Call Sign August 2011
Page 17
Jim Rainbird at Buck House
Garden Party for WCHCD
Jim and family at
the Palace
Anyone for tea?
Every summer, HM the Queen hosts at least
three garden parties at Buckingham Palace,
as well as one at the Palace of Holyrood in
Edinburgh. This year, one of the 30,000 peo-
ple attending one of Her Majesty's Garden
Parties in London was Master of The
Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage
Drivers, Dial-a-Cab's Jim Rainbird (T25),
together with wife Melanie, son John and
daughter Ashley. With tea, cakes and a
beautiful garden to admire, the Garden Party
on 29 June will stay in Jim's memory of his
even though they took place in the
Jim Rainbird told Call Sign: "It was a
year as Master forever.
afternoon! The parties are a way of
magnificent day and I felt extremely
Garden parties have been held at
rewarding and recognising public service
proud to be there as Master repre-
Buckingham Palace since the 1860s.
and are attended by people from all
senting the Worshipful Company of
Originally they were known as breakfasts
walks of life.
Hackney Carriage Drivers."
Eco City losses "down to £265,000..."
Following a shock announcement
that the group had been temporar-
ily suspended from the AIM market
due to their "failure to post 2010
preliminary results by the end of
June," some 24 hours later Eco
City Vehicles (better known as
KPM to cab drivers) finally
showed pre-tax losses of
£265,000 for the year to the
end of December. That showed
an improvement over the same
period last year when those
losses amounted to £393,000.
However, Eco City also posted
an operating profit of
£95,000 compared with a
Eco City
CEO Pet
£135,000 loss a year ago.
er DaCo
sta
Total revenue was £24.7million
identical to last year - but the figures were up 9.8% on a
like-for-like basis due to higher demand for the group's Mercedes Vito,
although that comparison excludes £0.1m and £2.3m revenues attribut-
able in 2010 and 2009 respectively to sales of new TX4 taxis after their
LTI dealership agreement expired in July 2010.
Eco City CEO, Peter DaCosta, said following the release:
"Eco City continued to grow its revenues and market share from the
Mercedes Vito taxi while improving its operational performance against
a difficult trading climate last year. This is because we made a timely
and strategic decision to co-develop and launch the Mercedes Vito,
which has proved to be a great success.
"Trading conditions remain tough and the widely anticipated launch of
a new Euro V Blue Efficiency Vito taxi contributed to a soft first quarter
whilst drivers waited to see the new vehicle before purchasing.
However, sales have improved since the group's launch of the new ver-
sion, which provides further improvements in fuel efficiency and com-
fort for drivers and passengers alike. The Group is also in the process of
streamlining its cost base and together with a gradual improvement in
demand, expects to report an improved second half."
Following the announcement, Eco City's share price saw a 9.9% drop
to 3.75p.
In a further development, Mercedes Benz has said that they are tak-
ing closer control of the Vito. Peter DaCosta said the transferring of
contracting responsibilities would help "de-risk" the business
