Call Sign January 2009 - Page 19 - COMPLIANCE OFFICER’S UPDATE - LTI’S SOPHIA IS NAMED APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR - TX4 fires

COMPLIANCE OFFICER’S UPDATE
Hello Ladies & Gents, Firstly can I wish you all a very Happy and Healthy New Year. 2008 has not just flown by, but the latter part of it has been nothing less than extraordinary! The year ahead will be a vitally important period of consolidation and we will need a hugely experienced Board of Management, one that over many years has built the strong financial foundations that has and will enable our Society to sustain these difficult times and that has the proven skills to guide us through the turbulent period ahead. EC5 As both Keith Cain and myself mentioned in last month’s magazine, booking in procedures for EC5 (Finsbury Square) have been altered and you must now physically be in EC1, EC2, EC3 or EC4 before you gain a queue position. The Call Centre is regularly monitoring the situation and whilst the vast majority of you are booking in perfectly correctly, there is still a minority that aren’t and unless they do start booking onto out City rank correctly - rather than trying to gain an	advantage over their fellow drivers - they will face appropriate action. The new system is designed to make it fair and equal for all of us and no more warnings will be given. Both Keith and I have spoken to many of you on this change and with the queue numbers much more manageable than before the change, it has been a positive one. As with any updated procedure changes, the Board is mindful of your needs and concerns and changes will only be implemented for the benefit of you, the members. Picking up at Aldermanbury JPMorgan have introduced a new pick-up policy in which they ask	for all DaC drivers to Advise Arrival through their terminal and not to make contact at the reception. They have also requested that surnames are displayed on your name board and that the name board is facing towards the main entrance at 10 Aldermanbury. The original start date was put back until Monday 15th December to give both staff and drivers prior warning of the new procedures. These are designed to speed up the whole process and prevent drivers queuing up at the reception. Fair play at ranks As we head into 2009, it looks as though it is going to be fairly quiet, so can I remind you that booking-in at all ranks and zones will be strictly regulated and monitored over the coming months. Please play by the rules. Together with the Call Centre, it is my job to ensure that we are all working within the rules and that all of us are equal. Be very lucky… Allan Evans DaC Compliance Officer

LTI’S SOPHIA IS NAMED APPRENTICE OF THE YEAR

LTI are celebrating the news that one of their bright young sparks has been announced as Apprentice of the Year at the 2008 EEF Annual Engineering Apprentice of the Year Awards.
   Sophia Lock, aged 24, was given this prestigious title at the awards ceremony hosted by the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on 12 November 2008.
   After completing a foundation year of training, Sophia then spent three years of ‘in-company’ training at the Midland Group Training Centre in Coventry where she enjoyed developing her practical skills.
   Peter Shillcock, Managing Director at LTI Vehicles told Call Sign:
   "We’re thrilled with Sophia’s accomplishment and very proud of all she has done during her apprenticeship. Being short listed as one of the six national finalists was a great achievement in itself, but going on to win the title is wonderful news for Sophia and all at LTI."
   This recognition of her hard work quickly follows another main highlight in her career after receiving the opportunity to visit China in October 2008 and assist with LTI’s joint venture with Chinese car manufacturer Zhejiang Geely. During this trip she got to observe the pre- production builds for the manufacture of taxis in China and assist with problem solving.

Sophia Lock is congratulated by David Richards, chairman of Prodrive and Aston Martin (left) and Barrie Williams, President of EEF in the West Midlands.

   Coventry born Sophia is passionate about both changing attitudes towards engineering and encouraging more young women to consider the industry, which she finds rewarding, enjoyable and flexible.
   "We as engineers have an obligation to the profession and to our society to encourage girls and boys to pursue careers in engineering and technology to ensure we have a high-performance and diverse workforce. After all, the UK is famous for having the best Engineers world wide."
   Sophia ended by saying: "I want to stay in industry to gain as much experience and knowledge as possible, complete a mechanical engineering degree and hopefully climb the career ladder to take on a management role."

TX4 fires – the next step…
The PCO have confirmed to Call Sign that remedial work on all TX4s whose licences were suspended has now been completed, but that LTI will continue to contact all remaining London TX4s in order that remedial works can be completed on those too. These will also be done in ascending VIN order and fulfils the commitment given by LTI to further minimise the risk of under bonnet fires in later TX4s. The PCO have pointed out that some owners contacted by M&O are demonstrating a reluctance to make their vehicle available for the remedial work to be carried out and have said that affected owners must make every effort to have their vehicles attend for this	remedial work on the appointed date so that LTI can complete the recall. Both the PCO and LTI have agreed that completion of remedial works should adhere to two key dates. In support of achieving appropriate completion of this work by these dates, the PCO will now take the following actions: * All TX4s up to VIN 203500 must have remedial works completed by 16 January 2009. LTI will notify the PCO of those vehicles failing to have the work completed by this date and the Licensing Authority will consider suspension of licence on affected vehicles. * All TX4s up to VIN 205838	must have remedial works completed by 13 March 2009. LTI will notify the PCO of those vehicles failing to have this work completed by this date and the Licensing Authority will consider suspension of licence on affected vehicles. The PCO has asked us to reaffirm its thanks to every affected vehicle owner for their co-operation during this very difficult period, but are urging all affected owners to respond promptly and positively to LTI when invited in for the work to be done. Further information can be found on www.tfl.gov.uk/tx4 or by calling 020 7126 1980 (Monday to Friday 9am – 4pm).

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