Christmas Figures
The run up to Christmas was absolutely phenomenal with records for job
coverage being broken daily. We never had a spare call taker position in the Call Centre,
yet our account clients were still having to wait much longer than usual holding on the
line for their call to be answered. I can only apologise to those clients, but there was a
tremendous demand for our services and we dealt with every call as speedily as we could.
During the busy periods we were receiving, despatching and covering one job every five
seconds-an excellent response by anyone’s standards.
There was also the normal horrendous traffic conditions for our members to deal with but
nonetheless, your coverage was excellent. So to all the Call Centre staff, our members and
our administration staff, a special thank you for a job well done under extremely
stressful conditions.
Job allocation
There has been more reorganisation within Brunswick House and certain Board members will
be fulfilling different roles in the future. Aubrey
Siteman is now our Complaints officer and Head of Marshalling, that means that he has now filled every job within the organisation, up to and including Chairman. As you know, Aubrey has had many years experience not only in the trade but also within ODRTS and I am confident that he will do a fine job.
AGM
Certain statements were made at the AGM that were not correct and I feel that it is my
duty as Chairman to put the record straight. David Clegg in his address to the membership,
informed you that Allen Togwell had received a warning from the Police. That information
was incorrect. At no time has Allen received a caution, warning
or anything similar, of that I am extremely confident. I was hoping that David Clegg would have printed a retraction in this edition of the magazine, but as that has not been forthcoming, I have had to put the record straight myself.
1998
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a healthy and prosperous 1998. This
coming year will see many changes within the London Taxi trade and Dial a Cab will be no
exception. We will be striving to expand our fleet in order to enhance the service we give
to clients, this is imperative if we are to continue to be a major player in the London
market. Not only will we improve our service levels but also have the capability to expand
our client base. I am optimistic about the future of our trade but there is no question
that the market place will remain extremely competitive within the Licensed trade. Add to
that the reality of a Licensed private hire sector and you can see that we have to respond
to a formidable challenge, but, be assured that we will succeed.
Brian Rice
