Call Sign September 2012

Page 3

from the editor’s desk

Looking back at the Olympics...

when everyone says yes and not just a few who

Well that’s it for another 84 years - the main part

want to charge ridiculously low prices to where

of the Olympics are over and our hopes for some

they live in case they happen to be going home at

extra July and August work courtesy of the Games

the time. Quoting £30 to Luton because you live

must have fallen on deaf ears! The Olympic Route

there would be stupid, but reasonable prices may

Networks proved to be successful because they

bring back some longer trips.

killed London’s business and leisure outlets stone

dead, with most folk deciding to take note of the

New taxis

Mayor and keep well away from the capital. By the

There are several new cabs on the horizon and it

time David Cameron had backtracked telling the

concerns me. The Nissan NV 200 looks like it

world that London was, after all, open for busi-

could be a winner with its 50mph diesel usage -

ness, it was too late!

although I’m not too sure about the passenger’s

panoramic roof with the number of pigeons we

But against all that, the Games themselves were

pass in London! However, its fuel consumption

absolutely brilliant and probably deserved the

and cleaner emissions, plus a probable lower

title many have placed on them as the best

price than its two rivals could give it an edge. But

Olympics ever. And the excellent BBC TV cover-

what if the Mayor says it is still a 15-year subject

age - especially of the road events that caused

for eventual disintegration?

taxis so many problems - will probably bring in a

Then there’s the electric Metrocab that has

host of future tourists. Athletes running through

bly involves closing Copacabana Beach to tourists

been touted for some time next year? That proba-

the City and places such as Leadenhall Market

and making it an ORN!!!

bly will escape any time limit as will the Hydrogen

together with cyclists shooting through the Surrey

TX4, scheduled for final testing prior to release in

countryside, made London look absolutely beau-

GetTaxi and cut prices...

2013. And of course we have the diesel TX4 and

tiful and hopefully that will draw people in.

Call Sign knows from your letters and emails that

the Vito.

That doesn’t mean that LOCOG are forgiven for

a number of you are on Hailo and doing cut-

My concern is that there are some months

treating taxis as second class citizens and quite

priced taxi work. I also understand that some-

when just 80 or 90 new taxis are sold and all

honestly, had it not been for John Mason and

times you do what you have to do to eke out a liv-

those manufacturers are not going to survive in

those working under him acting on our behalf,

ing and whilst I personally dislike working cheap

such a small market. The Vito is also sold to mini-

we’d have had virtually nothing - especially so far

in London when what we offer is a five star taxi

cabs, so Mercedes won’t worry, but the others are

as ranking facilities were concerned.

all 100% taxis. The resulting war could see some

service, I do not condemn anyone who feels that

And another thing, I was very disappointed to

of them going under and eventually we will find

Hailo is a useful tool whilst conditions are so

get a PCN for doing a U-turn at (what I believe

ourselves back with just the one or two taxi man-

quiet. I just hope that when business finally picks

was) Brook Gate. The details said: Park Lane

ufacturers.

up, any damage to the trade will not be irrepara-

(NBND) no U-turn to Park Lane (SBND) and that I

But, and that is something of a big but, if the

ble.

failed to comply with a prohibition on certain types

Mayor is so concerned about emissions and is

But I was shocked at the recent message sent to

of vehicles. That meant a taxi and an ORN. I was

happy to spend money all over the show, perhaps

GetTaxi drivers under the guise of fighting pri-

more disappointed because the PCN hasn’t come

he could subsidise all new taxis by around £5000?

vate hire - pay £10 for airport trips from hotels!

from Westminster, whom we expect to be picked

Then the number of drivers wanting to renew

There are some drivers out there who have been

on by, it comes from TfL and a camera operator

would jump through the roof. Compared to the

doing that for years, but I have always assumed

has used CCTV to nick a licensed taxi doing its

money it would save, the outlay would be mini-

job. I believed that as we had been given permis-

them to be in a minority. Yes, we have lost account

mal. But I’m not holding my breath!

sion to turn right along that stretch - again thanks

airport trips because our prices are expensive

to work by LTPH - that also meant the U-turn facil-

compared to many private hire companies who

Inside this issue

ity. Of course, as the PCN fails to say exactly at

are able to subsidise those trips via their cash ride

Laurence Kelvin (W88) has expressed a view on

which junction this appalling act took place, TfL’s

prices, which are much closer to taxi fares.

the Olympics inside this issue that is somewhat

PCN department are just wasting everyone’s time.

GetTaxi’s answer to fighting PH is to deduct £10

different to most others that have appeared in the

But I have the time if they have!

from their agreed fixed price fare (plus £1 that

mag. We also have a rather astonishing response

Boris was very quick to use taxis in the Beijing

you pay to GetTaxi to buy a cash ride) and they

from TfL as to why one company was given a thir-

closing ceremony, while a Fairway was turned

will give it to a hotel doorman / concierge on your

ty year contract to carry out maintenance to the

into the star of London’s brilliant opening cere-

behalf. He, in turn, will give the driver a fixed

Limehouse Link (as reported in the August Call

mony when it ferried James Bond to Buck House

price airport trip that the driver will have paid £11

Sign). The letter, sent to DaC’s John Addis

- not to mention the Spice Girls at the closure!

for.

(K97), could well send the Plain English Society

Posh and co didn’t stand on buses; in fact there

The example I was shown involved a trip from

over the edge! Ok, it isn’t as bad as the piece from

wasn’t one on show (I want to buy the one that

Chelsea to Terminal 5 at Heathrow. The usual

a professor of English at the University of Chicago

Baby Spice stood on)!

fixed price on GetTaxi is £64, so after your £11

who famously told pupils: “If for a while the ruse

Yes, the London Olympics as a show were bril-

deduction, you are left with £53 - always assum-

of desire is calculable for the uses of discipline, soon

liant, but that doesn’t excuse LOCOG kicking us

ing that’s what the driver charges the passenger.

the repetition of guilt, justification, pseudo-scientif-

around and forcing us to drive around in a dan-

Ok, £53 isn’t terrible in the current climate and

ic theories, superstition, spurious authorities and

gerous manner by constantly having to look for

let’s be honest - many of our LAP prices are too

classifications can be seen as the desperate effort to

various signs to see where we could and couldn’t

high. But who would you want to benefit by a cut

"normalise" formally the disturbance of a discourse

go. Instead we should have been concentrating

priced trip to the flyers - GetTaxi, a hotel door-

of splitting that violates the rational, enlightened

on the road ahead!

man or the passenger? Well, from where I’m sit-

claims of its enunciatory modality.” But TfL’s

Limehouse Link explanation still drove us batty!

The 2016 Games have already been won by Rio

ting, this scheme offers no incentive to the pas-

And of course, there’s much more...

and ROCOG is already in action there having

senger to use licensed taxis again; it just lines the

begun its tenure at London’s Somerset House on

pockets of greedy doormen or hotel concierge

Fuel prices

our Games penultimate day - and good luck to

and earns more £1 LAPs for GetTaxi.

Hands up if like me, you really believed that fuel

them. But for 2020, the taxi organisations of the

If a driver is happy to go to LAP for £53, why

prices were going down and staying down? Ha!

bidding cities at Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul -

not charge the passenger that in a fixed price

There’s one born every minute! The fuel compa-

soon to be possibly run by TOCOG, MOCOG and

rather than give the extra to a doorman? We can’t

nies just fancied having a laugh. After all, BP’s half

IOCOG - are unaware of what they are letting

stop hotel concierge from telling passengers that

year profit was down from £5.5billion to just

themselves in for. Perhaps our trade organisations

minicabs are cheaper than us, but perhaps we

£3.5billion. And you think you’ve got it tough!

should warn their opposite numbers in those

should think about cutting the prices of longer

three capitals, then at least they would know what

trips because good news spreads and word would

Alan Fisher

to expect because I assume that Jacques Rogge

soon get out. I know many drivers have been say-

has picked his Rio hotel already. And that proba-

ing that for years, but these things only work

Callsignmag@aol.com

Call Sign September 2012

Page 4

reflections of the chairman

the Games started and I have reproduced that

Olympics

piece here so that like me, you can form a

I obviously could not let this month go past

view. The piece was written by David

without mentioning the Olympic Games.

Millward, Transport Editor of The Telegraph.

Like most people in GB, I really enjoyed the

It was published on 19th June.

Games and really got into them. Team GB did

fantastically well and what a difference the

Peter Hendy, the Commissioner and six

extra funding has made to our sportsmen and

chief officers are each likely to receive six-

women. It would appear that on two wheels

figure payouts under Transport for

or on water, there is not anyone to touch us!

London’s incentive scheme. The disclosure

The organisation seemed to be excellent

of the vast amounts set to be pocketed by

and I thought the opening ceremony was

senior executives’ triggered accusations

quite something and full credit to all those

of hypocrisy from union leaders.

that were involved; however I did think Paul

There is already £560,000 in the bonus pot

McCartney struggled a little.

covering 2010-11, which has been put on

Regarding the closing ceremony, although

hold until after the Olympics. This will be

again very good, I was quite surprised with the

boosted by payments covering the follow-

choice of some of the contributors. The

ing two years, which have still to be decid-

venturing into town and as a result, public

ed by a Remuneration Committee, and

Games to me represent all that is best in sport

transport seemed to operate quite well. Our

with the years of hard work and dedication

includes Boris Johnson, the capital’s

corporates were persuaded to either take their

Mayor.

that the athletes have shown in preparation

holidays or work from home, the problem was

According to TfL’s annual accounts, the

for the Games. Any athletes that are caught

then that the restaurants, theatres and of

payment of the bonuses will hinge in part

abusing the rules by taking banned substances

course the taxi trade did not have any cus-

on the successful delivery services of the

are quite rightly immediately disqualified from

tomers to service.

Olympic and Paralympic transport.

the Games and most probably from their

However, that did not worry TfL as they had

The other officers in line for substantial

sport.

completed their task of keeping the traffic

payments are Steve Allen, Managing

So imagine my surprise when during the

flowing and public transport moving. Many of

Director Finance, Mike Brown, Managing

closing ceremony, it was deemed to be cele-

us predicted the situation incorrectly, as we

Director London Underground and London

brating British Pop music and then the first act

thought that although it would be quiet work-

Rail, Howard Carter, General Counsel,

was George Michael, a man who has been

wise, the traffic would be bad. In reality the

Leon Daniels, Managing Director Surface

convicted of exposing himself in a public toi-

traffic was quiet and our work was even worse.

Transport, Michele Dix, Managing

let to a police officer and also convicted of

But, yes, the Board of TfL had done their job!

Director Planning and Vernon Everitt,

drug abuse. Yet he represents GB in the clos-

The past year has been a very difficult trad-

Managing Director Marketing and

ing ceremony? Although I am not a fan, how

ing period for the taxi industry and I was very

Communications.

on earth was George Michael chosen above

pleased that Dial-a-Cab entered the month of

Sir Cliff Richard? What was even more amaz-

So there you have it, the Games went very

July trading in the black and showing a sur-

ing to me is I have not heard anyone mention

plus with our financial year finishing at the

well, the Board of TfL did their job and fright-

this point, perhaps I am becoming just a bit

end of August. However, due to the abysmal

ened the traffic away from London, together

more of a cynic!

workload during July/August , we will most

with all our customers, but of course they will

Anyway, the above was the positive that we

certainly come to the end of our financial year

be particularly pleased with the result, espe-

took from the Games, but what about our

showing a loss.

cially when the Mayor rewards them with their

work? Although the end of July and the whole

bonus!

of August is traditionally quiet, this year has

Who got the bonuses?

Brian Rice

been the quietest I have ever known. TfL did

What was particularly interesting to me was a

an excellent job in deterring the public from

piece I read in the Daily Telegraph just before

Chairman, Dial-a-Cab

I had that cycling bloke in my cab!

Dial-a-Cab driver Jon Trevor (W94) has appeared many times in Call Sign

over the years - very often through his exploits at being one of the county’s

top triathletes. However, as Jon has pointed out to us, that was then and as

he has added a few years onto his total, standards in that most gruelling of

events have risen and he watches more than completes nowadays. Mind

you, that didn’t stop Jon doing 1000 sit-ups to support a fellow driver who

had fallen on hard times earlier this year!

So it was with some excitement when Jon told this magazine that he

had picked up the Keirin Olympic silver medallist, German cyclist

Maximilian Levy. And not just that, Maximilian had allowed Jon to put

on his silver medal and perhaps wonder what might have been!

“I picked him up in Wapping High Street,” Jon told us, “and took

him to the Docklands Museum. I said I had watched his race where

he was just pipped to gold by Sir Chris Hoy and that with one lap to

go, I really thought he was going to win. But Chris Hoy just held on.

“He had a wonderfully self-effacing sense of humour and as I

think he has a big future, I gave him a few tips - the main one

being to keep away from Chris Hoy!

“Holding that silver medal was wonderful and Maximilian is cer-

tainly not just ‘that cycling bloke’. He really is a true life champion and a really nice guy...”

Call Sign September 2012

Page 5

AZERBAIJAN REACHES 1000 TX4S!

Azerbaijan’ capital city of Baku recently arrived

at the amazing number of 1000 TX4s working

full-time along its streets, with the Baki Taksi

Company successfully operating the 1000

damson coloured London Taxis under the ban-

ner of The London Taxi Service.

Baku, which hosted this year’s Eurovision

Song Contest, is a modern city with many of

the world’s major companies having offices

there. Perhaps surprisingly to some, the capital

is also popular with tourists who flock there to

see monuments such as the 15th century

Palace of the Shirvanshahs. So a good taxi

service was needed and judging by the com-

ments of those using it, they now have the vehi-

cles and if LTPH fancy giving them a version of

the Knowledge, they will be well set!

The TX4s were delivered to Baku over the

past year and can now be spotted easily wher-

ever you go in the city, making life much easier

for passengers and tourists who used to look

Taxis ranking outside Baku's 4-storey shopping mall, Paek Bulvar

out for a variety of poor different quality cars.

The London Taxi Company worked and

Baki Taksi Director, Ilgar Gasimov, told Call

uniforms - have taken to the taxis with great

continues to work with the Baki Taksi

Sign:

pride in driving such an iconic vehicle. The

Company to help develop vehicle regulations,

“London Taxis have supplied the 1,000 TX4

London Taxi has proved so popular among our

driver standards and vehicle standards leading

cabs for Baku and they have proved to be a

local taxi community that we now have over

to many black market vehicles being removed

tremendous boost to our city, its residents and

500 new drivers wanting to join our company

from the transport infrastructure.

businesses. All 1,000 taxis were ready for the

as drivers!

All

1000 drivers have been through a

Eurovision Song Contest in May 2012, covered

“We are now in the first stages of increasing

London Taxi Company driver training pro-

with bright

“light your fire” decals, which

the fleet and look forward to many more years

gramme to ensure they provide a world-class

delighted visiting guests to the Crystal Hall. I

with London Taxis in Azerbaijan.”

service to their customers on a day-to-day basis.

know our expatriate community welcomed the

London Taxi Company Country Manager,

As well as being operated by now trained pro-

London Taxi and I am very pleased to say more

Iain Robb, handily lives in Baku and was pur-

fessional drivers, the fleet is supported by a

and more local people are now experiencing

posely employed to assist with the smooth run-

highly efficient maintenance and parts service

the safe and secure London Taxi in their daily

ning and success of The Baki Taksi Company.

to ensure all vehicles are safe and kept in first

lives. Our drivers - dressed in our Baki Taksi

class condition.

Trocadero to become Hotel

The London Trocadero

complex at the Piccadilly

end of Shaftesbury

Avenue is set to become

SAVINGS!

London’s latest hotel. It

is unlikely that any Call

Sign readers remember

★ KITCHENS

visiting the Trocadero

& APPLIANCES

when it housed J.Lyons

★ BEDROOMS

Corner House - but

★ WORKTOPS

then again, that was in

1896!

★ DOOR & DRAW REPLACMENTS

However, in 2006

★ PLANTATION SHUTTERS

many younger Call

★ ALL TYPES OF BLINDS

Sign readers visited

★ AWNINGS

The Trocadero’s latest inc

puter game heaven of Sega World after we were given lots of freebies. But visi-

You are welcome to visit

tor numbers never took off, no doubt because of the expensive admittance charged.

our showroom at:

In 2005 the Trocadero was acquired by new owners and in 2009 they gutted the inside

Unit 8 Tripes Farm,

but kept the famous façade.

Chelsfield Lane,

Now the owners, Criterion, have announced a new 7-storey hotel is to be built on the

Orpington, Kent BR6 7RS

land. However, this is not intended as competition for the Dorchester or Savoy, but more

for the Travelodge group with close to 600 rooms - most being small and with no win-

Instant Kitchen and

dows, aimed at those who just want somewhere to sleep without having to pay for

Bedroom & Blinds UK

unused luxuries.

Call Ian (R50) on 01689 897111…

Call Sign September 2012

Page 6

Jery’s World

"Blimey, now that's what I call user-friendly technology!"

ON HER MAJESTY’S OLYMPIC SERVICE

With the world still talking of HM Queen’s ‘parachute jump’ to the Olympic opening ceremony, the

LVTA has kindly sent us the story behind the jump starring James Bond!

The London 2012 Olympics focused the eyes of the world on the newly created London E20 postcod

where the majority of events take place, including the staggering Opening Ceremony created by Osc

winning film director Danny Boyle and watched live by an estimated one billion people worldwide!

One of the most memorable moments was the short film Happy and Glorious, which saw Her

Majesty Queen Elizabeth II parachute from a helicopter above the Olympic Stadium moments before

landing safely and taking her seat in the Royal Box. She did this in the company of James Bond, wh

had just arrived at Buckingham Palace in a London taxi supplied by The London Cab Company Ltd

The company director, Gary Zylberszac, received a call in April requesting two identical iconic

Fairways for a secret project called BBC 2012. These are kept in stock because identical vehicles

are often required as a time saving exercise so the crew can shoot one cab from the outside, while

preparing its twin with cameras and lights for the internal shot. After being searched by the

police, the two Fairways were driven onto the forecourt of Buck House.

Filming took place between rain showers when the cab was waved through the gates of

Buckingham Palace by the police, reversed out and repeated time and time again much to the

bemusement of the tourists! The road was then closed to traffic while a helicopter carrying cam-

eras swooped down low over the Mall, tracking the cab for its arrival. For continuity, the day was

spent mainly leathering off rainwater from the Fairways in between takes!

Once Happy and Glorious was shown at the Opening Ceremony, a sudden burst of comments

on Twitter came in thanking “James Bond” for supporting London’s cab trade during the

Olympics, while it had been side-lined by LOCOG, the ODA and TfL!

But Daniel Craig is not the only James Bond to have been a passenger in one of The

London Cab Company’s vehicles. Previous incarnation, Pierce Brosnan, has been a ‘passenger’

driven by Gary Zylberszac in a New York cab featured in Mama Mia - The Movie, which was

shot outside the Lloyds Building.

The London Cab Company has been supplying cabs for film shoots since the late 1990s. In

that time, the prop cabs have appeared in thousands of scenes from student films to TV pro-

grammes to adverts to major Hollywood movies, taking instructions from great directors such as Paul Greengrass,

Woody Allen, Clint Eastwood and of course Danny Boyle.

Gary Zylberszac told Call Sign: “Whenever London features as part of a storyline, our taxis are used to emphasise that it’s London. Our vehicles

have appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum, Stormbreaker and The Da Vinci Code. In National Treasure II - Book of Secrets starring Nick Cage, there was

a four minute stunt-filled car chase through central London featuring a beer lorry, Mercedes, Range Rover and a Fairway carrying The London Cab

Company logo on the doors as a tribute to our assistance in the project.

Our thanks to Gary Zylberszac and the London Cab Company Ltd..

Call Sign September 2012

Page 7

Many drivers have described the 2.7 litre

Fairway as the best taxi ever produced, but

Nissan plan new taxi

most also realise that it was the introduction

of the Nissan 2.7 engine unit that trans-

formed that cab into more than just another

It’s the one New Yorkers call ugly!

taxi. As time has gone by since its 1989

introduction, Fairway drivers have reported

The new Nissan NV

doing in excess of 500,000 miles on the

200 - New York and

Nissan engine while one Scottish driver

London versions

claimed he had clocked up a million with

just a few minor repairs to the unit!

recharged twice each

Now the name of Nissan may be back in

day - once overnight

the taxi business having recently unveiled its

and once during the

vision for what they call London's taxi of the

driver’s

break

future: the NV200 with its 1.5 turbo charged

although this second

engine and transparent, panoramic rooftop

charge would be a

through which passengers can gaze at the

quick 30 minute one.

moon! But Nissan’s way of making a low-sell-

Nissan's executive

ing vehicle worth messing about with is the

vice president, Andy

opposite way round to what the London

Palmer said: “The black

Taxi Company have been successfully

drive vehicles can.

cab is as much a part of the London land-

doing for several years, where they have been

The main difference is the London ver-

scape as Big Ben and the NV200 is a great

selling the London icon all over the world.

sion’s 1.5-litre diesel engine with its claim

step forward for providing a transport solu-

The NV200 was recently revealed as the

of over 50mpg, whereas the NY version

tion that is good for both its users and other

Tokyo taxi and New York's City’s next taxi -

uses a four-cylinder petrol unit. However,

city inhabitants.”

and now Nissan want to begin selling it in

like the Vito the NV200 is also a converted

The NV200 taxi is expected to go on sale in

Australia and London!

van - although this taxi looks like no mini-

2013 and seat up to five adults. It should be

However, there are a few differences to the

cab ever seen!

priced far closer to the TX4 than the Vito and

Big Apple version: The Crewe-based

Nissan also say they are close to starting tri-

Nissan’s association with the Fairway carries

builders, Voyager MPV, have fitted the CoF -

als on an electric version of the new taxi that

it in good stead, but whether drivers would

required 25foot turning circle thanks to the

they claim could become available to buy

want a manual cab that many who’ve seen it

NV200's new reworked front suspension,

within

2 years and which would remove

have described as ugly remains to be seen.

where the drive shaft is split into two and a

38,000 tonnes of CO2 from the London's

But fifty mpg is a powerful selling tool...

second universal joint is mounted onto the

atmosphere, while shaving over £1000 in fuel

lower wishbone. The front wheel drive shaft

bills per year. However, at this time there is

Dennis Latchett

is short allowing the wheels to turn to a

also a downside in that the NV200’s slow

much more acute angle than normal front-

charge battery would probably have to be

Call Sign Online

Martin Cordell & Co.

ACCOUNTANTS

Does your accountant supply you with the following?

Over forty years of experience with the Licensed London Taxi Trade.

Processing of self-assessment returns.

Advice on trading as a Limited Company with its tax advantages and potential pitfalls.

Preparation of accounts.

Initial consultation dealing with loss of earnings claims (due to accidents on the road etc.)

Letters to banks, building societies

and other lenders.

Specialist in-house facilities to deal with Inland Revenue enquiry cases.

(This is expensive and time consuming. Ask your accountant how much he will charge should this

unpredictable event occur).

A three hundred and sixty five days a year service.

A ‘nightshift’

service.

Offices in North and East London.

First consultation free of charge.

Martin Cordell & Co . . . Do!

All for one yearly fee

The London Taxi Trades Premier Accountants

(24 hour answering service for prompt service)

020 8980 7161

(24 hour answering service for prompt service)

1-5 Alfred Street, Bow, London E3 2BE also at

Front Office, First Floor, 9 Church Road, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 4AS

www.martin-cordell.co.uk

Call Sign September 2012

Page 8

Karen motorcycles

round Europe to help MS

donation for the MS Society, even though

Dial-a-Cab driver Karen Menpes

I'd told them that I wasn’t after any money

(E01) recently returned home

from them. Nonetheless, I was well

pleased!”

after riding her motorbike round

However, Karen is still looking for donations

Europe in aid of the Multiple

“Any donation, no matter how small,

Sclerosis Society’s research unit at

would be greatly appreciated,” she told us.

Kingston.

“Organisations such as the Multiple

Sclerosis Society rely so much on charity

Karen estimated the total distance as being

around 2000 miles after arriving back at the fin-

and without these donations, people like

ishing post, having ridden through France,

John would find it so much more difficult

Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and Scotland.

than it is already for them.”

She told Call Sign that her hope was that when

Multiple Sclerosis is a condition of the cen-

others read about her ride, it might encourage

tral nervous system where the coating around

them to fundraise for similar charities.

nerve fibres is damaged, causing a range of

Karen's brother, John, who is 48, has been

symptoms. Around 100,000 people in the UK

seriously affected by MS and the Multiple

have MS. It's normally diagnosed in people

Sclerosis Society has been an invaluable source

between the ages of 20 and 40, but once diag-

Karen motorcycled 2000 miles round

of help to him and many other sufferers.

nosed stays with you for life. However, modern

Europe to raise funds for MSS

Speaking to Call Sign about her ride, Karen

day treatments and specialists can help to man-

said:

Fortunately the RAC came to my rescue.

age the symptoms. No cure has yet been found,

“It took me about nine days in total and I

Then, after keeping my license clean for

but research is progressing fast so any dona-

averaged over 200 miles each day. Although

over eight years, I managed to get a speed-

tions would help towards that aim and be

the aim was serious, a few strange - almost

ing ticket and 3 points in not-so bonny

greatly appreciated.

funny - things happened on the UK stretch.

Scotland!

Just go to www.facebook.com/motorcy-

For example, and bearing in mind the

The European section of the ride saw the

clecharityuk and follow the link.

length of my ride, I ran out of fuel on the

reverse with a stroke of good luck. I was

Anyone who would like to ask questions

A1! A kind biker had to ride off to buy some

returning back from Europe on the ferry

can call the MS Society helpline between

fuel for me but by the time he got back with

with a group of bikers whom I didn't know

9am and 9pm on Monday to Fridays. Tel

a jerry can of petrol, my battery had gone

and after I explained what I was doing, they

0808 800 8000 or email helpline@mssoci-

flat after leaving my hazard lights on!

clubbed together and gave me a surprise

ety.org,uk..

CallOver

available at DaC

May’s Call Sign contained a small article on the launch of

new magazine, CallOver, aimed at those on the

Knowledge. But when a message went out via driver’s ter-

minals to say that there were some copies in the Dial-a-

Cab driver’s reception and that if they knew anyone on the

Knowledge, this magazine would be a useful tool for

them, all the copies were snapped up before you could say

leave on the left Northumberland Avenue!

The magazine is now left at DaC every month, so if

you have a son, daughter or even a neighbour who is

doing the KoL then keep a look out for CallOver in Driver

Reception and pass a copy along to them. CallOver is a

welcome addition to all the stuff Knowledge students

accumulate...

Baghwat Singh

Call Sign Online

Call Sign September 2012

Page 10

“Yes, I do have the hump big time and I shall let

the various agencies, LOCOG, ODA and TfL -

and just about anyone else who will listen -

Olympics confusion?

know exactly what I think!”

Dial-a-Cab driver Ray Buckland (P66)

couldn’t hide his anger when a roving Call

You bet there was!

Sign reporter happened to chance on him

looking at the Olympic Delivery Authority

Ray ended by giving his view on the Games

Taxi Driver Information Handbook

as they pertained to the taxi trade.

Making the most of the 2012 Games.

“Whether they were enjoyable or not was

“I used to be a dispatcher at Dial-a-Cab

irrelevant to us as taxi drivers; there was very

when we were on voice transmission and spent

little benefit that the Olympics had for us and if

2 years on the Knowledge full time, so I already

anything, they were more to our detriment.

know where I’m going! I also deal with mem-

Taxi ranks were shut, there was limited access

bers of the public every single day of my work-

to pick-ups at the venues and generally just try-

ing life, as do all my fellow taxi drivers, so I

ing to get passengers to where they wanted to

doubt that we needed a patronising ODA doc-

go with the usually empty Olympic Route

ument telling us how to deal with passengers

Networks and banned right turns in so many

or to ‘familiarise myself with other features of

places making it so difficult to the extent that

my taxi!’ Neither do I need advice about ‘shar-

many people just didn’t bother using us. I still

ing the road safely’ and all that that implies as

can’t see why Bus Lanes couldn’t have been

printed on page 9 of the 76 page document

used for Games vehicles - unless, of course,

that was sent just days before this major, once

there was a hidden agenda that we have yet to

in a lifetime event, that I was expected to

humour in being given a sustainability driving

discover...?”

absorb and digest in order to do my job prop-

lesson,” he continued pointing to a paragraph

With that, we left Ray in peace still looking at

erly.”

further down the same page.

the ODA booklet and uttering unprintable

Ray was fuming and quoting numerous dri-

“There is conflicting information on other

curses under his breath that Call Sign can’t

ving ‘tips’ in the book that we, as professionals,

pages too from what I saw,” Ray pointed out,

repeat! Mind you, the booklet was also sent out

employ as a matter of routine on a daily basis.

“so I was more confused instead of being

to private hire outlets and we bet they probably

“Are they joking, because I do not find any

informed anyway!”

found it too complicated to understand!!

Laurence Kelvin gives his view and says...

Olympics confusion? None that I can see...!

The London Olympics are over and I offer a few observations as a Dial-a-Cab taxi driver.

Whenever I have walked round London or used public transport, there has been a noticeable buzz in the air with

volunteer ambassadors asking me and everyone else if they can help in any way - though not one has offered to

lend me a fiver or carry my luggage!

The trains and buses have operated very well and the traffic has mostly run smoothly. It was impressive to see the

new road markings, one way signs and layout installed in the early hours of the three days prior to the games

with military efficiency.

The organisation of the Games as well as the traffic have been well planned and effectively executed. The

intention was to enable competitors, officials and freeloaders (I mean Games family) to move from their hotels

and between venues without any holdups and to that extent it was undoubtedly a success.

Yes, there have been longer routes necessary for some taxi journeys, but there was little justification for the

demand by some drivers to be able to use the Games lanes. Why should we think that we are more important

than plumbers or food delivery vehicles? Yes, London in the centre has been quiet and our work has been slow.

Imagine how much we would be criticised now if the idea of a rate 2 tariff for the Olympic weeks put forward by the

LTDA had been implemented.

All visitors to the games are issued with a free pass to use on public transport, including the Javelin train between Stratford and St Pancras (a report to

the contrary in Taxi magazine should be ignored), and any passenger spillover into taxis should be seen as a bonus.

Several of my passengers have commented on the friendly taxi marshals at King's Cross station and welcomed the help they gave with suitcases.

Wouldn't it be lovely if this could be a regular service at all major stations?

London will reap the benefit of the Olympics for many years to come, with new Overground lines, a vast amount of new and improved accommoda-

tion built in East London, upgraded underground services and a general smartening up of buildings and infrastructure, all of which should encourage

more visitors to come here well into the future.

Laurence Kelvin (W88)

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Call Sign September 2012

Page 11

Oxford Street retailers say:

Views on life as seen through the

eyes of David Kupler (Y74) at...

TOO MANY BUSES ALONG

Kupkake’s

OXFORD STREET!

Korner

According to West End Company boss, Dame

dy Mayhew, there are already too many

ses heading both ways along Oxford

reet and that once the new Crossrail sta-

ons opens for business at both Tottenham

ourt Road and Bond Street, the need for a

all-to-wall of buses from one end of the

treet to the other will diminish - assum-

ng, of course, that it actually exists! Empty

bus after empty bus suggests that perhaps

it doesn’t.

TfL Head of Transport, Peter Hendy -

who is said to be a staunch busman and

A summer’s day

also the holder of a bus driver’s licence -

is said to be delighted with the bus ser-

vices and sees no problem with the car-

in London town?

pet effect of red buses along the capital’s

premier shopping street. It seems highly

Well I must be psychic

improbable that he would agree to a

all I predicted came out right!

lesser number of buses heading along

Wish I could foresee the Lottery numbers

that thoroughfare.

That well each Friday night!

As a result of Mr Hendy’s apparent

The last week of July was awful

intransigence, Dame Judy has gone

cabs ranking everywhere!

over his head and asked Mayor Boris

Kings Cross started in Goodsway

Johnson if he would set up a Mayoral

Paddington back to Edgware!

Commission to decide on the future of

Victoria ranked in circles,

Oxford Street’s transport. Whether that will include a

place for London taxis will undoubtedly also be on the Commission’s agenda.

the Raft just couldn’t be reached.

Waterloo slower than turtles

Peter Hendy, the man who was most responsible for keeping the capital filled with bendy

buses before the Mayor decided to get rid of them and bring back updated Routemasters, has

floundering on a beach!

something of an ‘iffy’ relationship with the taxi trade. Prior to the Olympics, he was quoted as

Our radio like a graveyard

saying on live radio that he had “given up” on taxis and didn’t know what they wanted. That

no real trips to bid.

came in response to a driver who on one phone-in said that he was considering taking the

London was like a winter Sunday night

whole month of Olympic competition off because he believed traffic conditions would be

where were all the punters hid?

impossible and prevent him from working. That assumed he even managed to get into town

I drove around the City

from the east with its traffic light slow-downs and closing of lanes on the A12 and A13. That

I cruised through Covent Garden.

was also in addition to the ORNs themselves.

Though filled full of self-pity

Mr Hendy responded that those taxi drivers who did work would “do very well” but that he

I felt my resolve harden.

“gave up on what these taxi drivers wanted!”

Call Sign can actually answer that question for Mr Hendy - they just want to be able to earn

I plotted at a theatre

a living without being treated as third class citizens behind buses and tubes...

waiting for the ‘burst’,

but surrounded by those Rickshaws

Jamie Corum

just made matters worse!

Call Sign Online

At last the doors were opened

and the punters were released.

A couple nicely spoken

Asked: “Would you go south east?”

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I just listened as they said

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I wiped my mouth and swallowed

I was feeling so alone.

Go to www.OnlyCabs.co.uk

A couple of short rides followed

So yes, I just went home...!

Or telephone your order to:

Stephen Vale at Only Cabs 020 3239 6101

Kopyright Kupkake 2012

Call Sign September 2012

Page 12

GetTaxi: “Pay

hotels for airports!”

many will say that GetTaxi has thrown all that

work from hotels are fixed prices. GetTaxi

away for a few pieces of silver. However, other

will collect £11 incl £1 cash job fee from you

readers may agree with the policy and Call

for each hotel airport job, eg SW3 - LHR T5:

Sign would like to hear from you.

£64, leaving you with £53.

In a text that may shock older Call Sign read-

Unlike Hailo, Dial-a-Cab drivers cannot

This is unfortunately necessary to ensure

ers and possibly younger ones as well, taxi app

belong to GetTaxi as it involves fitting radio

hotels use us, not PHV! Fixed prices will be

GetTaxi has sent a text message to their drivers

equipment and is therefore considered to be

shown in 'job details' on the job offer

telling them that they are going to “buy” hotel

an opposing radio circuit.

screen, stating 'FIXED PRICE £XX TO

work that goes to Heathrow Airport.

The text sent to GetTaxi drivers reads:

HEATHROW T5'.

Those older drivers will remember the fights

and battles that this trade had against paying

Great news, GetTaxi is now picking up

Is it now anything for an LAP? Tell Call Sign...

money for the privilege of going to work, now

airport work from hotels in town! Airport

See editor’s page...

The London Taxi Benevolent Association for War Disabled

LTBAWD take injured armed forces to Brands Hatch

Former Dial-a-Cab driver and Board member,

Harry Joel MBE (Ex-B81) famously said many

years ago: “As long as there is conflict and

war around the world, there will be a need

for organisations such as the London Taxi

Benevolent Association for War Disabled.”

Now in his 89th year, Harry is still the President

of The LTBAWD, a London taxi charity that since

1948 has helped past and current members of our

armed forces in so many different ways.

The most recent event involved the charity receiv-

ing a request from The Not Forgotten

Association - who provide entertainment, leisure

and recreation for serving and ex-serving wounded

and disabled service personnel. They asked the

LTBAWD if they could assist with transport for

injured members of the armed forces from the reha-

bilitation centre at Headley Court and take them to

a track day at Brands Hatch. Several committee

members took up the cudgels and made their way

to Headley Court as part of the transport force.

They arrived at the track at 9.30am and met up

with the rest of the invited forces personnel. After

The 70 members of the Not Forgotten Association trackside with some of the cars

breakfast it was a safety briefing, on with crash

helmets and off to trackside and cars that includ-

ed Lotus Sevens, Maseratis, Aston Martins,

Mclarens and Porsches - one of which was worth

almost £2million on its own! Insurance costs for

the day? Don’t ask!

The cars were made available by their owners

who graciously gave their time for the day and

drove each of their passengers at high speed

round the track. All the servicemen returned to

the pits sporting huge grins. Then courtesy of the

FF Corse racing team off they went again in high

powered Ferraris!

EARLY TREATMENT MEANS SPEEDY RECOVERY

After lunch, the 70 former service people along

Treatment for pain & discomfort doesn’t have to be expensive

with helpers were entertained by a demonstration

of hyper-fast Formula One cars. Then following

one final spin around the track, it was time to

The Centre offers fully qualified therapists in Physiotherapy,

return to Headley Court.

The event was organised by The Not

Osteopathy, Sports Massage, Reflexology, Shiatsu, Remedial

Forgotten Association and Gary Eastwood.

Massage, Indian Head Massage, Hydrotherm, Massage Therapy,

The London Taxi Benevolent Association for

War Disabled has asked Call Sign to thank

Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.

them for allowing the charity to be part of a

memorable day.

Call us on 020 8507 8169

Then on 8th August, LTBAWD committee mem-

or mobile 07973 639 473 for an early appointment

bers arrived at Waterloo Station to meet with staff

and army personnel from Headley Court to trans-

Email: andy@bptconline.co.uk or fax: 020 8507 9650

port them to The Olympic Park at Stratford and

Out of hours enquiries welcome

then collect them afterwards to return them to

Waterloo. Again, the charity felt very privileged to

be helping these wounded soldiers enjoy their day

Barking Physical Therapy Centre

at the Olympics...

90 Longbridge Road, Barking, Essex, IG11 8SF

Opening Hours: Monday - Friday 9am till 8pm and Saturday 9am till 2pm

Our thanks to Derek Leone, LTBAWD

Hon Vice Secretary

www.bptconline.co.uk

Call Sign September 2012

Page 13

Allen Togwell puts the clock back and is ready once again...

Fighting the clean fight!

Poor old Tom Whitbread, he’s been on the

arrive with money on the meter? And the most

Board since the last King died and he opens his

difficult question of all to a company offering a

mouth for the first time about dress code and all

contract of several million pounds a year, can we

hell breaks loose! He surely must have known

guarantee a service? Nowadays unfortunately

what would happen from the way I have been

tenders are all done electronically, but they are

slaughtered over the years whenever I’ve men-

still extremely comprehensive - in fact more so,

tioned this very subject. In fact, having not men-

but there is little that can be done to give one an

tioned it for quite a while, I’m surprised Mr

edge, particularly when the bottom line is often

Connelly (T21) who has only been on the cir-

the statement that ‘preference will be given to the

cuit for a few years should be aware of my long

most economically advantageous tender’. And

standing views on dress code by including me

that is where we lose out to PH.

along with TW to being style police.

Over the years I’ve heard all sorts of rea-

Using a marketing company

sons why cab drivers dress the way they do,

On reading T21’s reply to Tom Whitbread, he

including the freedom to dress as they see fit.

appears to be typical of those who elect a Board

And they are not alone, hence the reason so

and then wants to tell them what they are doing

many companies in recent years have dress

wrong, including the age old argument that the

Connelly would find it perfectly normal and

down days. This was unheard of in my

Board needs younger members, which I find odd

probably ask the driver to smile for the cam-

younger days and particularly in the industry

on discovering he runs his own business.

era!

I was in. It would hardly seem appropriate

However, he may like to note that for many years

before he came on the circuit, we advertised for

for me measuring up a female for an evening

Joining a club?

young dynamic people from the private sector

gown while looking like a schlock.

When I first became a member of Dial-a-Cab, I

with proven CVs, to help generate new business.

Most men in those days had a Sunday best suit

likened it to joining a golf, tennis or cricket club

For several years we even employed the services

(in many cases their demob suit) that was con-

where there are certain expectations in the man-

of a marketing company with experience of

sidered proper to wear at weekends to go to the

ner of dress when using the club. Nobody is

working in the taxi industry. But whilst we per-

pub or a football match. The cab drivers of that

forced to abide by those expectations, if they

severed and invested considerable sums, it was

era wore a cloth cap and muffler, which might

don’t like it then don’t join the club - which is

never truly successful and the primary reason for

not have been stylish but were accepted as

what I tell every applicant who wants to join Dial-

this was because the management of DaC has no

appropriate for the conditions in which they

a-Cab. I explain that if they are accepted, they

power over its workforce. The dynamic Sales

worked. Nothing was forced on anybody to look

will lose a certain amount of freedom because

people became despondent when told the meter

clean and scrubbed; it was inbred at a young age

we are committed to giving our clients a quality

and charges to our drivers were beyond negotia-

when your mum gave you a bath in a tin tub by

service.

tion. The marketing company, when they heard

the fire that was filled with hot water from a ket-

Several years ago, I had cause to remind a dri-

we had a fleet of over 2000 shareholders travel-

tle. And when older as in my case, it was a bus

ver of that commitment, followed by the

ling all over London 24/7, were delighted with

ride up to the public baths in Prince of Wales

unpleasant task of expelling that driver over his

the assumption we had 2000 plus sales reps and

Road.

questionable personal hygiene and the filthy

came up with lots of ideas that would not only

Nowadays, like most things taken for granted

state of his cab. It was the absolute pits; you

generate new business, but put money and gifts

and particularly with the amenities in most

could hardly see him through the partition win-

into the pockets of those drivers that participat-

homes, they become unimportant and people’s

dow because of the grime while the front mats

ed. But typical cab driver apathy caused literally

preference is to look unkempt. Encouraged I

were riddled with lice. So yes Mr Connolly, you

every idea to fail. And to assume young members

might add by so called fashion such as designer

are not the first to accuse me with being the style

from our own circuit would be more successful

stubble, which is an excuse for not shaving, or

police. And as for waiting for TfL to implement a

than a reputable marketing company, why are

jeans with holes in the knees and covered in

dress code, it really shouldn’t be necessary, self-

they driving cabs?

mud which are just two reasons not to bother

respect and willingness to give the cab industry a

In the twenty odd years I’ve been on the

venturing into the bathroom for whatever rea-

better image by looking presentable should be

Board, the youngest Board member I’ve served

son, be that work or pleasure.

enough. When we refer our commitment to our

with lasted one year and a bit and it was during

Twenty odd years ago when I tried to convince

clients, it comes in many forms particularly when

the bit that he learnt something about being a

our members to raise their image in the fight

tendering for new business. When I was in Sales,

custodian of a Friendly Society that frightened

against private hire, one driver asked what differ-

the majority of tenders were from the big banks

the life out of him and he resigned immediately.

ence did it make whether he was suited and

and lawyers whose annual taxi expenditure was

Proving it’s easy to stand and be elected onto the

booted or wore a jock strap and flippers, provid-

in excess of a £1million. But this has changed in

Board by making crazy promises and then when

ing he arrived at the pick-up address on time. I

recent years and small companies with a taxi

they discover they are out of their depth, don’t

replied asking what about those drivers who

usage of just a few £thousands a month are now

bother standing for re-election. The danger with

putting their transport business out to tender.

that, as was often the case in the past, is that it

slept rough in the back of their cabs in the feed-

When I did those tenders, they used to run to 30

prompts criticism from major clients about our

er park at the flyers? How did these guys go

about their ablutions, if at all? Was being

pages with 12 questions on a page. Fortunately

lack of continuity and the amateur manner in

unshaven, unwashed and having unpleasant

in my day I was able to make tenders attractive by

which we ran our business.

including colourful artwork and graphics empha-

The Chairman and the current Board have

body odours permeating throughout the cab of

sising the size of our company, our control cen-

done remarkably well in changing that image

no consequence providing a punter had been

tre and our fleet size and so on. But that aside,

and it would be a tragedy if it ever reverted back

taken to where they wanted to go? All he said

when it came to the questions I was often forced

to the ways of old.

was: “So what, are they bovvered?”

to make my answers either ambiguous or be lib-

As for moving forward, I feel the power

Fast forward to the present day and wit-

eral with the truth. Such as the make-up of our

that private hire now have has had such a

ness the damage PH has done and continues

fleet in model and age.

dramatic effect on the market place, unlike at

to do to the trade. Has that changed?

Would all our drivers be presentably dressed,

any time in our history. I honestly believe,

Apparently not. And that is the issue that peo-

polite, courteous and helpful etc? Do our drivers

and this is only my opinion, that the only

ple such as Ian Connelly fail to grasp. What, I

have the ability to reject trips that they don’t find

solution to the future success of this society is

wonder, would T21’s attitude be if he hired a

financially attractive? Will an additional waiting

for it to demutualise.

taxi for a wedding and when it arrived at the

charge be added to a meter that is already charg-

church, an unshaven driver got out and

ing waiting time? Is a gratuity compulsory when

Allen Togwell

opened the door for the bride wearing a

string vest, shorts and flip flops. I imagine Mr

a driver turns up late or is rude? Why must a taxi

DaC Marketing

Call Sign September 2012

Page 14

ALPHA POWER PILL IS BACK!

If there is one question we get

order some was Dial-a-Cab Chairman Brian

Rice, who uses them in his diesel car. He

asked more than any other, it’s

ordered some via the website and received

what happened to the Alpha

the pills two days later.

Power Pills. These pills are

For those who have never used the pills,

they help to clear carbon that builds up in the

among the most amazing things

engine, with the result of better mpg. But far

we have ever tested with

more importantly, they help to cut emissions

numerous readers having used

and users of the pill can see the results in

their wing mirror as the smoke from the

them and telling Call Sign how

exhaust begins to clear.

happy they were with them.

We began testing in 2005 and by 2007 it

If you would like to order the Alpha

seemed that half the fleet were using them.

Power Pill, just go to OnlyCabs.co.uk and

The pills worked then just as they work now.

DaC’s Divyesh Ruparelia was one who used

click on the ‘Order Page’. Or you can

Power Pill regularly before it vanished

The biggest problem is getting hold of them!

phone your order to Stephen Vale at Only

However, Call Sign has traced another sup-

plier in Steve Vale and the first person to

Cabs on 020 3239 6101.

YES WE KNOW WE ASKED FOR MORE...

But we lied!!!

Last month, Call Sign published three photos under the heading of Are

Addison Lee passengers at risk? One photo showed a non-AL cab turning sharp

left from Duke Street Hill into Tooley Street and getting stuck on a post! The

driver who sent us the photo, Steve Sloane (C86), couldn’t understand how it

happened unless the minicab driver was looking at his satnav instead of the

road. We also published two photos showing an Addison Lee car turning round

inside Blackwall Tunnel! Why would he have been stupid enough to do that

unless he panicked after losing his signal?

Since then we have been inundated with AL cars involved in minor smacks, but

most of the qualities weren’t up to printing standard and weren’t too interesting.

But this one from Steve Bryant (Y41) showing an AL car going into a bus at the

Bow Church roundabout - with the police on the scenes - seems to be another

instance showing that cheap isn’t always good! But no more please! We get the

picture!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

THE TAXI DRIVER OF THE YEAR CHARITY FUND

MANGANESE DISCOVERS

Remembering those less fortunate than ourselves

40th Anniversary

BLACK HOLE!

Presents their annual Dinner and Dance

Saturday 1st December 2012

With most people aligning the expression black hole as being more likely

Holiday Inn Kensington Forum, 97 Cromwell Road, London SW7 4DN

to come from the recent US ‘Curiosity’ lander touching down on the

planet Mars than a taxi manufacturer, Manganese Bronze - parent

Tickets £62.50 include a 4 course meal and half a bottle of wine per person

company of the London Taxi Company - contradicted that view by

And of course dancing to a live band!

saying they have found a £3.9 million black hole in its accounts and that

With your kind support The Taxi Driver of the Year Charity Fund is able to make

this has caused an approximate one month delay in releasing their half-

substantial donations to the taxi trade charities.

year results. They now hope they will be released by 24 September.

Don’t be the one to miss this great night out. Come along and enjoy good food and great

In a statement, an LTC spokesperson said: “Due to a combination of

company. It will prove to be an enjoyable and memorable occasion for all...

system and procedural errors, a number of transactions relating to

Return to Russell Poluck MBE, Hon Chairman,

2010 and 2011 and some residual balances from the previous sys-

5 St Brides Avenue, Edgware Middx HA8 6BT

tem were not properly processed through the new IT system. The

RSVP by 1 November 2012

Dress Smart

cumulative effect of these errors is an estimated £3.9million

understatement of historical losses, which go back over several

Please make cheque payable to T.D.Y.C.F. (please print)

years although the work to apportion the loss between previous

years is not yet complete.”

Name:

Manganese Bronze, formed in 1899 but nothing to do with taxis back

Address:

then, is nowadays 20% owned by Chinese car maker Geely

Automobile Holdings and has now said that its balance sheet at

December 31 and the financial years for 2011 and prior years would

have to be restated as a result of the black hole.

Tel:

Mobile:

The statement added that trading in the first seven months of 2012 had

Email:

still been difficult and challenging and that it expects to report net losses

for the first half that would be substantially higher' than the correspond-

Number of tickets:

ing period last year.

Manganese Bronze said that as of the end of June, it had £2.8 million of

Dietary requirements:

Veg

Fish

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headroom on its agreed banking facilities and continued to have the

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order from Azerbaijan, their international side is still doing well...

Registered with the Charities Commission No: 1000761

Call Sign September 2012

Page 15

“I recognised him right away,”

Tony Powell (S67) told Call Sign,

ANYONE FOR DENIS???

referring to his encounter with

Denis Thatcher, the late hus-

recalled. “I stopped for him on the street

and we went to the Turf Club. On the way

band of Britain’s first woman

there, Albert sat on the tip-up seat behind

Prime Minister, Margaret

me and chatted away asking lots of ques-

Thatcher.

tions - many of a personal family nature but

“I had just set down at the Savoy Hotel and

which I was happy to answer. I also told

as I made the U-turn and came back up the

him I was hoping to move home soon.

Savoy service road towards the Strand, I saw

Looking over my shoulder, I noticed he was

him standing there bolt upright on the corner

writing down all my answers and generally

of the street. He was wearing a long black

scribbling into a small pocket notebook,

cloak held together with a gold clasp and

but I thought little of it.

chain. Standing a discreet distance behind

“Anyway, some five years later I picked

him, but close enough to respond quickly if

him up again and to my utter amazement as

need be, was his personal protection officer.

I wound down my window to take his des-

“Mr Thatcher obviously realised that I had

tination, he greeted me with a broad smile

recognised him and simply said: ‘Number 10

and said: ‘Hello Tony, how’s life in your

please driver!’ So off we went. I was turning

new house? How’s your son James?’

over in my mind where I should set them

“I was absolutely stunned and could only

down as we drove along Whitehall, but

imagine that he was bluffing. But Finney

on the approach to

said that to get to where he was in the act-

Downing Street I was

ing world took a tremendous amount of

told to pull right up to

hard work and the ability to remember

ony Powell. Inset pic: Denis

the gates, which I did

lines. He told me that to help himself he

Maggie Thatcher

very slowly. Deni

kept notes on everything - including on

dropped the windo

those he met.

and leant out so as to b

detective got out after him, he

“I mean,” said Tony ending, “we learn the

seen and the police of

turned to me and commented

Knowledge but to remember a 5-minute

cer swung the gate ope

on what a very smooth ride it

conversation from 5-years earlier certainly

“He asked me nicely

had been and the pair then

earned my respect!”

pull right up to the do

rapidly vanished through the

With that, Tony went to drive off but not

and that’s exactly wha

ad magically opened!”

before letting out the plaintive cry of where

did - right outside the big black door of num-

While on the subject, Tony told of another

did he put his keys...!!!

ber 10. Not many people get to do that,” Tony

‘celeb’ he had picked up and it was a rather

said with a look approaching pride!

strange tale.

“Denis paid me off with cash and as his

“It was actor Albert Finney,” Tony

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Call Sign September 2012

Page 16

As the aged Fairway taxi rumbled into the

Roman Way depot to be stripped of its Dial-a-

Cab equipment before going to that big taxi

rank in the sky - courtesy of the Mayor’s 15

Goodbye old friend...

year rule - the first thing Call Sign’s snitch

his Fairway’s seat: “Celebs were very prevalent

noticed was the original ‘CCC’ logo on the

when we had the BBC account at Shepherds

windshield.

Bush. Dame Shirley Bassey and Sir Terry

“Yes, and I’d like to keep it as a memento,”

Wogan, come readily to mind, but there was

the Fairway’s owner Don Leppard (A89)

one fare I recall with particular clarity,” Don

requested to the technician. “I’ve had this cab a

whispered almost rhetorically knowing that

very long time and we’ve covered close to half

we’d ask who it was...

a million miles together. But the time has

“I was going south along Park Lane when a

come…” His voice tailed off with a sad lilt.

hand went out and so I stopped. It was the

“It’s been a good cab and it owes me noth-

Greek singer Demis Roussos. His Rolls Royce

ing. Everything is pretty much original except

had broken down and he needed to get to the

for the obvious consumable things and regular

Inn on the Park hotel - now the Four Seasons.

maintenance.”

Don bids his trusty Fairway and its

Anyway, besides having a magical voice, he was

Continuing his story almost as though his

original ccc sticker goodbye as a

also somewhat on the very large side and as he

Fairway were a family member, Don said:

licensed taxi

got into the cab, it went right down on the

“When I got my Green Badge, friends told

springs! We gently travelled the short distance

me to join a radio circuit and all agreed that

that Jack Taylor bellowed to someone in the

with my cab chugging along in a very lopsided

‘Lords’ - as we were then - was by far the best

back office ‘get him fitted up, he’s driving me

manner and me struggling to keep it in a

with lots of big City accounts and generally very

nuts!’ And that’s how I joined!”

straight line! Cabs were passing me and staring

busy all over London. So I went round to

So was he retiring? “Oh no, I’ve been very

at the way we were tilted!”

Shirland Road in Maida Vale, which is where

happy here over the years, which is why I am

Don briefly laughed at the memory before

we were based in those days, but was unsuc-

going to be replacing this old lady for some-

remembering why he was at Roman Way. Yet

cessful in joining at the time as there was a long

thing more modern and will continue cabbing.

another Fairway - the taxi that many call the

waiting list. But I kept going back every week

I don’t feel like retiring just yet,” he added.

true icon of the trade - was being laid to rest...

or so until they were so sick of the sight of me

Letting his mind wander back, Don told us

turning up on the doorstep at regular intervals,

about some of the celebrities who had sat on

Book review *** Book review ***Book review ***

BELFAST TAXI:

A drive through history, one fare at a time

Most people of an age that could be advancing quicker than they’d like, might still associate Belfast

with the IRA and Catholic / Protestant ongoing battles. But that is in the past, with Northern Ireland

now getting more publicity as a tourist destination!

But one group of people were there both then and now - Belfast’s taxi drivers in their familiar

London style black cabs. It’s said that Belfast's taxi drivers keep a close eye on the city and its peoples

with no small number having been involved in the conflict on both sides. And of course, taxi drivers -

whether at Dial-a-Cab in London, Glasgow Taxis or running around on the streets of Belfast - see

and watch life and history unfold through their rear-view mirrors. And they rarely forget anything

worth retelling...

Belfast Taxi: A drive through history, one fare at a time (Lee Henry, published by The

Blackstaff Press on 27 September) is exactly like that, a fascinating look at their city through the eyes

of Belfast cabbies. In a collection of eye-opening, moving and often shocking interviews with taxi dri-

vers of all ages and backgrounds - Catholic and Protestant, male and female, young and old - Lee

Henry helps reveal not just the personal pressures (and pleasures) of the Irish equivalent to what we

do, but in doing so gives a fascinating history of the city.

There’s Billy, the sociology graduate and Gerard, whose mother was the first female taxi company

owner in Belfast. Then there is classical music lover Gerry who prides himself on introducing Tchaikovsky to the drunken hoards fre-

quenting his taxi! Fionola is not only the only female driver in her depot, but she can beat any male at arm wrestling! All pretty normal

for cabbies and indeed in the July Call Sign there was an article about DaC driver Cliff Giffin (C55) who tries to calm harassed passen-

gers by turning up Classic FM.

But in Belfast, you have to dig a little deeper and many of the stories take a more sinister turn - drivers forced to dive for cover dur-

ing bombings and shootings as their press corps passengers jostled for position; hijackings; drivers who had had their taxis sequestered

by paramilitaries and used to transport arms or explosive devices into town; drivers murdered by the paramilitaries for no other reason

than they were either Catholic or Protestant.

Author Lee Henry was inspired to write Belfast Taxi after seeing photos of his grandfather, a taxi driver from the 1940s, and by conversa-

tions with some of the many taxi drivers he met as he travelled around the city. The book covers the origins of the taxi business in Belfast,

right through the era of the bloody troubles with taxi drivers working around the Falls and the Shankill Roads where you never knew

whether your passengers wanted to go to the local pub or was looking to kidnap you! The book takes the story up to the present day.

There is much sadness in Belfast Taxi but there is also a sense of fun with taxi drivers who obviously have giant personalities!

Definitely a recommended read - and not just for taxi drivers...

Dennis Latchett

Call Sign Online

Call Sign September 2012

Page 17

When DaC driver and fleet owner Peter Begley (K98) gave his view

of the Peugeot E7 taxi in our July issue, Cab Direct Marketing

Manager Donald Pow asked for space to respond (August). Now

Peter has come back with his answer to Donald - and a challenge...

Call Sign and the Peugeot E7

edge of the area. London’s taxis beat competi-

I am, as I have said, still open to be per-

tion from other top international destinations

suaded differently. I will set aside a full week in

including New York, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

which I will be happy to test an E7 provided by

Fact.

you exclusively. Obviously, I will not be able to

Your fact 6 of 7 suggests that in a survey of

ply for hire but can conduct all other aspects

Vito drivers, all expressed that given one

of my fleet business - travelling across London

Dear Donald,

wish

well you know exactly what you quot-

to visit my clients and suppliers, thus gaining a

You may be surprised to find that I agree that

ed: “If you could grant them one wish, it would

true opinion of your E7. I will then publish my

the London cab driver is tied down and could

be to have Mercedes’ axle put back the way it

findings in Call Sign (and any other magazine

benefit from a wider choice of vehicle in which

was originally intended to be. So we have hun-

of your choice). If your vehicle is good or even

to ply for hire. However let’s address a few of

dreds of cabbies driving around London with

better than you say it is, I will say so as it would

your remarks regarding my Call Sign article.

thousands of pounds worth of steering device

undoubtedly be in the interest of my col-

Firstly you ask who I am to tell others what

they neither want not need.” Really? Hundreds

leagues.

to do with their hard earned dough? Well at no

of them?

Just let me know the dates where you

point in the article did I instruct or advise

Let me state that each and every one of your

have a cab available and I will appraise

other drivers “what to do” As I stated in the

seven facts would take me no more than a

your E7 and will judge it on the following

article, it was just my opinion with no basis or

hare's breath to rebuff as they are without sub-

(in no particular order).

foundation, nothing more and nothing less,

stance and appear in print to be fanciful shots

1. Easy of entry for driver and passengers

just an honest appraisal of the vehicle as pre-

in the dark. I would not dare tell any London

including disabled passengers a member of

sented to me.

driver what he or she should or should not do

my family is disabled.

Prior to your response, I was asked by

for one simple reason - they are my Peers of

2. Driver and passenger comfort in town

the Editor if I would give my blessing to

equal qualification. I am certainly no better

and on a run.

your right to reply - which I welcomed

than any one of them, but I hope equal to

3. Driver aids/controls.

with open arms, even suggesting that I may

them by our unifying world renowned and

4. Economy, power, braking.

have been a bit harsh, bearing in mind I

envied Knowledge of London. This is the stan-

5. Noise levels (to be measured by a decibel

had NOT driven your adapted vehicle.

dard my colleagues and I have all risen to,

meter).

Furthermore I asked Alan to enquire

which grants us the privilege to enjoy the right

6. Fit and trim.

whether I could have an extended test

to ply for hire in London in a vehicle that

drive, adding that if I found the E7 better

whether you like it or not, must meet the

I will also complete numerous three

than my original opinion, which followed

Conditions of Fitness currently enforced by TfL.

point turns to see if the current COF is

just half an hour of prodding, poking,

So it's really quite simple when it's comes

valid. I will also carry out any other tests

pulling and replacing switches suggested, I

down to it, at the crux of the matter is this:

you would like me to perform.

would be both honest and brave enough to

Your E7 vehicle does not meet the stan-

So there you have my offer, which I think is

put it in writing.

dards required to enter the London mar-

fair and reasonable, should you wish to take

I anticipated that my article would ruffle a

ket! Therefore, my opinion - which was

it up please let me know by return.

few feathers but hoped your retort would be

just that, ie my opinion - does not matter as

far more explanatory than it was. Here's why;

you are not allowed to play in our game.

Peter Begley (K98)

yes my article had humour scattered amongst

As a by-note, I did survey your version of the

its content of personal opinion as I did not

“adapted” Vito and found the fit and finish of

wish to convey a nasty bile-filled hatred to the

producer of this "adapted" vehicle, which may

the one currently licensed in London to be of

or may not be able offer an alternative to the

a much higher standard. I should add that the

current stock of licensed vehicles.

producers of the London licensed Vito are -

So I was somewhat bemused to find your

again in my opinion - at best poor and I do not

article replied on ‘seven facts’, which have lit-

hold their service in high regard. But the Vito

tle or no supporting evidence. At no point

they produce excels in all areas but one - the

does your list of these ‘seven facts’ offer a body

rear wheel steering. So please tell me that you

from which the ‘seven facts’ are drawn. The

are looking into producing a better Vito that

Oxford Dictionaries

(available free online)

complies with COF than the one currently

define a fact as something that is known or

offered to London drivers by Eco City. That

proved to be true - information used as evi-

being the case, you will find a true ally in me

dence or as part of a report of a news article.

who will sing your praises loud and clear.

• Roadside repair

It goes on to describe fact as something used

As a footnote, I personally stayed away from

• Roadside assistance

to emphasise the truth of an assertion, espe-

LTI - now LTC - for quite some time, but

• Running repair recovery

cially one opposite to what might have been

returned to find a very different attitude. I am

expected or what had been asserted. So here

impressed with both the vehicle and staff,

• Accident recovery

are a few facts about me and mine: We stand

although I concede the current TX4 is a work

• Pay as you go to membership

alone as self-employed men and women,

in progress. That said, LTC's vehicle is purpose

• Credit card taken at roadside

trained to the highest standard in the world -

built, whereas yours is not.

that is a commonly held fact. The world’s best

You also make the point about LTI and

taxis: London’s iconic black cabs were rated

China, so please explain how buying a French

the best in the world for the fourth year run-

based vehicle, with all its worry about the

0845 094 5307

ning in a Hotel.com survey (Call Sign Oct

Euro, is better than being the partner of a

We make wheels turn

2011). London was placed top in five out of

Chinese business - one of the world’s emerg-

the seven categories including safety, friendli-

ing super powers with money to invest in the

so you can earn.

ness, cleanliness, quality of driving and knowl-

world’s best?

Call Sign September 2012

Page 18

Recent issues of Call Sign told of Dial-a-Cab

DaC driver and boxing trainer Alec Wilkey on who’s fighting who...

driver / boxing trainer, Alec Wilkey (W83)

and his latest protégée from Athens, unde-

feated female boxer Areti Mastrodouka. But

DANNY CONNOR CHASES

Alec doesn’t just train Areti at the well-known

TKO Gym under Jonny Eames managership

in Canning Town.

Another of Alec’s successful fighters is

SECOND TITLE!

Danny ‘Cassius’ Connor who has been

given the chance to capture his second pro-

Edison Miranda for the

fessional title in successive fights after being

vacant WBC International

matched against unbeaten Chris Evangelou

light-heavyweight

title,

for the vacant Southern Area light-welter-

while Erick Ochieng fea-

weight title. It takes place on September 8 on

tures against Ryan Toms

Matchroom Sports London Calling show at

for

the

English

Alexandra Palace in which Darren Barker

Middleweight belt.

tops the bill making his UK return, with the

Lee Purdy, Wadi

action being called live on Sky Sports.

Camacho, Martin Ward,

26 year-old Connor is coming off the back

Ryan Taylor, Iain Weaver

of a points win against Tyler Goodjohn for

and John Ryder make up

the vacant Masters Welterweight Championship

the undercard. Boxing

in a brilliant top-of-the-bill fight at Bethnal

begins at 6 pm with tickets

Green’s York Hall in May and the TKO

for London Calling at York

trained fighter from Sutton is now looking to

Hall on Saturday

take his good form into the biggest fight of his

September priced at £40. If

career thus far. Connor got the decision by a

you are interested in buy-

point in his outing against Goodjohn over the

has been training hard for this bout and hon-

ing tickets for what looks to be a great night

ten rounds by using his jab and slick boxing

ing his skills at Jonny Eames’s TKO Gym

of boxing, contact Alec on 07944 791 360.

skills. Danny told Call Sign: “I stuck to the

under Alec Wilkey.

Alec Wilkey has 4 of his fighters climbing

game plan and got the win. That’s all that

Connor, who fought for Fitzroy Lodge and

through the ropes on Sunday 23 September

really matters. But as much as I've

Rosehill ABC as an amateur also spoke about

also at York Hall, with Scott Hartley making

achieved in my last few fights, I have to

his opponent for the title bout: “He’s a good

his professional debut after a solid amateur

give credit to my trainer Alec Wilkey.”

fighter, but I feel very confident going into

career and Eren Arif also featuring.

For the Southern Area Championship bout,

the fight. I’ve been working hard in the

Unbeaten

light-middleweight

Brett

Cassius is coming back down to light-welter-

gym with Alec and some good sparring

Callaghan makes his fourth outing whilst

weight but will be in for a tough test against

partners. I wouldn’t be going in there if I

Greek female Areti Mastrodouka continues

Enfield boxer Evangelou - also aged 26.

didn’t think I was going to win.”

her journey towards a world title shot. If you

Nicknamed The Flash, Evangelou has won all

This highly anticipated night of boxing also

are interested in purchasing tickets for an

his 9 pro bouts while Connor has won his last

features some other title fights and big names

afternoon of boxing, tickets are £35 and you

four. But this Southern Area title shot could

in boxing, with Darren Barker vying for the

can again contact Alec on the number above.

be just a stepping stone to bigger things for

IBF Inter-Continental Middleweight belt

L - R in the photo: Scott Hartley, Brett

the fighters, as former British champions Lee

against Simone Rotolo after coming back

O'Callaghan, Alec Wilkey, Danny Connor

Purdy and Colin Lynes both fought for the

from hip surgery following his loss to Sergio

and Eren Arif...

same title earlier on in their careers. Danny

Martinez. Liverpool’s Tony Bellew takes on

David Wilkey

Wembley All Stars win first FA Cup game

The August Call Sign revealed that Wembley Football Club - whose goalkeeper is Dial-a-Cab driver Lee Pearc

(J71) had, thanks to sponsors Budweiser, tempted six ex-international soccer legends to the club to see how far

the Combined Counties Premier league team could progress in the FA Cup! The six, who wouldn’t be playing in

league matches, were former Arsenal and England goalkeeper, David Seaman, ex-Arsenal and England midfielde

Ray Parlour, former Arsenal and England defender Martin Keown, ex-Chelsea, Blackburn, Southampton and

England defender/midfield player Graeme Le Saux, USA and Fulham’s prolific goalscorer Brian McBride and pos

sibly the biggest shock with the amazing signing of Argentinian world cup player Claudio Caniggia! When not

playing, the six would be there coaching the team, although David Seaman was just there to coach Lee Pearce

and wouldn’t be playing in the games. And by the way... the manager was former Spurs and England manager

Terry Venables!

The first cup game, in an extra preliminary round, took place at Wembley’s Vale Farm ground with Langford

FC being the visitors. For the first time ever, a match in that round was televised live (ESPN). The crowd was 10

times the usual number and the FA Cup itself was on show - closely watched by some burley security types!

The weather was hot - which wasn’t ideal for some of the Wembley celebs all being in their 40s, but they

started well when after 12 minutes Claudio Caniggia calmly clipped the ball over the advancing Langford goal-

keeper, Adam Harpur. It was all Wembley with Brian McBride going close on 20 minutes with a header. But

then in a rare attack, Langford levelled on the half hour mark. Dean Auburn surged through from midfield but

scuffed his shot which sailed harmlessly across the area only to see Ashley Fitton nip in to score. But within

two minutes Wembley were back in front, Daryl Atkins pace saw him race through the defence and shoot

neatly past Harper.

The second half saw a quick goal from Wembley when Claudio Caniggia sent a beautiful pass to Daryl

Atkins who shot from a sharp angle to beat the Langford goalkeeper. But the day was getting hotter and

some of Wembley’s new players may have been feeling it as Langford began coming into the game more until

on 55 minutes they pulled one back when Lewis Taylor latched onto a through ball and although there was

an excellent save by Lee Pearce, Taylor got the ball back and scored.

Ray Parlour was substituted by Terry Venables and Graeme Le Saux came off after picking up an injury.

Langford threw everything into attack to save the day with both Gregson and Taylor causing problems. The

duo created another chance for Lewis Taylor, but again Lee Pearce kept it out. But Wembley managed to hold on for a famous 3

- 2 victory and they now play Uxbridge in the next round.

Wembley’s captain and player manager for league games, Ian Bates, said that considering it was the players first game as a team, they had done really well.

Lee Pearce told Call Sign: “I thought the new players jelled in very well and especially as it had been so hot. Also, considering their vast experience com-

pared to us, they were all so nice and really encouraged us.”

Call Sign September 2012

Page 19

LOOKING AT (TAXI) LIFE

With Tom Quigley (Y33)

Brad the Mod v The Mayor!

are threatened to remove them or else.

Congratulations to Bradley Wiggins on winning

On London Transport - now TfL - the famous

the Tour the France and also his success in the

tube saying of Mind the Gap and the

Olympics. Unfortunately, the same day as win-

Underground sign itself are protected. If you

ning his gold medal, a cyclist was killed near the

walk along Oxford Street or Covent Garden to

Olympic Park. Bradley was asked for his opinion

buy a T-shirt with the Mind the Gap or

and in his usual calm manner emphasised his

Underground logo or any other similar merchan-

concern for better safety standards for cyclists,

dise, believe me there is a huge range from

including the compulsory wearing of helmets.

teapots to pencils to underwear thongs (that the

Mayor Boris Johnson, however, took a differ-

Editor would probably use as a catapult). You will

ent stance when asked about helmets being com-

find that shops and stallholders are not allowed

pulsory when hiring ‘his’ bikes, spouting off

to stock or sell them without a proper licence

unproven statistics regarding the benefits of

and that those do have them have to pay such a

wearing a helmet. As much as Boris rides a bike,

premium that generally they are the dearest

I would hazard my mortgage on the fact that

items in the shop!

Brad has more experience on the different roads

pulsory wearing of shin pads in football where

But it appears that the same actions are not

throughout London, having ridden his bikes

£millions are spent on kitting out kids who want

swiftly taken out on other areas of London

from Maida Vale to Herne Hill at the age of twelve

to look like their heroes.

Transport. It’s not unusual to see a PCO (or

to practice along with the millions of miles he

Furthermore, the need for Hi-Visibility cloth-

whatever they are called now) registered minicab

has covered since in his quest to become the

ing should be compulsory, the same as it is on

office using the Underground logo to endorse

number one cyclist in the world.

building sites and many other workplaces where

themselves. And even more disturbingly, there

When the ‘Sky’ team - Brad’s sponsors on the

insurance companies will not pay out if proper

now appears on the streets of London rickshaw

Tour - researched that after a series of crashes to

safety clothing is not worn. If you go to your local

companies using the logo with their name in the

both himself and other riders, what was the best

supermarket, the guys collecting trolleys all wear

middle! This is a gross flouting of the law, as first-

and safest way to get Brad into a position to win,

Hi-Vis clothing as they walk around so they can

ly they break the copyright laws and even worse,

they followed the format of Lance Armstrong (7

be seen by motorists. It’s also employer’s duty

to the unsuspecting tourist seeing the logo they

time-winner) who never crashed in those 7 wins.

under The Health and Safety at Work Act for them

will assume and believe that the rickshaw is legal,

With that information, I would expect Bradley to

to make sure they are worn.

insured and endorsed by TfL. In fact they would

know what he was talking about.

Surely Boris should take the same stance,

probably then assume that all rickshaws will

You could also perhaps arrive at an appar-

even offer cycle shops free HI-Vis jackets with

therefore be safe and legal.

ently obvious conclusion that if a tourist fam-

a Mayoral safety logo when people buy bikes.

It’s not that these logos cannot be noticed on

ily of four had to spend around £100 for hel-

At about £5 a jacket, that is cheaper than all

rickshaws, as anyone working nights will have

mets for a few hours bike use at the weekend,

the emergency costs and heartache and pain

seen them as they are often lit by neon lighting.

there would be a significant drop in revenue

endured by the families of victims and all

That then brings a further question: How are the

coming into Boris’s coffers?

those concerned following a cycle accident.

neon lights powered? Is it by large batteries and

I think Boris missed the whole point of the

do those batteries also power the vehicle?

Olympics when he ranted on about a legacy for

Underground rickshaws

Therefore they could be breaking Vehicle

our youth to emulate their idols - those same

Copyrights, trademarks, logos and exclusive

Registration and Motor Tax laws.

idols that are seen by millions of young kids as

rights are issued to protect the supplier, sponsor

This is the sort of apathy by the authorities

they ride bikes around the streets of London in

and public to ensure that what you are buying or

which leads to discontentment among we taxi

road races, triathlons and in the Velodrome,

using is up to a certain standard and safe. In the

drivers. We can see the dangers and risks, sadly

looking cool and unbeatable AND wearing hel-

middle of the Olympic Games where the might

TfL either do and turn a blind eye or don’t, there-

mets. If future generations wear them to copy

of the law is brought swiftly on anyone using the

by questioning their capabilities of running the

their idols, surely that would be a good thing, the

Five Rings logo, even local butchers or bakers

industry.

same as we all wear seat belts. Crash helmets on

who, getting into the spirit, display rolls, dough-

motorbikes are a must, as is the process the com-

nuts or black puddings with the Olympic logo on

Tom Quigley (Y33)

WCHCD Bravery Award

Do you know someone who deserves it?

Frederick Hitch VC (1856 - 1913) was a taxi driver born in the days of horse-drawn hackney carriages, but

that isn’t what he was best known for. It was his amazing bravery on 22/23 January 1879, when at the age of

22 he was one of just a few soldiers at the Battle of Rorke’s Drift who fought off the huge numbers of

Zulu warriors to allow wounded soldiers to get out of the hospital they had set up. Thanks to Fred and

Corporal William Allen, all the patients escaped. However, both soldiers were badly wounded and had to

leave the army.

When he died in 1913, Fred’s bravery was remembered with a blue plaque placed outside his home in

Chiswick and he was buried in St Nicholas’ churchyard, Chiswick, with full military honours. In an moving act

of remembrance, some 25 years ago members of the London taxi trade paid to have his grave renovated.

Each year the Worshipful Company of Hackney Carriage Drivers present awards and although

the Bravery Award is not given every single year, it is given in the name of Fred Hitch - The Hitch

Award.

In past years, it has been awarded to a taxi driver who rescued people from a burning building, another

who pulled a passenger (and his luggage!) from a cab that was on fire and a taxi driver who leapt into a

moving vehicle to bring it to a halt after the driver had a heart attack.

If you know of any driver who has acted with bravery, you can nominate them for the award.

You don’t need to be WCHCD member to nominate or receive the award. Just contact any mem-

ber of the Awards committee or the Clerk, Mary Whitworth on 0149 - 476 5922.

Call Sign September 2012

Page 20

Just for a change, I thought I’d try to look back

over the past 40 years or so that I have been on

Dial-a-Cab. Doing that does tend to remind one

The untold History

how old you are, but at least I’m still years behind

long serving members Bill Tyzack (C06) and

Ivor Belkin (C97)!

of Dial-a-Cab...

I joined the circuit when it was in a little shop

at 144 Shirland Road; it had the control room in

Bits you may not know about as remembered by Tom Whitbread

the basement with the administration and drivers

pay-out counter on the ground floor. On the first

floor was the Boardroom, whilst on the second

Tales of the night shift...

floor was where Phil Emden printed the handout

The night telephonist supervisor was a very nice

newsletter News ‘n Views that he produced on a

lady who went by the name of Ann Hughes. She

hand-cranked Xerox printing machine. Later on

was with us through the change to Brunswick

they made a workshop on the top floor where for-

Place, completing some 30 years and only retiring

mer Motorola employee Peter Thurston could

due to contracting an illness. Other well-known

repair radios.

notable telephonists were Barbara Assenhiem,

I was K26, while as a point of interest another

whose father Joe was one of the founder drivers

young driver joined at the same time as me. He

of Lords radio taxis (the name Dial-a-Cab was

was a blond headed guy named Brian Rice

known as then) and the man who thought up our

(K16). I often wonder where he ended up!

nickname of the Gentleman’s Circuit.. Hazel

The Board was run by Chairman Martin

Goldberg was the daytime telephonist supervisor

Gellman. On it were Aubrey Siteman, Jack

and woe betide any driver who crossed her. Very

Taylor, Phil Emden, Phil Messias, Peter

often when she did Saturday night overtime with

Fennymore, Micky Gee and Kenny Burns.

me, she’d give me a right hander and knock me

Board Meetings were once a month and could

clean off the chair. This was Lee Morland’s first

sometimes run into two days due to there being

Mother-in-Law, no wonder he took up boxing!

wanted to see how the control room worked so I

much repeating of subjects. If a new member

Lee is DaC’s current daytime despatching super-

had a talk with Micky Gee, who was the Board

came onto the Board, it was hopeless for them to

visor.

Member in charge of the evening and night shift.

propose any changes, as new BMs would always

At this time, Aubrey Siteman was the Treasurer

He invited me down to have a go on the phones

get voted down by the older members. It was as

and to say he tried to lower company spending

and to see how it worked, then to try despatching

though they did not want change or they wanted

would be an understatement. The builders he

under the eye of an experienced despatcher. In

to keep these new upstarts down and in their

used to do work came in wearing Stetsons, jeans

those days with my mate Aubrey Siteman, you did

place. So if a new member wanted to get anything

and spurs! These people always worked through

not get paid whilst you were learning.

approved at a Board Meeting, he would corner an

the night because of restricted space with the

About this time, I bought one of the first

older member to propose it as his idea and it

number of telephonists employed on the day

carmine red taxis that Londoners had ever seen;

would be passed immediately.

shift. I would sit there trying to allocate work with

not actually a good choice because as I drove

I did nights from the moment I started driving

bits of plaster and dust covering me and as I used

down the road punters would look at you and

a taxi, going out with my smash bag which was

to always wear a suit, you can imagine I was

then hail the black taxi behind! One day as I was

mainly full of old pennies, threepenny and six-

annoyed. One night, halfway down the stairs lead-

driving this taxi along Prince Albert Road into the

penny pieces. The despatcher on nights was a

ing to the basement control room, one of the

roundabout at Park Road while heading towards

great character called Johnny Thwaites; he had

cowboys decided to hammer a nail in the wall. Of

our Maida Vale office, a man ran out into the road.

never been a cab driver but travelled all over

course he hadn’t checked and it went straight

He was wearing the light beige mackintosh that

London on the top deck of a bus remembering

through the water pipe. This flooded the control

you associated with spies! It had epaulettes,

streets, building and all the pubs. If when

room and we had to go into the back garden to

leather buttons and little belts with buckles at the

despatching he was unsure of who was the near-

wrists. I called through the open luggage door

get bricks to lift the telephonist’s chairs as no one

est cab, he would call two taxis and say they were

window that I was not for hire, but he continued

had any wellington boots. If ever these men were

equal and that he would spin a coin. In reality, he

running alongside the cab into St Johns Wood

needed to do any painting, you’d swear that they

would then proceed to make a noise using his

Road. Thinking he was a fair old runner and I

did it with their eyes shut!

metal lighter and not a coin. One night while

would not get rid of him, I put the brakes on to

The man in charge of the control room during

doing that, he threw up the lighter but missed it

explain again that I was not working. It was only

the day was a very quietly spoken man, Charlie

coming down and it smashed the glass which was

then that the red faced and totally knackered run-

Rubin. He was a real diamond of a fellow, very

used to protect the map!

ner explained that my door handle had gone

rarely losing his temper or getting worked up. I

through his wrist belt loop and I was dragging

know, as I would often pull jokes on him. One

Account or cash?

him along! After that experience he was well in

morning - the date just happened to be 1 April - I

At that time there was never a shortage of account

need of a taxi!

decided to put out a message, remembering that

work and they usually called a job once and then

After a short while I became quite accom-

this was in the days of voice despatch. I told dri-

just put it to the side hoping a driver would

plished at despatching and was talking to Mickey

vers that the Board were thinking of opening the

remember it and eventually get it covered! This

Gee about the number of scrubs we had. It could

front office for driver’s payments throughout the

was at a time when we had the BBC and many

be as high as 300 on a night shift (11:30pm to

night and that they were looking for driver’s com-

large banks and money houses as well as stars of

8am). It was then that Mickey asked me if I

ments as to whether they thought it was a good

TV and films.

thought I could do better! I said yes and he just

idea. I also said that any driver interested should

These included Vincent Price of horror movie

replied:

“Well do it! You are now the Night

phone Charlie Rubin during the morning before

fame, Dandy Nichols, the Silly Moo wife from Till

Despatcher!”

12 midday - that should have been the clue! At

Death us do Part, Charles Gray (Blofeld in the

At that time, Johnny Thwaites had just died. I

1pm, my wife woke me up to say the office was on

Bond films), Terry Thomas, the upper class twit

still miss him. I often picked him up from his

the line; it was a driver who said that Charlie had

from stage and films and many other celebrities.

home at Canonbury Court to take him into work.

told him to phone me at home as he was inun-

Drivers in those days used to ignore account

Despatchers used to tell drivers who didn’t know

dated and could not handle any more calls. When

work if there was plenty of cash work around; on

Johnny and who were picking him up that they

I saw Charlie the next morning, we both burst out

a Saturday night if you were coming in from the

would easily recognise him: “A really dapper man,

laughing when he said that over 100 drivers had

west you would not get past Harvey Nicholls

suited and booted with a copy of The Times

phoned him. So I must have been good at con-

before you got flagged down. It was because of

under his arm!” In fact Johnny was about 5ft 2ins,

vincing drivers what they should do!

this attitude towards account work, only doing it

very slim with a limp and usually in a suit wearing

On another occasion, Harry Griver, a driver

if no cash work was about, that Welbeck Motors,

his trilby hat.

who trained young boxers at a gym in Colvestone

the first minicabs, got a foothold in the door with

Due to me saying how good I thought I was

Crescent, Dalston, came out of the Shirland Road

their Renault Dauphines. You all know the con-

at improving the work levels, I had now put

office and got into an argument with a tall fellow

tinuation of that story...

myself in to the position of night despatcher

After I’d been on the circuit for a few years, I

for the next eight years...

continued next page

Call Sign September 2012

Page 21

Last month’s Call Sign included the story of a

Freedom of Information request to TfL asking why

the Limehouse Link maintenance, which of late

had helped traffic by moving from a 10pm start to

Now that’s what we call

midnight, was once again commencing at 10pm.

The driver requesting the information was John

Addis (K97) and the answer not only stunned

a contract...part 2

him, but the many drivers who called this maga-

zine to enquire whether the story was true. But

...and one for the Plain English Society

this definitely wasn’t an April 1 issue!

That TfL response told John that the Design

essential maintenance requirements it became

Build Finance Operate contract had been awarded

necessary to have additional closures to the

to Road Management Services (A13) plc by the

planned maintenance closures and also take

Secretary of State on 12 April 2000 and that in

advantage of closures for events such as the

March 2001 it had been extended to include

London Marathon by extending the normal closure

Docklands roads and the Limehouse Link tunnel.

period for those events.

As John told Call Sign, that seemed to mean that

Following the start time reverting to 22.00hrs

RMS (A13) could do as they liked until the year

early this year RMS have increased their resources

2030, including the extension of hours they car-

in order to recover the backlog of maintenance

ried out routine maintenance that they had

and repair/replacement items of work. Over the last

already shown they could do in two hours less

few months there have generally been between 60

each day.

and 90 operatives in the tunnel during the closures.

So John wrote again to TfL saying he was flab-

Obviously more complicated than we

TfL consider that the optimum time for carrying

bergasted at the length of contract awarded to

thought!

out maintenance works to the tunnel, especially in

RMS (A13) plc and asked why the company had

into consideration the period of time necessary for

view of its length, is between 22.00hours and

reverted to

10pm Limehouse Link closures

installing/removing traffic management and also

06.00hours. Any shorter, then an additional night

instead of midnight? He queried whether it was so

for the safety drive through, this reduces the avail-

would be required and the work becomes signifi-

that RMS could employ and pay for a smaller

able time for work each night to 4 to 4.5 hours

cantly less efficient, any longer then more disrup-

workforce at the expense of everyone else that

maximum, equivalent to a 30% reduction. On

tion would be caused to the network. It is necessary

lives and works in the surrounding areas? That

considering other elements of downtime such as

to carry out the work on a regular basis in order to

especially applied to the companies serviced by

plant start-up and travel, comfort breaks etc, the

mitigate unnecessary equipment failures resulting

Dial-a-Cab at Canary Wharf and its surrounds.

work period of 4hours reduces further and is sig-

in unplanned tunnel closures possibly at inconve-

John received a reply from TfL that could well

nificantly less efficient than the normal 6 hour

nient times to the public, but unfortunately what-

make the Plain English Society - who campaign

work period.

ever time is chosen there will always be an effect on

against people / organisations that use ten words

During this period, the Concession Company,

travelling public. All we can do is to choose a time

where one would do - sit back in wonderment!

RMS, was unable to complete all the maintenance

that will be the least disruptive to the travelling pub-

That response is below, but is as useful as an ice

activities normally required during the mainte-

lic yet still provide the contractor a work duration

cream parlour on an Arctic ice flow! It reads...

nance closures. Although essential maintenance

that is workable and not unduly inefficient.

Dear Mr Addis

was able to continue, items such as preventative

I thank you once again for your correspondence

As you have stated, the start time for the mainte-

maintenance and replacement of accidented wall

and hope that the above is of interest to you. If there

nance closures for Limehouse Link Tunnel was

panels were curtailed and some routine mainte-

is any other matter which I can assist you with

changed from 22.00hrs to midnight during the

nance items were carried out less frequently than

please do not hesitate to contact me.

period when the Blackwall Tunnel was being refur-

the optimum. In addition, replacement of plant

Thanks TfL, I think we know enough!!!

bished. The overall period of closure therefore

and improvement schemes planned for this tunnel

Ron Yarborough

reduced from 8 hours to 6 hours, but when taking

were put on hold. In order to keep pace with just

Call Sign Online

THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF DIAL-A-CAB (CONTINUED)

regarding parking. Harry was only about 5 foot

videos to the staff and drivers. Next he set about

letes, what I said was that they have to rely main-

1inch in his leather shoes, so Charlie Rubin -

looking for a partner and talked Aubrey Siteman

ly on charity as our Government does not allo-

thinking that Harry was going to get a good hid-

into joining him. Needless to say the enterprise

cate enough money to give them the profession-

ing - rushed up to help him but came back just

went belly up and if I remember correctly, so did

al training and facilities to get them to really

as quick with a beautiful black eye. Harry ended

Aubrey’s money! John went on to marry a dri-

excel. Yet for every Gold medal we achieved,

up giving the bloke a slap!

ver’s sister. He died some time later of a termi-

another MP crawled out of the woodwork to

Another driver who was a bit of a character

nal illness.

gain media coverage off the backs of the athletes!

was Sid Gold; he dabbled in selling radios and

Some more memories in another issue...

There were a few other inaccuracies on

TVs and was a bit of a Del Boy entrepreneur.

Colin’s side; I have never worked at our new

Another driver and former Board member, Peter

And 2012...

East Road office so I do not have a cosy desk. I

Speroni, who was leaving the office, had

In the August Call Sign, a driver vented his anger

write my articles at home whilst not being paid

ordered a taxi to take him home to East London.

at my article in the July issue regarding the

an hourly-rate by Dial-a-Cab. Yes, I do go to Asda

After a delay and no takers for the job, Sid

Olympics. The Editor did not mention to me

at Leytonstone who are now promoting our

offered a time and duly turned up at the office to

that this letter had arrived and that he was

Charity, Dial-a-Dream, which realises dreams

complete the journey.

putting it in Mailshot. This meant that I didn’t get

for terminally ill children. So if you go there for

When Peter opened the back door to get in

the opportunity to reply while the article was

your shopping, at the checkout you can collect

the taxi, he found it full of boxes containing

still fresh. I know that the Editor likes Allen

your green disc and in the entrance put it into

radios, televisions and other electrical items. Sid

Togwell’s and my articles because they often

the Dial-a-Dream box. Then if we win, the

apologised and asked Peter if he could sit in the

generate responses and help fill up the letters

money goes straight to the children.

luggage compartment on a small box!

pages. I think I am just leading Allen in the num-

Fact number two; I have been teetotal for the

At the destination Sid told Peter how much he

ber of letters!

past 8 years as any full time Board Member will

had on the clock, to which Peter went red faced

So in a quick reply to Colin Vincent’s (V62)

tell you if you visit the office. So you see I read

and nearly exploded. “I’ve been sitting on an

comments: I accept that we go under the

what people say fully before replying and as far

‘effing box in the luggage compartment, you

umbrella of Great Britain and yes, I do not like

as trying to cheer me up, I have been married 44

must be joking!” Sid just sat stoney-faced: “Well I

Seb Coe - it’s his attitude of talking down to

years and I support Arsenal so I am entitled to

got you home, didn’t I?” That was followed by a

people. But if Colin had read in depth what I’d

look sad...

Sid grin!

said, then I stand fully behind our athletes and

The Company Secretary at the time was John

was delighted to see how many medals of vari-

Tom Whitbread

Bernardout. As a side line he started to rent out

ous colours they won. I am proud of our ath-

DaC Board Member

Call Sign September 2012

Page 22

We at Call Sign aren’t too sure why the article

on London taxi driver Phil Hewson - more

commonly known in the cab trade as Loz -

Loz: “It’s definitely

had quite the number of readers that it did in

our last issue, so we have to assume that there

are a lot of you currently interested in your

health and well-being.

keep fit!”

How do we know so many read it? Well the

magazine reached most of you on July 31 and

If you are overweight and feel shy or

from that morning until the following

embarrassed about joining Loz’s class,

evening, our phone never stopped ringing

then don’t be. There are no targets and def-

asking whether we knew that there had been

initely no ‘peer pressure’. In fact it is a very

a typo in the article? As for the DaC staff, it was

friendly atmosphere.

as though they couldn’t wait to tell me! You

Loz’s classes are held on Mondays,

would have thought we had threatened some-

Wednesdays and Fridays, all starting at 1.15.

thing sensational rather than accidentally

write about the Loz as a purveyor of Keep Tit

The added bonus is the price at just £5 per

rather than one of Keep Fit! Yep, we said it

session. You can attend as many or few times

again!

as you like to suit your work patterns and fit-

It was Dial-a-Cab’s Paul Taylor

(M01)

ness levels, so if you are a beginner and you

who reminded us about Phil the Loz. Phil

only fancy once a week, then that’s fine. You

has been running keep fit classes for taxi

only have to pay for the sessions you attend

drivers for over 30 years - the last fifteen

and if you don’t attend, then you don’t pay.

of them at the John Orwell Sports Centre

There are no membership fees or contracts,

in Tench Street, Wapping. Paul told us:

but there is ample free parking so you don’t

“If you are thinking of trying to shed a few

feel rest assured that you will get a thorough

have to watch out for wardens! £5 is excellent

pounds and need to get fit after all those years

but safe workout, because you are able to

value for money, but first-timers enjoy a

stuck behind the wheel or even if you are

work at the pace that suits your level of fitness.

week’s free trial from the Loz!”

already fit but need to find a new class, then

The workout starts from a free standing

The Loz’s keep fit classes are held every

this will be the one for you. Phil’s classes are

position (there are no apparatus), consisting

Monday, Wednesday and Friday beginning

suitable for all ages and all levels of fitness

of exercises ranging from aerobics, muscular

at l.15 at the John Orwell Sports Centre,

abilities, regardless of your current fitness sta-

strength

and stamina, reaching every body

Tench Street, Wapping... and it’s definitely

tus. From the very fit to the very fat, you can

part including those all-important lungs!

JUST keep fit

LONDON CALLING

London called the rest of the world to come and

monger and even a few charity shops plus plenty of tra-

join us. It took seven years to plan with a cost of

ditional pubs. Those traditional pubs have now become

over £10 billion, but the Olympics finally arrived

gastro pubs where the cauliflower cheese has been cat-

back in the capital after 64 years. Instead of Hey

apulted into nouvelle cuisine status by adding the word

Jude, perhaps Paul McCartney should have closed

soufflé - ok, you also get a dash of white wine! This

the opening ceremony with when I’m 64!

dish, if washed down with a pint of real ale from an

No doubt those Olympic visitors who came will

independent brewer will see little change from twenty

have returned to their homes moaning about how

quid. There are still places left that offer reasonable

expensive our capital was, with coffee shops in

prices, but you need to know where to go and they are

Holiday Inn style hotels charging £2.05 for a cup of

dwindling at an alarming rate.

tea, £3.45 for a cappuccino and sandwiches start-

London's village areas now also boast farmers' mar-

ing at £4.50! As a London taxi driver, we are often

kets. Yes, word on the streets is that a big shipment is

told by passengers how very expensive London is,

coming in and we're all going to get happy! They’re

but it doesn’t seem to stop people flooding in. It's

selling organic cauliflowers for £5 each! My son says

mainly the wealthy that stay on, because London is now firmly

London can still be good value, but knowing where to go is the key.

entrenched as a rich man's city. OK, so you won't starve in London

You can be ripped off far too easily. However, speaking of good value,

even if you haven't a brass farthing! Many of the sandwich shops and

London's taxis are still that when five people can travel in the back of

patisseries give their food away to charity or reduce prices if not sold

the world’s best taxis for the price of one. Now that’s value...

on the day. But just look at the queues forming before

closing time, I

know because I am standing at the end of one!

David Heath (Ex-W27)

But undoubtedly the gap is indeed wider than ever between the

well-off and the poor; ironic when you consider we had a Labour gov-

ernment for fifteen years! The discrepancy between wages and house

prices is of Everest proportions. Once upon a time, buying a house in

Keith Reading

London was achievable for a decent wage earner. No chance now

Professional Toastmaster

unless you are a banker, lawyer or stockbroker.

Master of Ceremonies

The areas attracting the well-heeled with disposable incomes are

London's villages: Hampstead, Highgate and Wimbledon etc. One of

the most sought after is Marylebone because of its prime location. The

Tele: 01279 465 938

Howard de Walden estate with its portfolio of properties standing at

Mobile: 07774 860 374

£1.8billion has been instrumental in raising the profile of this area,

Email: kgr.2@virgin.net

bringing in top-class retailers such as Waitrose, Conran and quality

independent shops and posh patisseries. This has now given

10% discount for DaC drivers and staff

Marylebone High Street an almost chi-chi Knightsbridge style as we see

more Arab shoppers coming down from the Edgware Road overspill!

Fellow of the Guild of

How things have changed. Back in the seventies and eighties that

Professional Toastmasters

high street was a friendly, quiet backwater with a butcher, baker, fish-

Call Sign September 2012

Page 23

In a month where three new vehicles that

will abide by the Conditions of Fitness have

been touted as soon being ready to enter the

licensed taxi business

(Metrocab Electric,

TAXIS, TAXIS

Nissan NV200 and Intelligent Energy’s

TX4H), as well as one which doesn’t

although currently on sale throughout the rest

of the UK as a taxi (Allied Vehicles E7), there

has been some confusion as to which of the

currently available two - Mercedes Vito and

EVERYWHERE!

the London Taxi Company’s TX4 - actually

sells the most vehicles.

No sooner had news broke that Nissan’s

I’ve heard of ‘it’s rain-

NV200 could happen in

2013, than

ing men’ but raining

Mercedes issued a press release claiming to

new cabs???

be the only Euro five taxi available in

London. They had earlier claimed to be tak-

that.

ing 40% of the London market - that figure

When the three new cabs

courtesy of the finance deal they intro-

finally appear

- and Call

duced earlier this year.

Sign’s experience suggests

LTC would obviously argue that the Vito

that pre-publicity is some

claim is untrue, as the latest TX4 is also Euro

way from actually seeing the

five and they also now have a deal where you

actual vehicle - we have to

pay £135 a month with a £2k deposit and drive

wonder how the total num-

away a new Euro five TX4.

ber of London sales will be

The latest figures seen by Call Sign sug-

able to justify so many dif-

gest that LTC have clawed back a large per-

ferent vehicles?

centage of new cab sales courtesy of their

Some would say a situa-

new deal. June sales certainly showed the

Vito as having their best month in compar-

tion such as that could help

ison to total London sales. Although just 88

drive prices down, but look-

taxis were registered as having been sold,

ing logically, a higher proba-

35 were Vitos and that represents 40% of

bility is that some could

the total - the company’s best performance

come and then go - leaving

so far as a direct comparison is concerned.

drivers with taxis they can’t

However, July sales told a slightly different

sell - a situation that diesel

story. Total sales shot up by over 50% to a total

Metrocab owners found

of 135 new taxis, but this time it was LTC who

themselves in when the

captured the lion’s share selling

105 cabs

company folded in May

(78%) as against the Vito’s 30 (22%). Although

2006.

their advertising campaign hadn’t yet got into

Certainly, taking the situa-

full swing, we suspect that those enquiring

tion as it seems, London will

about a TX4 were offered the new deal and

soon see taxis, taxis every-

their increased figures probably represents

where!

Former Dial-a-Cab driver, Bob Woodford, writes a regular column for Call Sign from his home in

Languedoc, France and his taxi somewhere in London…

CALL SIGN EN LA BELLE FRANCE

The benefits of driving a car during the

Bob and Brian

Hyundai in an empty Games Lane - no VIP - just

Games - ORN use and free tickets!

With (Y84)

me getting a clear run all the way from the

I know the Olympics did not go down too well

and their

Dorchester Hotel to the A2, no traffic in front or

for most cabbies and I had an idea that would

Olympic tick-

behind but a solid line of stationary vehicles on

be the case, certainly for day men.

ets - all part

the inside lane.

The Games Lanes embargo was always going

of their

At a rare red light on Victoria Embankment, a

to be contentious, but when Boris announced

driving job

Dial-a-Cab subscriber that I recognised caught

that day travel cards were to be issued free with

sight of me, extended his right arm and shook his

of 170 odd dri-

any lucky ticket purchasers via the ballot, then

wrist in disgust. I had to laugh at the sheer stu-

vers was made

that was all it needed to tell drivers that pushing

pidity of it all!

up of

a cab around while the ‘greatest show on earth’

Knowledge

was taking place in E20, was going to be a

Joe Skeggs

boys or Yellow

struggle!

I would like to record my feeling of sadness to

Badge drivers -

Within days of the travel card announcement,

hear of the passing of Joe Skeggs. Joe and I

not too many

I happened to notice the ‘Drivers wanted during

were in a team of 7 that completed the New

of us ‘Greens’

Olympics’ feature in many of the cab trade

York Marathon in November 1994. Joe never

thought it was

papers including Call Sign and I thought to

really liked running much at first, but the man

worth a go then? However, there was at least one

myself why not, let’s see what this is about! I

had the heart of a lion and helped our team raise

DaC driver in Brian With (Y84) and we copped

ended up working for an American Hospitality

a healthy sum for the Children with Leukemia

all those Olympic tickets! My first day in the job -

Agency driving a mixture of BMW 7 Series,

charity.

I couldn’t really count going to the Olympic events

Mercedes Vito’s and Hyundai i800s - taking VIPs

I will never forget when Joe asked a Police

as part of the job, even though it was - found me

to events and finding tickets falling into my lap

Officer on 5th Avenue if he could spare a ‘fag’ -

sharing a changing room with veteran cab trade

for various events, including the opening cere-

Skeggsie very nearly got arrested!

scribe Al Fresco. And yes we both needed to

mony and the night Usain Bolt blitzed the

Rest in Peace Joe - Thanks for the memories...

change our uniformed trousers on account of our

200m Final. We also saw David Rudisha smash

rapidly increasing waistlines!

the 800m world record!

Bob Woodford (Ex-P49)

My abiding memory from this work experience?

I must say I was surprised that the workforce

Saint Genies de Fontedit, Languedoc, France

The sheer craziness of me driving home in my

Call Sign September 2012

Page 24

Dial-a-Cab has links with a London hospice

Wearing his LTFUC hat, DaC Board member Mike Son writes about a

that can never be removed from its history,

children’s hospice and tells Call Sign why he calls those he has met...

when for six years four DaC drivers virtually

ran the outpatients transport department

with their taxis at Hackney’s St Joseph’s

Hospice on a completely voluntary basis.

‘Special People’

Their exploits were published in Richard

Lamerton’s book East End Doc

(Lutterworth Press).

Now DaC Board member Mike Son tells

of a visit with the LTFUC

(London

Taxidrivers Fund for Underprivileged

Children) to a children’s hospice and the

effect it had on him.

“During one’s lifetime, you are lucky if

you meet just one person who has made an

unforgettable impression and discernible

difference to others. Well we at the LTFUC

were privileged to meet one such person.

Last year I, together with committee mem-

bers from the LTFUC and some special

needs children, were invited to Clarence

House to meet with our Patron Camilla,

Duchess of Cornwall during the Christmas

festivities. During the visit, we were intro-

duced to other

guests including Sister

Frances Dominica and her team, plus some

very unwell children from Helen & Douglas

House Children’s Hospice.

When you meet and speak with Sister

Frances Dominica, founder and Trustee

Members of the LTFUC at the hospice with Tom and Clare (on right)

of Helen & Douglas House, you know you

Edwards, Director of Clinical Services.

rank or waiting for a trip via the radio and

are in the presence of one of those

During our visit we offered some toys for

you feel you have been waiting for an eter-

‘Special People’.

the younger children, which we hope

nity, please just take a moment to think how

Helen House was the world's first chil-

they will enjoy.

lucky we are and to relish in our good for-

dren's hospice, opening in November 1982.

So what has all this got to do with taxi dri-

tune.

It sprang from the friendship between Sister

ving? The answer is absolutely nothing -

I’m not asking for anything other than

Frances Dominica and the parents of a seri-

other than fact I wanted to tell you about the

Dial-a-Cab drivers to give just an occa-

ously ill little girl called Helen who lived at

people we met at the hospice, the amazing

sional thought to those who dedicate

home with her family, but who required 24

dedication and cheerfulness they contribute

their lives to helping others and perhaps

hour care.

to the wellbeing of children with shortened

say to ourselves: There but for the grace

It is only natural that the parents of a

much-loved, but very ill child, would want to

life expectancies, the support given to the

of God, go I

”

parents that have to meet with adversity

care for them at home, but caring for your

Mike Son

child every day and night as well as looking

every day and the awful tragedy when a child

is taken.

DaC Special Projects

after the rest of your family and earning a liv-

ing, can be exhausting.

So the next time you are dwelling on a

Helen’s family’s experience highlighted

the need for respite care and support for

children with life-shortening conditions and

Dial-a-Cab Credit Union

so Helen House was set up to help families

cope by providing occasional respite care

modelled on that provided in the family

Ever needed money quickly but were anxious about

home - personalised and tailored to individ-

variable bank interest rates?

ual needs.

Well wonder no more! If you are a subscriber, journeyman or

The building was based on the family

member of staff at Dial-a-Cab, then you qualify to join the

home with just eight children's bedrooms, as

Dial-a-Cab Credit Union. Any member of your family residing

the small scale provided flexibility as well as

at your address also qualifies for membership!

affording the children and families who

stayed there, with sensitivity and dignity. The

Then if you are over 18, have been a member of the Credit Union for

emphasis is on making the most of life, what-

over 3 months and have established regular savings, you can borrow

ever the circumstances.

up to 3 times your total savings…

Two years after Helen House opened its

The cost?

doors, Douglas House started in 2004 as the

Just 1% per month on the outstanding balance (or APR of 12.7%).

world's first hospice specifically for young

Loans can be paid back early AND there can be an annual dividend on your shares.

adults between the ages of 16 and 35.

So it was that in August this year, the

The question is: Can you afford NOT to be in it…?

LTFUC were invited to Helen & Douglas

Call us on 020 7729 8171 or 020 7749 0585

House to meet with the staff and some of

the children. Unfortunately, Sister

Members of the Financial Ombudsman Service

Frances was away from the home - no

Member’s funds protected up to limit set by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme

DaC Credit Union Ltd, Peterley Business Centre, 472 Hackney Rd E2 9EQ

doubt trying to get more funding.

Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority

However, we were greeted by Tom Hill,

Registration number 213263

Chief Executive Officer and Clare

Call Sign September 2012

Page 25

David Seal has been working at Dial-a-Cab as

DaC call taker breaks leg only to be told:

a part-time call taker since June 1997. He is

also a talented musician who has played up

front for many bands as well as providing the

“YOU HAVE CANCER IN YOUR LEG!”

backing tracks on other occasions. He also has

his own recording studio at his north London

David’s cancer was

home.

missed becasue doc-

In October 2004 in a rather strange Call

tors x-rayed the

Sign competition, we gave away a recording

wrong part of his leg!

session at a studio (not David’s) and the win-

ner was a young lady call taker with a delec-

table voice, Sam French. But it was David

an operation to remove

who organised the backing tracks, giving Sam

the affected bone and I

a four track extended play disk.

was told there was no sign

Going back a few years, David had been suf-

of the cancer left inside it.

fering with a pain in his leg but took little

But I still had to go on

notice. He’d had an x-ray that showed nothing

even more chemo and

- but that was because it was assumed the

radiotherapy treatment,

problem was somewhere below the knee.

something which made

Then one day he was in Sheffield for a record-

the skin stick to my

ing session and went into a bar for a drink.

clothes.”

Suddenly and shockingly, his leg just broke!

dren. David was 34 and he was told that this

David was told that if

David described it to Call Sign but we are not

form of cancer in an adult was unusual.

everything remained clear after 18 months,

publishing details. Suffice to say it sounded

“I can’t say that made me feel any better,”

then the long term prognosis was good and

awful.

David told Call Sign as his mind went back.

that time has pretty much elapsed. He still has

In hospital, David’s problem was said to be

“In fact I was feeling pretty numb at the time.

check-ups every two months, but everything

that his femur - the bone between the hip and

I hadn’t been married long and this was the

seems to be ok. He is also undergoing some

the knee joints - had broken. Finally, together

last thing I expected to hear. I was told that

physiotherapy and currently walks with a

with his wife and mother, he was told to see

the cancer was very aggressive but that they

slight limp, but compared to his original diag-

the consultant that had performed the opera-

hoped it could be treatable. I was put onto a

nosis, that is a nothing!

tion and was told he had a tumour. It had

course of six chemotherapy sessions, each

And the Sheffield recordings? Unfortunately

been diagnosed as a form of Osteosarcoma -

lasting 4 - 5 days and I had that every three

the band he was with split up, but as David so

an extremely aggressive form of primary bone

weeks.

poignantly put it:

cancer that if anyone, attacked young chil-

After that had been completed, there was

“Worse things happen in life!”

Soccer Saturday...

Former fireman Richard Potter and life behind the

With the Olympics nearly over, it will be nice

when the IOC gives London back to LOCOG,

who it appeared rented it out to them for a cou-

ple weeks and the PTFE type tape is peeled off,

POTTERS WHEEL

turning roads back to a format we can easily

recognise again. Peter Hendy said that taxi dri-

to be a training base for all England teams from

vers would do well out of the Olympics - is that

u-16s upward and a coaching and development

right! London, good enough to host the

centre. This should have been built a number of

Olympics but not good enough to host the World

years ago but was put on hold because of the

Cup! But I will say no more.

excessive cost of the new Wembley Stadium. Let’s

What we have got to look forward to is the

hope it has the desired effect, because if you look

start of a Premier League season, which simply

at the burnt out Steven Gerrard and the firing

can’t surpass last year’s excitement. It’s great that

on two cylinders Wayne Rooney, it looks like

we now have the best football league in the

the Premiership takes its toll of the national side

world considering that in the 90s, foreign players

physically, mentally and technically. I suppose that

would not come here and the tide turned only

wanting the best premier league in the world and

when Jürgen Klinsmann and Ruud Gullit

the best national side in the world simply won’t

bucked the trend and indeed we have much to

happen and it’s impossible to have both. And

thank them for.

most people I speak to would concur that really

But looking at England’s mediocre perfor-

the premiership is more important.

mance in the European Championship, the last

Sticking to a football agenda, I was saddened

time we had a good England football team was

to read that the great football referee Jack

improve their all round play, something I never

in 1990 when we reached the World Cup semi-

had. For me, we were taught to tackle hard and

Taylor died at the end of July aged 82. A real

finals, incidentally Paul Gascoigne’s last appear-

giant of a man who in the 1974 World Cup final

compete hard, get into space and pass the ball to

ance in an England shirt at a World Cup finals.

someone who was in a better position. I had

was accused of being biased by Franz

England didn’t qualify in 1994 under Graham

never heard of hitting the ball through the laces?

Beckenbauer for being English!

Taylor and he wasn’t picked for 1998, having

Taylor awarded two penalties in Munich, which

I picked up former Arsenal and West Ham

being seen after a good session eating doner

player Freddie Lungberg once and he asked me

in those days had few TV replays. What would

kebabs in the west end one week before the

Sky make of it today whilst going over them

whether I thought English players should reap the

team set sail.

benefits of playing with more technically gifted

again and again? Well if you have time, take a

So has the England football team become

players and I agreed. Being with them, you hope

look on youtube and judge for yourself. How

more mediocre as a national side since the

times have changed because there is never a

they would play like them however it doesn’t

improvement of the premiership and the mass

really appear to have worked out. Raw talent

mention of any controversy. Before Howard

influx of foreign players to our shores? Well most

Webb started dishing out yellow / red cards as if

over technical ability! Who remembers a young

continental players are technically more gifted

Ryan Giggs being wholly criticised for not being

they we happy hour tickets in the 2010 World

than ours because of their training as youngsters.

able to cross a ball in his early days at

Cup final, Jack Taylor was the only Englishman

I currently help coach a girl’s team at our local

ever to be asked to referee such an event. A real

Manchester United? Look at him now!

primary school along with a mum who happens

The FA is currently trying to improve English

legend...

to be Canadian. She has numerous training

national football by constructing St Georges Park

regimes and routines for the girls to do to

National Training Centre at Burton. It is intended

Richard Potter (T51)

Call Sign September 2012

Page 26

“I upgraded my mobile phone to some fancy

new complicated piece of kit,” John ‘the

Mush’ Tremlett (Y32) told Call Sign “and

then briefly put it down with a view to re-read-

‘The Mush’ and a

ing the instruction manual. However I didn’t

need it for several days and when I did go to

use it, I just couldn’t find it and had complete-

missing phone...

ly forgotten where I had put it,” he exclaimed.

John became worried for the security of his

new piece of talking technology and went back

- there was my missing mobile phone!”

to the supermarket where he bought it and

As John recounted his tale, he began laugh-

reported the Tesco mobile handset as being

ing at himself while referring to senior

lost with the expectation that it could be

moments!

blocked from further use. But in order to prove

“Why I would have put the phone into my

that the handset he was reporting as lost was

golf bag where the balls go, I have no idea,”

actually his, John was asked to provide two

John conceded, “but I was really pleased to get

telephone numbers that he would have fre-

it back after believing it had gone forever!”

quently called.

John acquired his John the Mush nickname

“My home land-line number was no prob-

from other drivers many years ago after going

lem,” John told the mag, “but try as I might, I

mushing (becoming an owner/driver) follow-

just couldn’t recall any other number with the

ing a stint at hiring cabs from the London

result that the assistant said she was unable to

General Cab Co in Kennington. With his engi-

help! I did feel a bit silly at not being able to

neering background, John took an interest in

come up with another - and second - crucial

how taxis worked and gleaned vital tips from

number, but had no alternative other than to

the mechanics that worked there. When he

accept it and there was now nothing I could do

John looks after his tools better than

eventually bought his own cab and went mush-

about it. But I was about to go on holiday and

his phone!

ing, he always carried a few essential tools in

decided that I would attempt to sort it out on

the back of the cab in case of a breakdown and

my return, although in all honesty I had already

was just a memory.

was well-placed to also help out other drivers

resigned the phone’s fate to the unknown.”

“The tyre sorted,” said John, “I whizzed into

when their cabs ‘failed to proceed’ as he put it.

A suntanned John returned from holiday

the club car park and pulled my trolley and

But fortunately for those many drivers, John

some three weeks later and one of his first jobs

clubs out of the cab. Unsure if I had a new set

the Mush has never forgotten where he keeps

was to get a cab tyre repaired before going off

of balls to play with, I decided to check the

his tools!!!

to his golf club for a few rounds with friends.

small compartment in the front of the bag

He put his bag and trolley into the cab before

where I keep them and to my complete and

setting off for the tyre shop. The lost phone

utter surprise - and no small amount of delight

A DaC driver looks at the stresses and strains of driving a taxi in London...

TAKING A DEEP BREATH!

David Abrahams (R95) was chatting to a Call Sign reporter about the job taxi drivers

do and how some respond to it.

“I’m usually placid by nature,” he said in an ultra-calm way, “and I just take this job as

it comes.” Then almost as an afterthought, he added: “Well at least I try to! But times,

together with people’s attitudes, seem to have changed.

“I’ve been driving twenty years and have been on Dial-a-Cab since 1994. In that time

I’ve noticed the change with people seemingly far more tense and stressed than they

ever used to be under similar circumstances. Perhaps it’s the economic downturn that

has affected folk, with job and finance security so important, yet so unreliable nowa-

days. The result is that people seem less relaxed - unless it’s just me being even more laid

back than I used to be to counter the tensile attitude of others!”

Now in full swing, David gave an example of what he meant.

“Just the other evening I took a passenger to Clapham Common. I was merrily chug-

ging along concentrating on the road while he was busy looking at his laptop. As I came

around the one way system of Clapham Common, he looked up and suddenly let out a

shout to ask where I was going! At that point my heart gave a jump and I nearly fell off

the seat with the sudden shock of his booming voice!

“This all happened in a split-second and then the passenger suddenly realised where

he was and I explained about the road layout. The passenger then apologised, but I

didn’t really need that moment of sudden shock. It just confirmed my theory about

stress, because a momentary pause to put his brain into gear before my man shouted

out would have saved us both a great deal of grief.

“I notice it on the roads as well. When I’m driving in my cab, people are sometimes

less polite than when I am in my car. Perhaps it’s me, but I get the impression that

nobody loves you when you’re driving a taxi. Yet in my car, other motorists let me out of

side roads which they do not always do when I’m in my cab.”

With that David took a deep inhalation of air and again emphasised his philosophy;

“Take a deep breath first!” And then, looking calm, he was gone in a flash to join

London’s traffic...

Jamie Corum

Call Sign Online

Call Sign September 2012

Page 27

In the July issue of Mailshot, Ian Connelly

(T21) wrote suggesting that Dial-a-Cab should

consider switching to GPS when our new ter-

GPS: THE MAILSHOT ANSWER

minals come into use. Now Ian Skeels (J74)

has joined in the debate, but due to the length

You may all be very surprised at how much

of his letter and the responses he required,

communication with members actually goes on a

Call Sign has given the subject a page of its

daily basis. I can honestly say to Ian that I have not

own...

taken the points he raises as moaning and we will

not end up like those individuals he describes as

Ian Skeels (J74)

members of the St James Club. No one on the

I read with interest Keith Cain’s article in the

Board smokes or drinks Port for that matter and

August mag and the blatantly obvious outcome is

we certainly don’t go round patting each other on

that we need GPS / AVL. Keith says that customers

the back. Quite the opposite sometimes!

are annoyed when they see our cabs go by with

their for hire lights on whilst they cannot get a

Brian Rice

cab, but he apparently fails to grasp why. In the

I believe Keith’s answer has addressed your

July issue, Ian Connelly (T21) wrote about our

points, Ian, and he is absolutely correct that no

zonal system where passengers do not get the

matter which system is used, if a driver does not

nearest cab, but the one where the driver has

accept the trip then there is a problem. It could

been waiting longest. DaC’s Sales force must

be he does not accept the trip because he is cov-

secretly despair when trying to win new business

ering a ride for Hailo, whilst he expects his fellow

Board of Management and members. I know that

members to cover the Dial-a-Cab account work

and telling clients that we operate that antiquated

some members love to moan and criticise the

to keep customers happy and retain their busi-

zonal system.

Board by writing in the magazine or on blog sites,

ness until he fancies doing a trip for this Society.

If the real reason is down to cost, then I wish

but in Ian’s case I’ve taken his points as more an

I’ve stated in the past that to change from zonal

the Board would be more honest about it. As

expression of his personal experience - which is

to GPS is like changing from driving on the left to

Brian Rice wrote recently, some drivers are leav-

very informative - rather than just criticising for

driving on the right, I personally believe a zonal

ing to cut their overheads but he sees that as a

the sake of it.

system has its merits over a GPS system and vice

short-sighted option. Well I think - no, I know -

I am still to be convinced when individuals say

versa and if we did change, then we would have

that not using GPS will eventually have a far more

that I can take criticism providing it's constructive.

some members requesting us to have a zonal sys-

negative effect on our Society than any other

We as humans like to think we are likeable and

tem.

issue.

that no one will disagree with what we say or do.

You are obviously a fan of Hailo, but do you

How am I so sure of that? Well, two reasons;

If that were only true, what a wonderful world

know how much money the three entrepreneurs

firstly I was on ComCab when they went to GPS /

this would be.

have invested in the system? I’m not talking about

AVL around ten or so years ago and after a few

Ian has written his opinion from his experience

the three cab drivers that front the system, but the

early hiccups the system proved excellent to work

of being on another circuit and his use of Hailo. I

real money men behind it. Well, I can tell you it is

with. Ranks such as Canary Wharf were still able

totally respect what he has said, but where we

£millions and they have also just borrowed anoth-

to be booked into and used on a rotation basis.

may differ in opinion is the point that he says

er £11m to invest in the system. Ian, are you seri-

The whole system was very user friendly and

GPS/ AVL is needed to stop customers seeing our

ously suggesting we should go along that route?

stress free with no wondering what zone you'd

drivers going past their offices empty. It doesn’t

The crux of the matter is members putting

booked into on a screen you often can’t see!

matter what system of dispatch we use, this will

themselves out from time to time to cover work.

Please don’t hit back at me saying that if it was so

never be prevented. Yes, I agree the trip would be

I was recently at a prospective new client’s office

good why did I leave or why don’t I just go back

offered to the cab that is the closest but if a driver

in Holborn Viaduct. I left at 12.15 on Monday

to ComCab. I left because I wanted to join a bet-

doesn’t want to do it, the Sales team will always

lunchtime and telephoned for a taxi to go back to

ter circuit and I still believe DaC is that, but we are

secretly despair in trying to selling our service.

our office. I waited for 30 minutes for the taxi to

in danger of complacency. If we keep telling peo-

That doesn’t mean the Board are totally dis-

arrive, incidentally, the prospective client was

ple to leave because they hear or read something

missing ever using another method of despatch. I

with me at the time - embarrassing or what?

they don’t like, it’s no wonder that the fleet will

can inform Ian that prior to ComCab going down

When I got back to the office I had a look at the

have shrunk by 35%.

the route of installing a GPS /AVL system, the DaC

trip and it had 12 rejects! Please don’t tell me

The second reason for GPS is that I am one of

Board of that time took a very close look at the

there was not one cab within striking distance of

those "terrible" drivers who is using the Hailo

systems that were available. They were also very

EC1, they just didn’t fancy it - no system would

app. Just to straighten out a few points, Hailo

aware of all the problems other circuits went

change that scenario.

uses GPS only sending you jobs that you are gen-

through developing their systems and the finan-

However, if it were a Hailo trip the driver

erally very near to, so there is very little dead

cial costs it placed upon them. At that time also,

might have accepted it because he would be

mileage. Most times the customer is waiting out-

the Board were still licking their wounds from the

unaware of where the trip was going - now

side for you, so the 5 minutes ‘free wait’ is hardly

cost our own system had placed upon us. Many

there’s a thought!

ever used.

members do not realise that when our system was

Finally, I know you mean well Ian and your let-

The issue of cost was also brought up and it’s

purchased and installed, the £1 million pounds a

ter is intended as constructive criticism, but we

true that we use our own phone, but most peo-

year it was costing to buy it became the primary

do not have any plans to change our system in the

ple have one anyway! In any case, don’t we have

reason why this Society came so close to going

near future.

to pay a strip-out fee even if are upgrading our

under and closing its doors permanently. But the

cab? At the moment, with the lack of work and on

Board could not prove at that time that GPS /AVL

a pro-rata basis, Hailo is actually cheaper. Please

was a better product or would improve the ser-

Call Sign

don’t berate me for trying to maximise my

vice members gave.

income as we have often been told by various

September 2012

That doesn’t mean to say the current Board’s

Board members that we are running small busi-

Editor: Alan Fisher

opinion is still the same. We all agree that tech-

nesses.

Address: 39 - 47 East Rd, London N1 6AH

nology has moved on in leaps and bounds since

I‘d like to finish by saying that the points I have

Tel: 0207 251 0581 Fax: 0207 553 7293

then and our own financial position is far better

made are intended as constructive criticism rather

Email: callsignmag@aol.com

now. A new system is on the agenda but the devel-

than just moaning. Think about this; we promote

Website:-www.dac-callsign.co.uk

opment and implementation cannot take place

ourselves as the Gentleman’s Circuit, so let’s not

Printers: Premier Print Group

overnight. What needs to be taken into consider-

end up like one of the gentleman’s clubs in St

25 - 31 Violet Rd, London E3

ation is this - and I touched upon it at the begin-

James where they sit in a large room on leather

Design: Aldan Publications

ning. If drivers do not want to take an offered trip,

chairs, the air heavy with cigar smoke, drinking

Tel: 07958 300 428

whether they be the closest cab or not, then it

port and patting each other on the back whilst

Email: dfdannyfresco@gmail.com

makes no difference what system you choose.

Views and opinion expressed in Call Sign must

oblivious to the world moving on outside.

Hailo, which uses GPS closest cab, has proven this

not be assumed to represent those of the Editor or

Keith Cain

by sending out information to their drivers about

Board.No part of Call Sign may be reproduced

either manually or electronically without the express

Further to what Ian Skeels has written, I would

the consequences they can expect if they keep

permission of the Editor.

first like to say that there is no war between the

refusing to accept work.

Call Sign September 2012

Page 28

Mailshot

Either write to Call Sign at

In fact the photo shows several other vehi-

cles also using the games lane, so I expect

Dial-a-Cab House

those drivers will also have received a warn-

or email us at

ing. I just thought I’d pass this info onto

callsignmag@aol.com

you in case its happened to other DaC dri-

vers, as next time TfL make a cock-up I’m

sure it will be a fine and not a warning!

Gary Johnson (P28)

Olympics

Gary wasn’t the only DaC driver to tell

rency. Then they sent the money back to us!

Hi Alan

Call Sign about receiving a Warning

Of course I wouldn’t do that now as it is

I received my 76 A4 page Olympic informa-

notice re straying into the ORN lanes,

morally wrong!!!

tion manual in the post, just days before

the opening ceremony. I never realised that

there must have been at least 20. I’m

Howard Sales (Ex-A11)

waiting to hear how many taxi drivers,

Queensland, Australia

I would have to do the Knowledge of

London again, which originally took me

just like me, actually received a fine

Thanks Howard. Somewhere inside this

because I have this horrible suspicion

issue is the address of the new Power

three years! How we were expected to

remember all that guff in just a few days

that issuing Warnings was easier in most

Pill suppliers. Many drivers (including

beat the hell out of me. I hid under the

cases than proving whether the signs

me) have used the Alpha Power Pill and

duvet for the duration!

were on or off. There were so many dif-

that also works by cleaning out carbon,

Kevin Went (N19)

ferent forms of signage. If it was dark

reducing smoke and in many cases,

and there was no illuminated sign, the

increasing mpg ...Ed

Hello Alan

only clue is if you drove looking down-

I eventually got my Olympic manual in the

wards for any painted Olympic rings -

Windscreen wiper

post but didn’t have a clue what most of it

but that would mean you were not look-

meant! Why couldn’t they ask you to write

ing straight ahead. There were also

for 1935 low loader

it - then at least we would have been able

other occasions, such as turning left

Hello all

to understand it!

from Queensgate into Cromwell Road

Does anyone at Dial-a-Cab know of anyone

Sid Nathan (K88)

eastbound, where if you looked on the

who could possibly have a Trico Visional

In all honesty, once you dismissed the

ground to your offside while turning,

vacuum windscreen wiper? The wiper is

majority of stuff that didn’t apply to

you’d have seen the painted rings.

about 50 inches long and fits across the top

London and the obvious stuff that any

However, you might also have knocked

of the screen of my 1935 Austin Low

self-respecting taxi driver would auto-

a cyclist of their bike had they tried to

Loader. Unlike today’s arc movement, the

matically know, the set-down and pick-

overtake on the inside whilst you were

Trico Visional fits across the whole width of

up maps were far more useful than I

turning left because you’d have been

the screen. As far as I am aware, this type of

thought they would be - even though I

busy looking the wrong way. Yep, the

wiper was only ever fitted to taxis in the UK

had so few passengers wanting to go to

Games were brilliant, but that was more

but that they were an American concept

any of the events. Like many other DaC

due to spectators embracing them

and fitted to various USA non-taxi vehicles.

drivers, I had already downloaded the

rather than anything LOCOG did on the

I don’t know what make(s) they were. I

version from our website so I knew pret-

roads. Oh yes, my PCN was for doing a

have tried to restore my wiper but without

ty much what it contained - but putting

U-turn from north into the southbound

success and I believe the majority of previ-

it onto A4, rather than the smaller

Park Lane at a place where we were told

ous owners of pre-war cabs gave up and fit-

online version was a good move as it

it was ok for us to turn. But the CCTV

ted electric wipers. I tried contacting Trico

made the maps much easier to read. And

operator obviously was once turned

in the States but in the end got fobbed off

I hate to say it, but the London Games

down for a taxi ride and took it out on

with a total lack of interest. There is some

themselves were brilliant! ...Ed

little old me! ...Ed

relevant info about the unit online, but

Dear Alan

what I need is the actual wiper and any use-

Spotted while parked on Walworth Road

ful info re its fitting. I know it’s a longshot,

Some you Wynns!

during the Games: An Olympic BMW hav-

but any assistance is desperately sought. As

Hi Alan,

ing its boot filled with cases of Guinness.

we’ve just gone through one of the wettest

I used the diesel cleaner that Alasdair Kay

Didn’t know they were sponsors! It could-

months on record in the UK, the earliest

(C47) asked about (Call Sign Online July)

n’t possibly have been the driver using the

response would help me see where I’m

in my workshop on customers diesels. It is

vehicle for personal use... could it?

going in future!

called EGR 3 but according to my rep it has

Peter Doyle (P60)

You can contact me at irthomas@tiscali.

now been superseded by EGR 4, which I

I believe that Icelandic Marathon com-

have been told is better for the environ-

co.uk.

petitors like to harden their feet by leav-

Iayn Thomas

ment and has more detergent to do a better

ing them soak in Guinness overnight.

job of cleaning the EGR valve and injectors.

LVTA UK

What do you mean there were no

EGR 3 is made in Belgium while EGR 4

Icelandic runners in the Marathon!

comes from the US and Australia. Alasdair

Not much of a good-

Also, read Bob Woodford’s piece in Call

should contact a Wynns supplier to find

Sign en la belle France because Bob was

out if EGR 4 is available in the UK.

bye...

one of those car drivers who could

Regarding the story about John Barry

Dear Alan

apparently use the vehicle for anything

(O51) accepting a fake £50 note, I got

Just a note to say how much I enjoy reading

he wanted to ...Ed

caught by a dud £50 under similar circum-

Call Sign Online even though I have now

Hi Alan

stances as John when I was still driving with

retired. I thought I would also let you know

I received a Warning notice in the post

DaC. Then about three months later I did a

about the ‘lovely’ letter I received from TfL

today with a picture of me using an

filming job for the Bank of England, a train-

when my licence expired on my 75th birth-

Olympic lane at 23.26 on 30 July along

ing video on how to spot a dodgy note as

day on 14th July 2012. I had returned the

Euston road. Although it is just a warning, I

we didn't have pens or scanners then. As for

licence together with my badge having held

am disputing it because at that time the

my £50 note, we had friends over from

a clean licence for 54 years.

road side illuminated signs clearly stated

Australia who took the note back with them

I received a letter from Mr Nick Bignall,

that games lames were open to all vehicles.

and exchanged it in Singapore for Oz cur-

the TfL Licensing Manager, acknowledging

Call Sign September 2012

Page 29

Mailshot

Continued from page 29

junk offer with the other choices ie renting

and long term ownership...

Rob Lyle (W39)

receipt of my badge and licence. He also

Hi Rob, I take it the deal doesn’t suit you.

added two more lines that I quote as fol-

However those drivers whose cabs are

lows: “As a licensed London taxi driver, I

nearing the 15-year mark will need deals

would like to take this opportunity to thank

such as this because it is a good deal for

you for the many years of service provided

deserved break. Keeping a site such as

them. Overlook the buying part for a

to the travelling public in London.” There

The Anderson Shelter up-to-date

moment because this deal is a way for

were no words wishing me a long and

involves a lot of hard work, but no doubt

those whose cabs are approaching the

happy retirement or even sending me a

Jim will return somewhere down the

15-year mark to get a new Euro 5 TX4

small memento, such as a copy of my first

line. There is a London Taxi Driver’s

cab at a cheaper rate than it would cost

licence in 1958 for me to keep to show that

Forum, but as I’ve never been on that I

them to rent - even with the add-ons

I had been a taxi driver for all those years. I

can’t tell you much about it other than

such as insurance etc.. They would then

know there are many drivers older than me

what I am told and that is that one of

also go down as the owner (and stay on

who are still driving, so I am writing this to

their favourite pastimes (in extremely

DaC should the driver want to). This

let them know what they can look forward

fruity language) seems to be to attack lit-

deal certainly isn't junk, because most

to from TfL when they retire. Hope it will

tle old me and our big bully of a

drivers who don't have to worry about

be of some interest to your readers.

Chairman! But if it entertains, then I am

their cab's licence will be able to still do

I also have quite a few old fare increase

happy to accommodate them! ...Ed

an ordinary deal and put down more

tables which we used to receive from the

than the £2000 this deal needs and just

old Carriage Office to stick on our partition

buy the cab. But Rob, if you were in your

Goodbye Maeve

windows dating back to 1979. We had these

mid or late sixties instead of the tall,

Hi Alan

because the old mechanical meters could

good looking young man that you are,

I was very sad to read of the death of author

not be altered at the time of increases. Also

you might look at a deal that keeps your

Maeve Binchy at 72 - young by today’s stan-

I have an old Transport & General Workers

monthly payments affordable with the

dards. Maeve had an account for many

Union booklet dated 1957 when the West

view of just giving the cab back after 4

years on DaC and I was always delighted

London Air Terminal was in operation

years rather than adding up the huge

when I had to pick her up from her home

informing the drivers what the recom-

total that any HP type deal brings - espe-

near Olympia.

mended fare from the Terminal to all the

cially at an advanced age. Even worse,

During the last few years, she phoned us

main line stations should be. For example,

you could be forced out of business

less regularly because her health stopped

Euston Station for 1 passenger was 7s. 9p

because you no longer have a cab! But

her going out quite as much as she had

(40p). I don’t know if these would be of

with this deal, after four years you can

done previously. But she was always happy

any interest to anyone in the trade.

pay off the outstanding amount, which

to talk to anyone - be that those who read

Thanks once again for putting Call Sign

would put your monthly repayments

her books or those DaC taxi drivers who

Magazine online and my best wishes to you

down even more. Or you can just give

took her around town - often to what she

all at Dial-a-Cab.

the cab back! This deal could prevent

referred to as her only excess, the hand-

Monty Dobrin (Ex-B56)

drivers losing their livelihood because

made shoe shop in Paddington Street.

Nice to hear from you Monty. In all fair-

they can’t afford to update their cabs.

It was a pleasure knowing you Maeve.

ness to TfL, most drivers I speak to who

That’s not junk, Rob, that could be a life-

RIP...

have retired, actually do get a photocopy

saver.

Tony Hizer (E63)

of their first licence. Perhaps the

The £100 they offer is an extra that

Maeve Binchy died on 30 July in Dublin.

Olympics caused them to change their

non-DaC drivers won't get, but if anyone

She once wrote something that ties in

procedure to save the time of looking?

doesn’t want to take it, I can tell you

with Tony’s email:

“The happiest

many who would be glad to take it for

moments of my life are connected with

you! The deal may not suit you or me,

family and friends. There is a great

TX4 deal

but it will suit many others who see it as

comfort about being with people who

Dear Alan

a way of getting out of the pickle the

knew you way back when. There is a

Ref the £135 a week offer from the LTC; I

Mayor and Europe have got us into ...Ed

mental shorthand, an easy-going feeling

can't believe you put this junk in with the

that life doesn't have to be explained or

mag. Its content treats the taxi driver as a

defined; we are all in more or less the

knuckle-dragging neanderthal and is

The Anderson

same boat. To have a community

embarrassing! And £100 off the circuit fee!

around you in a changing and unstable

The mind boggles. I have just got off the

Shelter

world is invaluable and nothing can

phone after speaking to an LTC salesman.

Hi Alan

beat the feeling that there will always be

I’ve only had a badge for 25 years, but this

As you seem to know most things, can you

people out for our good.”

offer smelt foul immediately; £30,000 pay-

tell me what happened to The Anderson

ments

+ end payment of £14,000 =

Shelter? It was a useful blogsite to get updat-

£44,000. Then there’s 4 years insurance =

ed bits of news about the taxi business -

Rumours?

£4,000 + a 4 year service plan = £1,320 +

not as good as Call Sign of course, but hey,

Hi Alan

tyres for 4 years = £1,280 + 4 years over-

what is!

Is there any truth in the rumour that DB are

hauls = £1,600 + odds and ends such as

Alex Constantinou (N05)

dumping Addison Lee and reverting back to

the meter, plate, printer etc for those 4

Schmoozing will get you everywhere

black cabs? If so will they be using us?

years

= £4,400. Total = £12,594 plus

Alex! I asked Jim Thomas - aka Thomas

John Stowers (K40)

£44,000. That comes to almost £57,000.

the Taxi - what happened. He told me

Sorry John, it was a rumour emanating

The deal the trade is waiting for? What’s

that The Anderson Shelter was acciden-

from the AL driver’s chatsite and noth-

that for? To go skint and end up in hospital?

tally deleted from the blogger platform

ing has changed. As their drivers don’t

You’re an intelligent fellow; what was there

while Jim was trying to “tidy up” the

really know where they are going, it’s

to be gained from including this toilet

site’s archive section. Once deleted, it

not unreasonable to expect that they

paper with the mag? How about you doing

becomes impossible to retrieve. As a

don’t know how to put out a good

a piece in the next edition comparing this

result, Jim decided to take a well-

rumour! ...Ed

Call Sign September 2012

Page 30

Mailshot

Continued from page 29

it was when you went in. LTPH added

that they allow a leeway of up to three

minutes either way before the meter

Minicabs available -

must be adjusted or exchanged. My sin-

cere thanks to John Mason and Mark

but no taxis?

Bass at LTPH for their help in sorting the

Hi Alan

matter out ...Ed

have been so low I haven't even been able

Can someone help me? I can find the

to cover my subs in the last couple of

marked out spaces for minicabs on the fore-

Slow work!

weeks. To be honest with you Alan, HELP!!!

court of the Royal Free Hospital in Pond

Dear Alan,

Now I've got that off my chest and written

Street, Hampstead, but I’m having trouble

I'm angry! I'm angry because of the termi-

everything concisely

(hopefully), I feel

finding the licensed taxi trade’s spaces. You

nals, the problem with reception in the city

much more relaxed, maybe I'll book back

know something; I am going to run miles

and I'm angry because there's no work. It’s

into EC5 and go find that positivity I turfed

for app jobs from the Royal Free - but no

tough out there at the moment and I'm sure

out of the window near Holborn Circus!

doubt most jobs will be TV crews!

you know that. The other day I went out

I hope you can look into this and maybe

Gary Cox (046)

and in an 8 hour shift, I did just 4 jobs! Not

pass it to Brian Rice if he has the time...

It’s amazing how often I’ve picked up at

even in the January of 2009 did I have a day

Steve Albasini (V02)

the Royal Free after setting down and

as shocking as that!

Brian Rice replies: Hi Steve, how frus-

“dwelling” for a few minutes while look-

Tonight I put on the rank in EC5 at about

trated you must be! It’s bad enough hav-

ing for lost property - which we do after

2200 and by 2245 I finally managed to get

ing an extra quiet August without getting

each trip. I’m not sure why, but my

offered a fixed price job, which I declined.

booked off. I took a look at your logger

searching usually seems to cause some

I was offered another, which I also declined

and your facts are correct. You booked

consternation to the several men whose

and then the same job again which I decid-

in EC5 at number 59, during the next 26

hobby seems to be to stand by the exit!

ed to accept as it was better than sitting

minutes you did 8 QP’s so you were

...Ed

with no job and the possibility of getting

obviously feeling the strain. Then at

offered something going 'round the cor-

22.46 you were offered the fixed price

Slow meters...

ner'. However, the accept button was

trip to NW3 for £28.20. You rejected the

Hello Alan

jammed and I was booked off EC5! Alan,

trip but it came back to you but your

My meter recently needed re-timing as it

my blood wasn't boiling but I did feel

acceptance of the trip was NAK’d (Not

was running slow. I was told that Cygnus

absolutely gutted about it. As you can imag-

Acknowledged), and consequently you

could alter the timing by up to 3 minutes

ine, after waiting for 45 minutes in my 4-

were booked off. The trip was eventual-

per calendar month and I took my cab to

wheeled sauna, I was extremely dismayed

ly covered after 7 rejects, however the

have it done. When I got there, I was told

about this so I decided to call the drivers

driver waited more than 9 minutes so

that LTPH had banned the alteration and

line. I spoke to a nice young lady who

the FP was taken out. That driver even-

that I’d have to wait until the overhaul and

informed me that there was nothing she

tually cleared the job at

£38.40, so

meter change. What if it had been running

could do for me and at least offered me

adding in the gratuity of £3.80, it made a

fast and went onto rate 2 at 19.57? Would it

some positivity, which I took and promptly

total of

£42.20. There is probably a

then be ok to just carry on overcharging

threw out of my window! I know it wasn't

moral in there, Steve!

passengers, because when the traffic is light

But I can only apologise for you being

her fault, your fault and not even Brian

and perhaps you are going on the

Rice's fault, but this situation has happened

booked off; nothing in mobile technolo-

Marylebone flyover or M4, those three min-

gy is 100% and you have probably expe-

to me before and it’s frankly unacceptable

utes at the wrong rate could come to an

to say 'well, there's nothing we can do, the

rienced the odd occasion when you have

extra pound or so?

been cut off on your mobile phone. I

systems not designed for us to re-introduce

In any case, even cheap radios now have

wish I could turn the clock back for you

you back into the queue

etc.' We know

atomic clocks of which some are said to

because I do understand your frustra-

that time is money in this game and to

keep time to within one second every mil-

tion. I would also like to be able to

lion years. I’d settle for one that loses or

waste 45 minutes of my time like this

assure you that it will never happen

gains one second each month. Why don’t

ruined my night, especially in these

again, but I can’t. Although it is rare to

the meter companies work off atomic

extremely hard times. I'm usually very tena-

be booked off, it does happen and

clocks?

cious and if it gets tough I try and forget

unfortunately there is nothing I can do

Malcolm Levan (F24)

about it, get on with it and try and put it

about that. So let’s hope that 02 will be

Hiya Malcolm, there’s no atomic clock

behind me, but I feel so aggrieved I'm writ-

perfect when we go over to that...

I’m afraid as they said the expense

ing this at midnight because I need to get it

couldn’t be justified and it would have to

off my chest!

be passed onto drivers. But I asked LTPH

The lady I spoke to on the drivers line

Trade spokespeople

about the rest of your email and they

said that this has happened to a few people

Dear Editor

told me that there was no restriction on

on the circuit and no doubt they will have

I am an owner-member of the Dial-a-Cab

how many minutes meters could be

felt aggrieved about it too. Maybe drivers

Credit Union Ltd, a pedestrian, who is writ-

adjusted by. However, Cygnus disagreed

caught in this predicament in the future

ing to you in an individual capacity.

with the adjustment section telling Call

could be waived a week’s subs for each

On 10th August on BBC TV News, a

Sign that LTPH had banned it. How that

member who has this problem. It would go

spokesperson appeared bemoaning the taxi

misapprehension came about, neither

some way to making up for potentially lost

drivers’ lot during the Olympics. What he

side knows. However, Cygnus have told

revenue, but also be a sign of good faith

said was probably factually correct, but his

this magazine that if anyone goes in

from the Society ie us! Do you think this

delivery method was dire and appeared to

because their meter is gaining or losing

would require a rule change to make it hap-

be full of self-interest that would not create

time, then they will just change the

pen and would this have to be balloted via

any sympathy at all with the viewing public.

meter - which takes the same time as an

post before the next AGM?

When I undertake credit union tasks in

adjustment. LTPH told us that either way

I know the job I was offered was nearly

the USA, I take with me three toy London

is fine with them provided that when

enough to cover a week’s subs and that’s

icons to be auctioned for charities and they

you leave, your meter is showing the

one of the reasons I waited 45 minutes for

are a London bus, a Big Ben and toy taxis -

correct time regardless of how incorrect

a job, because the work levels on the circuit

and it’s the latter that raise the most money.

Call Sign September 2012

Page 31

Mailshot

Continued from page 30

business opportunities, particularly in the

transport sector.

*At the Olympics Closing Ceremony, the

Spice Girls appeared on top of London taxi

This should show everybody how highly

cabs! Can you imagine “Mrs B” in a minicab?

regarded London cabs and their drivers are

The Directors of the Credit Union (I am

worldwide.

not one) always put their best foot forward

reverse. But when your interview is

Why don’t the spokespersons appearing

in extending service to its owner-members

recorded and then edited for later trans-

for the London taxi trade ever give positive

and putting a positive slant on everything.

mission, you just don’t know what they

stories about their services, which would be

Possibly this is why it’s growing at a fair old

are going to do with it. However, the

the best type of sales promotion ever to con-

rate of knots. Sadly, the current media

person you are referring to is on our

sumers and encourage them to use London

spokesperson for the London taxi trade

mailing list and will undoubtedly read

cabbies in preference to the “unspeakable.”

and his predecessor, presented a sour

your points ...Ed

For instance:

image to the consuming public of what is a

*At a time of any civil strife, news stories

magnificent trade, regarded highly

that London cabbies and dockers led the

throughout the world and it should have

DaC’s App campaign

fight against fascism in 1936.

spokespersons worthy of it despite them

I read about the soon-to-be released DaC

*I witnessed London cabbies running

being appointed or elected to post - it’s

App in the August Call Sign. It sounds like

people home sometimes over 100 miles

called ‘Public Relations’.

good news and I hope there will be an

without charge on 14 July 2005, after the

Barry Epstein

advertising campaign to launch it. We need

public transport network was halted follow-

Owner-member

- Dial-A-Cab Credit

to let the public know our App is here with

ing the aborted repeat of 7/7. These were

Union Ltd

some wide media coverage to get the mes-

people of all nationalities - I know, because

Thanks for the letter Barry and I’m sure

sage across. Perhaps we could have some

small business cards like the ones we

I was at Kings Cross.

Brian Rice will enjoy your comments

already use to hand out to people and also

*Why do spokespersons never report the

about his FT interview in the December

notices on the cab interior’s division win-

London cabbies’ consistent and invaluable

2008 issue (available in the Call Sign

dow informing passengers about our App.

support for charities, assisting terminally

library). But I’m sure that he would

How about stickers on the doors like the

sick children to have a good time?

agree that giving an interview to a mag-

long credit card signage currently available?

*Why do spokespersons for the cab trade

azine (he has done quite a number of

Tony Hones (C70)

never repeat the message that Brian Rice

them in addition to radio broadcasts) is

Watch out in the next issue …Ed

(who I don’t know and have not met) pre-

one thing, but controlling what actually

sented to the Financial Times in 2008, after

goes out on a TV interview is another

the failures of Lehman Bros and AIG etc -

matter altogether. I’m often asked to

Hailo/ GetTaxi and

that London cabbies will work in new ways

give interviews and rarely say yes unless

yellow badges

to survive.

it is a fun item. Allan Evans was recently

If a yellow badge on GetTaxi or Hailo is

*Why don’t spokespersons ever state in

interviewed by a radio station and he

offered and accepts a ride in green badge

their public pronouncements that becoming

told me afterwards that he didn’t even

territory, is he plying for hire out of his area?

a Licensed London Taxi Driver is a tremen-

recognise it when he heard it later!

Jon Robinson (E88)

dous opportunity for self-employment

Sometimes you hear taxi drivers calling

A Hailo spokesperson told me that it

always on the rise throughout every eco-

phone-in programmes and however

can’t happen. I took them at their word.

nomic downturn - that then gives opportu-

well-meaning and doing their best, they

I don’t know whether it can happen on

nities for those people to develop other

can sometimes send the argument into

GetTaxi ...Ed

TX4 v TX4!!!

Euro V TX4: Drivers put ‘smoothest drive’ claim to the test against the old Euro IV!

Drivers from across the UK took part in the London Taxi Company’s test

“More response,

drive campaign and rated the latest TX4 on seven different response

feels tighter and

areas. More than 80% of the drivers surveyed had previously driven or

more assured on

test driven the TX4 (Euro IV), so were well placed to comment on the

the road.”

newest black taxi.

“Drives better than

With the votes in, counted and verified, the undoubted verdict was that

the Peugeot I have

the TX4 (Euro V) IS a smoother drive than the Euro IV variant!

already test dri-

ven.”

TEST DRIVE QUESTIONS: PERCENTAGE RATING GOOD OK POOR

“Very good, the

How would you rate the drive experience?

94% 5%

best so far.”

How was the steering?

92% 6%

“It seems nice,

What’s the gear change like?

93% 7%

Describe the initial power take-up.

94% 6%

but it is brand

Rate the engine’s responsiveness.

92% 7%

new. Will it be as i

How about the suspension

miles?”

and general comfort?

94% 6% 0%

“Driver seat is excellent.”

How much road noise could you hear?

NONE SOME LOTS

“Driver seat is hard.”

18%

77%

“Quieter, faster, tighter and still the best cab for the job.”

Test drive survey conducted June - July 2012 with 83 respondents

Cabbies are of course by nature, shy and retiring types, but a few of them

Go to www.london-taxis.co.uk for more information on the TX4, to

were encouraged to provide some comments - this is a selection:

arrange your own test drive or to find your nearest dealership...