by our industry as an irrelevance. And because of that
short sightedness we have and will continue to suffer the
consequences. I am no admirer of PH, but it was obvious that one
day the monopoly we have enjoyed for the past 350 years would
eventually be broken. It was broken and in recent years big
money and influence has been invested into PH to the point where
they are now a serious force to be reckoned with. And whose
fault is that? Well in Paul’s expert opinion, it isn’t the
drivers, it’s the fault of Dial-a-Cab and me in particular.
Because, he says, of our apparent willingness to get into bed
with the opposition.Principles?
I would like to put to Paul a hypothetical question: Lets
suppose Paul got his wish at the last AGM and was now a DaC
Board member responsible for sales. On the first day of his new
post, he is summoned to the offices of Blogs & Co, a major bank
that spends £7million a year on transport with four PH
companies. A new procurement manager is employed at the bank who
is very pro black cab, he has heard about our dispatching
platform and tells Paul he is prepared to offer DaC £5million of
black cab business on the proviso their £2million of private
hire business goes through our platform, for which we would be
paid a fee each time it is used. Does Paul accept the offer, or
does he out of principle refuse to associate himself with PH?
Actually the answer is simple, Paul has no choice but to accept
it because as a Board member, he is not in a position to allow
his own principles to effect the pockets of our members. His
job, as was mine, is to get work of any description, credit
work, cash work, fixed price work, work from ComCab and RTG and
I might add, work directly or indirectly associated with PH and
then leave it to the members to decide whether or not they wish
to cover it.
When I first came onto the Board, I was a man of principles but
completely naïve in the manner in which radio circuits operated.
I honestly believed there was an unwritten rule of loyalty, a
gentlemen’s agreement, a code of conduct to which all three
circuits |
abided by. At that time, our
largest and only major account was the BBC in Wood lane. The
BBC, in an attempt to cut costs particularly on run-ins, said
they were going to install a taxi rank at the front of their
premises, plus use minicabs for the longer journeys. That was
the very first occasion I encountered minicabs encroaching upon
corporate clients.
Our Board were adamantly apposed to the rank, so the BBC approached
ComCab who agreed without question. But the BBC couldn’t rely on
just one circuit servicing the rank, they needed a back up. RTL
(Mountview – now RTG) who were of a similar opinion to DaC over
not supporting the rank, arranged to meet at Brunswick house and
agree on a joint pact not to accept the deal offered by the BBC.
RTL’s then-Chairman and their entire Board came to the meeting,
each of whom I shook hands with to cement the agreement, before
setting off to the BBC to tell them of our decision. Our
then-Chairman and I went in first, said our piece and left. Then
RTL went in. Later that day we learnt that RTL had reneged on
our agreement and had accepted the BBC’s offer. Dial-a-Cab was
left high and dry. Stitched up like a kipper. So much for
principles.
I learnt a painful lesson that day, which was to trust no one. Use
the opposition in every way possible - deviously or otherwise -
to the benefit of our Society and take work of any description
first and then worry afterwards about how it gets covered.
What do DaC do to benefit the trade?
Paul’s next gripe is to ask what I have done through JRTA and
London Taxi Board to safeguard the interests of our members?
Firstly, it’s over 15 years since I last represented DaC at a
JRTA or LTB meeting. Our chairman Brian Rice is the Society’s
representative, a man who I can assure you is extremely
passionate about our Society and who never fails to use every
opportunity to protect the interests of our members. Barely a
week goes by when he is not attired in dinner suit and attending
an evening meeting of some description or other, rubbing
shoulders with people important to our industry and using every
opportunity to influence opinion to our cause. Just a few
examples that spring to mind are:
· Lobbying MP’s to put forward an early day motion
regarding stopping all-over signage on minicabs.
· Ongoing lobbying to prevent minicabs using bus lanes.
· Relentless lobbying of MPs, the
Mayor and Boroughs resulting in PCNs being reduced drastically.
· Lobbying to allow taxis to stop at
ATMs on Red Routes.
· Even while drafting this piece,
I’ve just seen a memo announcing that
Dial-a-Cab was mentioned in Parliament (Hansard
24 June 2009) acknowledging that drivers on our circuit have
enhanced security.
· Significant input into having three tariffs to
encourage more drivers to work at night.
· Through regular meetings with the PCO, a working
rapport has been established that has benefited the trade
enormously as a whole.
· Again as I write this piece, a new website
www.the-london-taxi.com has just been set up publicising our
services.
· To our newer members, it’s worth noting that Dial-a-Cab
is still the only taxi circuit in London offering the general
public a real-time taxi booking service on the |
Internet without the need of a
pre-arranged password.
· And last but not least, concerning the safeguarding of
our members interests. Thanks to our persistent policy of
investing wisely in future development, we are still
technologically the most advanced radio taxi circuit in Europe.
Carding up?
Paul then goes on to question what is being done to soften the
effects of the economic downturn? Do we card up any more? I like
the WE bit. Is he referring to me personally or our 2,200
members? I wrote about carding just up a few months ago and
explained how it has been the main source of generating business
for minicabs and how we should follow suit, especially targeting
private blocks of flats. Has it happened? Has there been an
increase in cards being collected from Dial-a-Cab House? Sadly,
the answer is no.
Equally last September we took delivery of a batch of telephone
numbers to put on our cabs to promote cash work. To date, after
almost a whole year, we have exactly 21 cabs carrying this
number!
Paul asks:
Is it not time to bring in a decent incentive for
drivers to generate future business? First, exactly what does he
mean by ‘decent’ and secondly, why should an incentive be
necessary in the first place? It’s your business for goodness
sake! What more incentive does a driver need to encourage
someone to put money into their pocket? For the past 10 years,
we have had a scheme which pays drivers £20 for each lead given
to sales. All it requires is for the driver to obtain a business
card from a potential customer, hand it into sales and they will
do the rest. For that simple task, we will give you £20. How
many cards has Paul Jenner handed in since its inception? The
answer is not one. Why, I don’t know. Perhaps £20 is a waste of
his breath talking to someone who as he says, he is in contact
with face to face. But in this instance, Paul is not alone. In
fact we have just ONE driver out of 2200 shareholders, our
conscientious friend Mr Anthony Hizer (E63), who not only
appreciates the odd twenty quid, but obviously takes comfort
from doing his bit for his Society.
Visiting DaC House
In conclusion, I feel it prudent to mention that Paul Jenner had
plenty to say at our AGM and also plenty to say in Call
Sign, giving the impression he has great concern for the
welfare of this Society. Paul is also a frequent visitor to
Dial-a-Cab House for one purpose or another. Yet not once has he
taken the trouble to venture up onto my floor to see what is
done in sales to generate new business. Or enquire as to what is
being done to safeguards our member’s interests, or to see first
hand the sales literature and how, for example, the professional
and impressive manner in which tenders are produced. Or the
detailed projects that are being worked on to obtain new
clients. Or to learn about the organisations we are involved in
that search, segregate and forward to us a weekly list and
details of companies offering invitations to tenders. I would
willingly have shown him everything we do concerning the
promoting of our business. Or what I do regarding artwork and
design etc. But no, he obviously prefers an audience for his
grievances and complains that I should publicise all these
details in my articles. My goodness Paul, how naïve can you get.
However, if that is how you would do things if you were elected to
the Board, I look forward to the next edition of Call Sign
to see this wonderful list of ideas you have that will encourage
our members to promote future business.
Allen Togwell
DaC Marketing |
