Page 12
Call Sign September 2011
The PH battle
Former fireman Richard Potter and life behind the
As the children start drifting back to school, that
POTTER'S WHEEL
means its September and if we need a real litmus
test as to the state of the economy, it's from now
until the New Year. Personally I think that we as
have had 2 offers for it already.
a trade have dealt with the downturn with great
And finally... I don't know about you but get-
dignity and maturity with everyone accepting,
ting a conversation out of your children can be
whilst not liking, the situation we were have
difficult when they spend most of their time on
been placed in. We lost much of our market
laptops or their iPhones whilst emailing and tex-
share through no fault of our own and also had
ting! On my way home from work I received a
to watch the authorities turn a blind eye, whilst
phone call from my son who told me that we
PH take even more. Peter Hendy recently said
had a snake in our pond. I queried it but he
that lines of PH vehicles outside venues are
insisted although I thought it was a small slow
untouchable and the police have no right to
worm or something similar. But when I got home
question them. In his words, they are waiting to
there was a huge snake swimming around in the
be booked from within that venue. We all know
pond! I didn't know what to do so I slowly
different and maybe he has an answer to the fol-
walked over to the pond and looked this reptile
lowing scenario that contradicts that statement.
right in the eyes. The stand-off was broken when
I was covering an account job on a busy
I jumped out of my skin at the sudden shock of
Sunday night and the doorman at The Four
give me anything. Well, after a couple of radia-
my phone receiving a text. It read: "OMG you
Seasons was looking for a taxi for a customer.
tors and 140k miles, I have to say that the TX4
have a snake in your pond!" What! I hadn't even
Unable to find one, he whistled up the first PH
is still going great guns and is without doubt the
dealt with the problem and I'm already receiving
vehicle in the queue opposite. It came over and
best taxi I have ever driven. Of course there
texts from my daughter because my other daugh-
took the job. Need I say more?
could be improvements, but compared to my
ter had posted something on Facebook! Next
When I first came into this profession, I was
TX2 that by then had smoke pouring out of the
time I want their attention, I will use electronic
surprised by the animosity the public show
gearbox if you went over 50 MPH and started up
means because talking is far too old fashioned,
towards us, especially the cost of some journeys.
like someone had poured ball bearing into the
boring and slow...
filler cap, my TX4 still runs really well. Also,
Over the years the reoccurring theme is that for-
with the scrapping of all taxis pre-1997, the
eign visitors and the more well-off Londoners are
Richard Potter (T51)
resale market for early TX4s is buoyant and I
more than happy to pay the cost of a taxi jour-
ney and fully understand that in a major capital
city, traffic can sometimes be at a standstill, jour-
MANGANESE AGREEMENT WITH GEELY
ney times can be different and fares more expen-
sive. On the other hand, there has always been
The only question is this... an agreement of what?
a section of the public who leave me scratching
my head wondering just what they want!
Manganese Bronze Holdings, parent company of LTI / London Taxi Company have announced the
I was at Terminal 3 recently when a retired
signing of an agreement with Geely International Corporation relating to the potential distribution in
couple came up asking for a price to
the United Kingdom of Geely's vehicles and spare parts and the provision of after-sales service. They
will be starting with the Emgrand series of cars.
Bletchingley near Redhill in Surrey. I looked in
Under terms of the agreement, MBH has been granted exclusivity to develop and agree a busi-
the diary and quoted £100 and the red-faced fella
ness plan with Geely, covering all aspects of the potential launch of Geely products in the UK and
stormed off saying he could get a local firm for
their ongoing after-sales support. MBH and Geely will establish a project team in due course to
£75. Taking into account that he had probably
determine the scope of any future distribution arrangements.
spent £100s on a holiday and that he would have
Whilst it is the clear intention of both parties to agree the business plan, should this not be pos-
to wait an hour or so before his cab turned up -
sible, the agreement will lapse on 1 August 2012.
what's £25?
Commenting on the signing of the agreement, John Russell, Chief Executive Officer said:
"The signing of this agreement is a further example of the growing relationship between MBH
How much???
and Geely. We look forward to successfully establishing and agreeing the business plan for the
launch of Geely vehicles into the UK and to the implementation of that plan."
Interestingly in the August Call Sign, I read the
Call Sign's only question? After the Emgrand, will it be the Chinese TX4 on sale in London???
preposterous statement of Addison Lee accusing
DaC drivers of cherry picking. Is that right! I
recently did a cash ride off the terminal from
London Taxi Company: Free online valuation...
Parsons Green to Tudor Street and after arriving
at the destination, the lady passenger said that
£29 was a lot of money and she usually used
The London Taxi Company has launched a new FREE online service to help customers
Addison Lee who charged a fixed price of £22
get the true part-exchange value of their vehicles, quicker, slicker and easier than ever
but they didn't have any cars available that
before!
morning. I pointed out that the traffic was bad
Owners can now find out their taxi's value in just a few short clicks by visiting the
and £25 would have been the normal fare. I also
leading manufacturer's website at www.london-taxis.co.uk. Customers can complete
made the point that DaC were available to take
a short form, which is then sent directly to the nearest London Taxi Company dealership
her because Addison Lee were too busy doing
and a valuation prepared and relayed back to them by a member of the company's
Heathrow Airports rides (cherry picking), but
experienced sales team.
that DaC were more than happy to cover what
Commenting on the continually evolving website, International Market Development
they would not cover as, in my eyes, we have a
Director, Matthew Cheyne said: "This is another great demonstration of the benefits of
greater sense of public service. She may have
dealing direct with The London Taxi Company. We've already proved this with the pric-
paid a bit more but she got where she wanted
ing of our new model range TX4 Style and TX4 Elegance from £29,995 on the road. Not
and you get what you pay for!
only is this our lowest priced TX range for more than a decade, but for the first time in
(Ed's note: Richard, you should have told her
years it means you can buy a brand new automatic transmission TX4 for less than
that when we don't have any cabs available then
£30,000!
we only charge half price!!!
"The next biggest message for us is to reinforce to our customers that we have also
reviewed our used and part-exchange pricing too. In fact, we're confident that our part-
My TX4
exchange prices have never been better! More and more customers are finding out
every day for themselves the benefits of dealing direct with us. Initiatives like this help us
Four years ago I went into M&O and for the first
to spread the word even further."
time brought myself a brand new TX4. This
went against the grain with me but I had no
To find out more about London Taxi Company's free valuation service, visit
choice as trade-in values on my TX2 were so
www.london-taxis.co.uk or alternatively contact your local dealer direct!
bad and M&O were the only people who would
