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RadioTaxislaunches new

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Autumn 2014

4 Roger Sligo’s ‘Ed Lines’Roving Roger reports…

7 Our new Tri Borough ContractPeter Gibson gives us the lowdown

8 It is time to reinvent ourselvesSays Chairman & CEO Geoffrey Riesel

11 Radio Taxis Chairman gives evidenceAt the Greater London Authority’s TransportCommittee inquiry

12 A Toast to Real ChoiceGordon Brown on real ale and taxis in London

13 Business CardDan Ellis on the simplest, but important marketing tool

14 Why not join the credit unionAll you need to know is on one page here

15 CROSSRAIL and Tottenham Court RoadAlan Franks with his views on its pedestrianisation

16 Curiosity CornerRoger Sligo – More mysteries of London revealed

18 The Digital DisruptersRonald MacDonald Watson and the acceleratingchange in technology

20 George ShillibeerRoger Sligo on the London Omnibus Pioneer

22 Mountview driver retires after more than40 yearsRobert Dulin (Baker 24)’s letter to the Chairman

23 Twittering about TaxisGeoffrey Riesel with more Tweeting Tips

24 Crossing the ThamesRoger Sligo on building bridges

26 The Digital Age or... how and why webuilt a new website

28 At Home he feels like a TouristRoy Hughes asks – Has there been a post-Olympictourism boost to London?

30 The “Where Am I” ContestWin a £50 worth of Marks & Spencer Gift Vouchers

31 The Mountview Puzzler PageGet stuck in to these teasers

THE MOUNTVIEW NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM IS:Roger Sligo – Editor & photos / Penny Cuckston – AdministrationDoug Canning, DC-Graphics – Design, layout, artwork, print & distributionGeoffrey Riesel & Peter Gibson – Board productionDesign, Layout & Print: ©2013 / DC-Graphics / High Barnet / Herts / EN5 5TP

T: 0208 440 1155 / W: www.dc-graphics.co.ukContent: © 2014 / Radio Taxis Group Ltd / Lennox Road / London / N4 3TXThe information and images contained in this Newsletter are subject to copyright.Unauthorised use, disclosure or copying without prior written permission from RTG Ltd is strictly prohibited.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

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A plaque fromthe past

Fly to page 16 for more

I REALLY COULDN’T LET THIS ISSUE GO BYWITHOUT mentioning World War I, whichbegan one hundred years ago this year – 4thAugust 1914. The “war to end all wars;” itlasted four years and the cost was NineHundred and Ninety Six Thousand Britishlives, almost double the population of Leeds.

Iwould guess most of us could find at least onefamily member killed in the Great War if we wereall to search through the war records. I know I

have one in my family and I would like to share hisstory with you in honour of all the many unsungheroes like him, who gave up their own lives for thefreedom of future generations. I am reliably informedby my New Zealand cousin, working in the AustralianEmbassy in Thailand, that “Archie” was my firstcousin, three times removed although I neverunderstood these genealogy things...

Anyway, John ArchibaldSligo, better known to hisfriends as Archie, had decidedto follow his father into theArmy enlisting during 1902 inTaunton, Somerset, with hisfather’s old regiment, theSomerset Light Infantry. By1911 he was serving in Maltain the 2nd Battalion SomersetLight Infantry, where theywere inspected once by theGerman Emperor, The Kaiser– Wilhelm II, who was of

course, shortly to become their sworn enemy and whowas visiting the island on his Imperial yacht.Three years later when war was declared, on Tuesday 4August 1914, Archie was serving with the 1st BattalionSomerset Light Infantry in Colchester. The Battalionwas swiftly readied for war and they landed in Franceon Saturday 22 August. Two days later the Battalion de-trained late on the afternoon of Monday 24 August,taking up hasty defensive positions near Briastre, asthey waited for the advancing Imperial German Army.

Left BehindArchie Sligo was wounded in his very first engagementwith the enemy the following day, Tuesday 25 August,

when his Company repulsed German attacks.Despite his wound Archie set off on his own, on

foot, in heavy rain to catch up again with his battalion,becoming one of the many British stragglers fleeing infront of the advancing German juggernaut that night.By the following day, Archie had teamed up withanother straggler Robert Digby, together their pathtook them about 13 miles across the rollingcountryside to the small village of Villeret, thenconsisting of about 600 inhabitants, just over 11 milesnorth west of St Quentin in Picardy, Northern France.The rain had stopped and the early morning mist hadhelped hide the soldiers from enemy patrols, but as theday progressed the mist cleared, becoming a beautifullyhot and sunny day in late summer.

As the two exhausted soldiers made their way uphillin the gathering dusk that evening, they were spottedby a patrol of eight German Uhlans or Lancers, whopromptly gave chase. Archie ran through “VilleretSquare past the town hall and the butcher’s… duckingright, out into the open again, sprinting towards a densecopse some 200 yards from the edge of the village.”Slowed by fatigue and the pain from his wound, Archielagged behind the eighteen year old Digby (whoescaped into the woods) and he was shot dead at closerange by the leading Uhlan before he could reach thesafety of the woods.

Once the Uhlans had departed, some men fromVilleret recovered Archie’s body. In the darkness of thecoming night, they buried him in an unmarked gravein Villeret’s tiny cemetery, after the Mayor of Villerethad written out a death certificate, based oninformation found on Archie’s identity discs and in hiswallet.

Lest We Forget(A message from the villagers of Curry Rivel, Somerset)

Archie is buried in Villeret Old Churchyard, together witheighteen other graves of British soldiers.

This story about Archie Sligo, told a century later,reminds us of the sacrifice made by men from our village,which was then much smaller than it is today. And yet atleast 155 men and one woman from Curry Rivel served inthe Armed Forces during the First World War and of these21 were killed in action or died as a result of their service.(With special thanks to Tony Potter for extracts fromthe Curry Rivel Local Newsletter).

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WORLD WAR IA Hundred Years On

RRooggeerr SSlliiggoo’’ss

NNEEWWSS

Archie Sligo

LONDON TAXI DRIVERS’ FUNDFOR UNDERPRIVILEGED CHILDREN’S

TRIP TO SOUTHEND

After a couple of weeks of continued sunshine, sooneror later the weather had to change. Sadly it did onThursday 10th July for the children’s annual day trip toSouthend-on-Sea. Not that the weather has everstopped London kids from still enjoying a happyouting to the seaside!

Leaving London’s Victoria Park just after 10am andwith Police outriders escorting the taxis, they arrived atSouthend in record time shortly before 11.30am,making their way along the seafront to the Kursaal,before returning back again along the Golden Mile tothe Cliffs Pavilion.

There was great excitement as the kids werewelcomed inside the Cliffs Pavilion at Westcliff-on-Sea,where they were met by Salvo the Clown and animalcharacters as they entered the theatre.

After a quick bite of lunch at the Cliffs, the excitedchildren were then ferried by buses and cabs, toAdventure Island on the sea front. Vouchers had beengiven to the drivers and helpers for ice creams, donuts,candyfloss and drinks and it was hard to find a childwhose face was not covered with these. At 4pm it wasback to the Cliffs Pavilion for tea and disco with DJDave Davies and his team keeping the childrenentertained.

As the entertainment came to an end, the kids linedup for a stick of Southend Rock before making their

way back to the cabs for their weary but very happyreturn journey home.

THE DRIVERLESS CAR –LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE

Apparently, the driverless car is coming to Britain, withtests to start as early as next year. I don’t know aboutyou but I would never risk my life sitting in a carwithout a steering wheel with a Google inspiredautomated driverless car! The mind boggles justthinking of pedestrians, cyclists and other road usersrunning across the path of my automated invisibledriver. It might be fine for the highways of Americaleading to the Grand Canyons or the Great Lakes butenormous, crowded, bustling cities like London; I don’tthink so!

To start with, the Highway Code would have to bethoroughly changed or even re-written; who wouldface prosecution for jumping lights or ignoring trafficsigns for example – you or the unseen robot? Howabout drink-driving, after all it could be claimed youare in charge of the vehicle even though you are notthe driver? Would there be an age limit and would youeven need to have a drivers’ licence? Another thingwhich puzzles me is, if the driverless car is completelysafe and accident free would we still need anyinsurance?

As we all know UBER is financed through Googleamongst others. Could their motive in introducingdriverless Private Hire cars be that instead of taking20% from drivers they could have the whole lot!I suppose on the plus side taxi-drivers could stay at

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Police escort the taxis in Southend A warm welcome

The driverless car

The kids enter the Cliffs Pavilion

home and send their cabs out to work on their own,providing a Google program device for taking themoney and giving change!

The one remaining thing that I just don’t get is, whywould anyone actually want a driverless car – whatwould be the point? Presumably you would still besitting in the same traffic jam as everyone elsetherefore getting there no quicker! If it’s just thatpeople don’t want to drive themselves then fine, whynot take a taxi – after all we have been around for overthree-hundred years longer than Google!

CHARITY SHOP FINDOn a weekend away in the West Country recently,I visited Shaftsbury in Dorset. I went into a charityshop just near to where, what is generally claimed to bethe best advert ever made, which showed a young boy,cap on head, walking his bike up the cobbled-stonehill, reminiscing about his love for Hovis bread – youknow the one I mean? See the picture below.

Anyway, as I browsed through some of the books inthe charity shop I couldn’t believe my luck, as I founda book called “Taxi”.

Flicking through the pages I discovered it waspublished in 1963, written by a London cab driver bythe name of Maurice Levinson. It began by explainingthat he was a London cabby for nearly thirty years,coincidently the same as me (30 years in January2015). Of course I just had to buy the book whichcovered taxi-driving in the 1940s-50s and 60s –ranging from doing the knowledge and learningLondon, right up to minicabs and radio cabs. He wroteabout working days verses nights, radio and non radiodrivers. He writes; “The radio still remains a goodproposition to the owner-driver who works long hoursand who has a night driver to take over when he hasfinished. For a rental of a little under two pounds he hasthe equipment installed free and a round-the-clock use ofthe circuit to which he belongs.”

More than Fifty Years later and with Radio Taxis“Pay As You Go” – our fees have hardly changed!

I wouldn’t mind betting that Maurice was one of theearliest Mountview drivers!

Many of the things which he encounters daily as heworks the cab are the same things we have to deal withtoday. He mentions the stage-fright in doing his firstjob from the Imperial Hotel Russell Square to EustonStation. He recounted that all he had to do was gostraight for a quarter of a mile, but even so his brainrefused to budge, trying desperately to rememberwhere Euston Station was and then recollecting hisrelief at seeing Euston in front of his eyes!

His most famous passenger was Winston Churchill,who jumped the queue at Waterloo Station, afterwhacking his umbrella against Maurice’s taxi beforeMaurice had reached the head of the rank!

I was quite disappointed to finish the book, as it wassuch a good read that I never wanted it to end. I searchedhis name online and found he has written several otherbooks – the Alf Townsend of his day.

I would really like to know if anyone knew MauriceLevinson. He mentioned having children. I wonder ifany of them have become cabbies!

Roger Sligo.

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Location for the famous Hovis TV ad

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TRI BOROUGH is a combined West London“super-borough” comprising of WestminsterCity Council (WCC), Royal Borough ofKensington & Chelsea (RBKC), Hammersmithand Fulham (LBHF). The colloquial term usedfor Tri Borough is ‘3B’.

These three boroughs have combined their buying powerand linked their back offices to save money and one ofthe areas that they have targeted is “Children and Adult

Services transport.” All of the relevant Taxi, Private Hire andCoach Journeys supplied by the three boroughs, are nowprocured entirely via the consolidated Tri Borough.

Previously Radio Taxis and One Transport serviced simplythe Westminster City Council School Children and AdultServices account and we were successful in becoming one ofonly two Framework suppliers for the amalgamated 3B work.The new account started after the Easter school break and theterm between Easter and the summer holidays were spent“bedding in” the new service.

The account operates in a very different way to the oldWestminster City Council account. We now have to liaisewith the passengers and the parents and the PassengerAssistants directly, previously this was done by the council’sown personnel, now it’s our job. Some of the “rounds” (therounds are routes there and back) which were previouslyserviced only in taxis are now done by Coaches or by PrivateHire vehicles, in contrast on the plus side for taxis, we nowhave many new taxi pick-ups in areas which we didn’t have,before the forming of the Tri Borough.

During the tender process we were made aware thatfinancial constraints were the driving force behind thecreation of Tri Borough and the rationale for its existence.Central government is limiting the cash being made availableto councils, yet more and more is being demanded of localauthorities for less. Therefore the “coming together” ofneighbouring councils makes good economic sense. It maypossibly make less political sense if the elected persuasion ofone of the three participants were to change colour (as it hasnow done in Hammersmith); but even then the economicargument may prevail.

So 3B is the new version of the Westminster account.Prices on all of this work is “fixed price,” as this is what wasdemanded – the mantra was, if no “fixed prices,” then nowork. There isn’t any additional waiting time to be addedonto the regular daily trips either.

Again on the plus side, the very substantial “ad hoc” work,which is booked by Social Services personnel, or directlybooked via the 3B centralised Transport department, is alsoon “fixed price” mileage rates.

If waiting time is incurred on the “adhoc” work, then it will be added to the“fixed price” in other words, for example; a £16.00 “fixedprice” ad hoc trip that incurs a 30 minute wait will have a 20minute waiting time charge added to the “fixed price” fare.This is because all the “fixed prices” on “ad hocs” include upto 10 minutes waiting time. Any request for additionalwaiting time on an “ad hoc” trip must be made by “voice” atthe end of the journey.

The 3B trips will be sent out, with destinations and withthe Fixed Price. If you then accept and take a 3B trip, pleasecomplete the trip without any discussion about the FixedPrice, neither with the passenger nor with the passengerassistant.

If you have an issue about the price then put a call in tome or to Ian Miller in the Call Centre.

Also, do not involve any 3B personnel about the price ofthe trip. There have already been a few complaints made viaTri Borough about such conversations. The passengers do notknow, nor do they care, what the Fixed Price for their journeyis and they must not be engaged in discussion regarding theprice, as it has nothing to do with them, they are merelyrecipients of 3B local authority services.

I repeat for complete clarity, if you do have an issue andif you must, then – call me. But be completely aware thatthese trips will disappear completely if Fixed Prices are notoffered.

I am aware that a regular group of dedicated drivers carryout the majority of the Tri Borough work and if you are oneof those drivers, then please let me thank you, sincerely foryour support, you are doing a great job. This work is veryregular, very dependable and not affected by economiccycles; other than the fact that it goes out to tender everycouple of years.

I know that some of the prices can be at a somewhat lowlevel, especially on a bad traffic day; but conversely it’s thesame price on a quiet day when there’s little traffic; and wehave fought off a lot of competition to get this work.Please help us to keep this “bread and butter” work, we don’twant to give others (much of it was done before by AddisonLee) the opportunity to get it back. In addition, moreimportantly, other London Boroughs are watchingdevelopments very closely and if this is a success, those otherBoroughs could either choose to join the 3B Framework, orjoin together in their local areas, to form new 3B typeconsortiums of their own; in either case we will be extremelywell placed to pick up this work as well.

I am sure we can count on you to make this intosomething really successful and significant, my thanks again.

Our New “Tri Borough”Contract (also known as ‘3B’) By Peter Gibson, Group Strategic Director

BARRAGE OF ADVERTS

With a daily barrage of advertorials “eulogising” themerits of new entrants and “digital disrupters”appearing in a newspaper or on a television near

you, I thought it was time to address the subject of thefuture shape of our industry.

Therefore, this is possibly one of the most seriousand important articles I have ever written. I ask you,our drivers, to read this very carefully and with an openmind as, by the nature of the job that you do, you areinvolved. Indeed we need to work in partnership and itis imperative that we all play our part by doing our bitto help shape our future.

The time has come for the taxi industry tocommence reinventing itself. The time is now especiallyfor the radio taxi industry to reinvent itself.

WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE? The alternative is for the industry to suffer a kind of“death by a thousand cuts” and you owe it to yourself,to your family and to your industry not to let thathappen.

We have a window of opportunity to revitalise not onlyRadio Taxis, but to do our bit to protect the trade byimproving it. At the same time we can steal a march on thecompetition, especially the new entrant APPS which arecausing so much consternation in our industry-worldwide.

NOT GOING AWAYSome of the new APP entrants to our market aren’tgoing away, the public likes to use them, especiallywhen the method of booking is so “easy andconvenient.”

RAISE OUR GAMESo have our protests to TfL made any differencewhatsoever? I doubt it; I suspect that this kind ofcompetition is here to stay. Certainly some of thesecompanies will not last, as they operate in a kind offinancial “Bubble,” but some will remain and ourresponse must be to raise our game.

“Raise my game I hear you ask? I’m already amember of the best taxi industry in the world, why doI need to raise my game?”

BEST KNOWLEDGE We unquestionably do have drivers with the besttopographical knowledge, of their working area, of anytaxi trade in the world; we certainly do have purposebuilt vehicles with lots of room for entry and egress;and those vehicles are thoroughly checked for safety to

give passengers peace of mind.But… do we really have drivers who all genuinely

understand customer care (including disabilityawareness) and who thus use the latest technology? –Do we really have drivers who all accept credit cards ontheir chip and pin devices? Do we really have driverswho all, conveniently for the customer, respond toonline bookings either from a radio circuit or via anAPP like the Radio Taxis one?

What we do have is a “Mish Mash” of drivers “we’reall individuals,” I hear a few of you exclaim; some withnice new cabs, some with old ones.

Some with well-kept cabs some… less so. Again I heara few of you declaring, “my old cab takes the samemoney as a new one!”

Oh yes in that case, it does for you, but what does itfeel like to be your customer?

Would a cab rider want to use you again in a hurry?Especially when the same driver has a big sign (next tohis credit card machine) NO CREDIT CARDS.

Then that very same driver now thinks he’s donesomething useful, by protesting about UBER, but has he?

Perhaps if he/she took every credit/debit cardjourney offered to them, whether from a street hail jobor whether booked online, whether for a long journeyor a short one, because by refusing to do any of those,you are driving those former taxi riders, not only totheir destination, but also into the arms of one ofthese new entrant APPs.

YOU CAN ONLY BOOK ONNEW APPS BY CARD

And that’s a place (on UBER) where you can only bookand then pay by card; where booking by APP is reallyvery easy and where the car that arrives, is these daysusually fairly new, pretty clean and tidy and with adriver who is wearing a shirt and tie. I’m not

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It is time to reinvent By RTG Chairman & CEO Geoffrey Riesel.

suggesting that everyone has to wear a shirt and tie,but for a small minority of drivers, who look as thoughthey’d slept in their clothes, it would be a good start….and we all know who they are.

So OK the UBER/minicab driver always follows hisSAT NAV slavishly which is usually a bit of a wayaround the houses and not the best way to getanywhere, so OK the UBER driver is also not a verygood driver in the busy London traffic, which is moreoften than not a new experience to him, but it was everso easy and convenient for the punter to book and forthe car to arrive and the cashless payment is seamless(even bus fares are cashless these days) and every nowand then their prices are cheaper than ours (exceptwhen they use surge pricing) and our arrogance, as atrade, has not helped.

As taxi drivers, we run small businesses; yes everysingle one of us. But to listen to some drivers, theythink somehow that they’re just doing a job, as thoughthey are working for someone else.

The difference is that small businesses do almosteverything they can to make their customers appreciatethe experience of using them so that in our case, givingup travelling by taxi should become a “wrench.”Small businesses (the ones who have a future) do nottake their customers for granted, have we as a tradebeen taking our customers for granted?

Cries of “not fair to the drivers” should be replacedinstead with, what will make sure the customers keepcoming back?

End of rant, now please read on about what we are

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doing at our end to mitigate some of the “disruption” beingcaused by these “cash rich” Digital Disrupters or APPs.

OK – SO HOW DO WE MOVE FORWARD?For our part at Radio Taxis we are embarking on amarketing campaign to really fight back so as to winover a certain “niche” of new business, but at the sametime we will be working with our drivers helping toraise standards “across the board” so that customers geta good experience when they use us and consequentlykeep coming back for more.

NEW WEBSITE & ONLINE BOOKERThe first ingredient in our campaign is the launch ofour remarkable new website together with the launchof an online PRE-PAID (fixed price) credit cardbooking tool and a simultaneous re-launch of our APPwhich will now have a destination facility (fewer “AsDirected’s”) and will also allow payment by credit card.The APP will have the normal run-in and in essencewill be the same as any other cash booking or creditcard journey.

The website itself (which will work on tablet andSmart Phone as well) has a number of video films onits front/landing page which demonstrate how easy it isto book a Radio Taxis journey online or by phone.One of the videos is a short fly on the walldocumentary about the wide-ranging experiences ofthree Radio Taxis drivers and at the same time showsour industry in a great light which will hopefully makeyou feel as proud as I was in seeing it.

ourselves

The new home page of the Radio Taxis website

Cont...

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BEST WAY TO GET AROUND LONDONBut more than that we have taken on a marketingagency who will be conducting a full online socialmedia and marketing campaign – the theme of it all is:RADIO TAXIS – THE BEST WAY TO GETAROUND LONDON.

DISTRIBUTE HAND-OUT CARDSAdditionally we will be distributing many hundreds ofthousands of hand out cards (pictured here) for you togive to your customers, reminding them that taxis usethe bus lanes, that our taxis will gladly accept creditcards, that our customers can book online and that theycan book a Radio Taxis cab by using the Radio TaxisAPP. So please make sure you give out these cards toyour street hailed passengers. If you use them up andwe run out I’ll be delighted to get more printed!

These customers, having used us, (as non-accountholders) paying by cash or credit card, will then get anSMS text message which will say “thank you for usingRadio Taxis press this URL link for details aboutopening a Radio Taxis account.”

£25 DRIVER BONUS FOR EVERYACCOUNT OPENED

We’ll be offering all drivers, who introduce a newaccount customer and who opens one of our NewRadio Taxis “Black Cab Accounts,” a £25 bonus, paidwhen the first journey has been taken. We will bedistributing account application postcards for you tokeep in your cab with a space to record your call signand with a Business paid reply on the reverse side.

That is why we must all raise our game and why,most especially, it is imperative that we all collaborateas business partners, or else allow the “Steamrollers”that are the new APPs, to wash over us. For if we doraise our game, we can still have a very bright futureahead. Help us to help you.

Geoffrey Riesel Chairman & CEO.

Stuck in a jamin a mini cab?

Or doyou useRadioTaxis?

The best way to getaround London

020 7561 5000Download the App

www.radiotaxis.co.uk

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Radio Taxis Chairman gives evidence to key GLA Inquiry into Taxi and PrivateHire ServicesTHE GREATER LONDONAUTHORITY’S TRANSPORT COMMITTEE is currentlyholding an inquiry into how Taxi and Private Hireservices can better meet the needs of Londonpassengers.

This Committee is made up of members of the GreaterLondon Assembly who have responsibility for holdingthe Mayor and Transport for London (TfL) to account

for their policies and performance.

GLA inquiry into Taxi and Private Hire Services;Terms of reference:The Transport Committee is investigating how Taxi andPrivate Hire Services help play a part in movingLondoners and visitors around the capital, how they meshwith other forms of transport, and how they might changeto provide a better service in the future.

The Committee will also examine Transport forLondon’s (TfL) role as licensor and regulator of thetrades, including how it tackles touting and other safetyconcerns.Over 300,000 trips per day in London are made by taxi orprivate hire vehicle. This represents around one per centof total daily journeys in the capital.

There are over 25,000 licensed taxi drivers and over66,000 licensed private hire drivers in London. Licensedtaxis (black cabs) are able to accept street hails, canoperate from ranks and must have a taximeter. Privatehire vehicles (minicabs) cannot accept street hails or useranks, and must be pre-booked through a licensedoperator.

The investigation will look at a wide range of issuesthat have an effect on passengers including:� Availability of Taxis and Private Hire vehicles� Safety and security, including touting� Fares and payment options� The Mayor’s position on Taxis and Private Hire vehicles� The performance of Transport for London’s Taxi and

Private Hire Unit

The Inquiry is taking written evidence from a wide range oforganisations with an interest in the sector and has already helda first oral evidence session in July with representatives ofpassenger organisations and overseas experts on taxi licensingissues giving evidence.

A second evidence session is being held in early Septemberwhen representatives of the taxi industry will give evidence, aswill Transport for London.

Radio Taxis has provided written evidence to the inquiry in ajoint submission with other taxi organisations including the other

Radio Circuits in London and Group Chairman Geoffrey Rieselhas met with the Clerk to the inquiry to provide further input.

You can read more about the Inquiry at this linkwww.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/14-06-03-Taxis-and-Private-Hire-Vehicles-Investigation.pdf

Geoffrey Riesel said:“This is an important inquiry that comes at a timewhen many believe that TfL needs to improve howit regulates the Taxi and Private Hire industry, sothat our sector can continue to grow and providepassengers with the kind of safe and secure, firstclass service that it has for so long, been renowned.

Radio Taxis contributed to written evidence and I then metpersonally with the Clerk to the inquiry to ensure that views of ourcompany are put across before the final report is published.

Among the issues that we stressed to the inquiry is a need tomaintain and protect the position that only taxis can be hailed anduse ranks which means ensuring that private hire vehicles can onlybe “pre-booked”.

I explained to the Committee advisor’s that modern technology,especially in the form of Smartphone Apps, has led to a positionwhereby the public are inadvertently making immediate ‘there andthen’ hires of private hire vehicles, under the “guise” of these beingpre-booked journeys. Not only is ‘hailing’ a private hire vehicleillegal, but it also undermines the public’s assurance of being in aproperly insured vehicle and undermines all the cost and time thatis put into people meeting the licensing standards for offering aTaxi service.

Radio Taxis endorses the view that there needs to be an updatedstatutory definition of ‘pre-booking’ that would explicitly prohibithiring a private hire vehicle ‘there and then’ which would addressthe confusion and inaction we are currently seeing around servicessuch as UBER. This builds on the work recommendations made bythe Law Commission to the Department for Transport.

We also called for more consistency in environmental standardsexpected of the taxi industry and a longer-term plan forenvironmental standards that doesn’t unfairly penalise the taxisector; improved arrangements for enabling passengers to pay fortaxi journeys with a credit or debit card; greater enforcementagainst touting and improvements to the Taxi and Private Hiredirectorate at TfL.

This Committee will report later in the Autumn and I amoptimistic that it will make some positive recommendations whichTfL can then look at to implement so that our industry is regulatedin a way that is truly fit for the twentieth-first Century.

AToast to Real ChoiceGordon Brown – Group COO talks about afavoured subject of Real Ale and the remarkableparallel of the future of the taxi business in London.

I AM A MEMBER OF CAMRA –the Campaign for Real Ale – not tobe confused with something thattakes pictures. Its main aim issimply to promote the drinking ofreal ale and real cider in atraditional British pub and it is thelargest single issue consumergroup in the UK with over 150,000members.

Although I have a beard it is notobligatory if you want to join – youjust need to have an appreciation of

the variety of beers that can be brewed anddrunk and are interested in trying them.

For those with long memories and asense of nostalgia you may remember the1970’s and early 1980’s of going into a puband having to choose between DoubleDiamond, Watney’s, Red Barrel orWhitbread Trophy. All tasted similar andinsipid, hence the growth in Lager whichalthough not that different was colder,generally stronger and importantly waswell marketed by the breweries because ofthe better margins– remember Hoffmeisterthe Bear anyone?

CAMRA helped change all that and nowthe majority of pubs will sell a

variety of beers, lagers and ciderson tap or in bottles and in

addition there are now over1,000 micro-breweriescoming up with differentbeers all the time –knowing that there is

demand for their product, ifthey get it right. Consumers

at this moment have morechoice than they ever have had in

the beer that they drink. I think themain challenge now for CAMRA is to helpkeep all the good pubs open.

So what has all this got to do with taxi

drivers? Apart from keeping a few of themore inebriated passengers awake whenyou’re taking them home, I think it is about‘following the customer’.

Generally speaking where there is acommodity that is available from a lot ofplaces, those that service the customer willgenerally do well. The taxi industry has nothad to deal with a large consumer groupbut if it did, I think you’d get these types ofresponses: ‘Fixed prices’; ‘Credit and debitcards’; ‘air conditioning’; ‘availability’; ‘bookin advance’. These are the kind of thingsthat are meaning more and more to manyof our traditional customers who havestarted using private hire and of courseUBER and they are unlikely to return, untilthe taxi industry (including drivers) provethat they are truly adapting to change.

Improvements are being made, buteveryone needs to adapt not just some – TfLwill get around to specific customer gripes,but it is a slow pace of change and in themeantime others are taking advantage – sowe must all act now and thereby we can allmake a difference.

So as I sample a beer at the Great BritishBeer Festival at Olympia (in the future asI write but finished as you read) I will bethinking of you all. Cheers!

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Wally Gobetz

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ONE OF RADIO TAXIS MOST POWERFULmarketing tools in our business is you, thedrivers.

With over 2000 of you providing a great service toour customers, we look to you in order to promoteRadio Taxis to all of your Street Hailed customers.

This is so that we can start to generate new clients, who maystart off as cash or credit card customers, but they mayhopefully turn into loyal Radio Taxis account customers.

With the launch of our fantastic new website, wewant to get as many people viewing it as possible. So weare launching a business card that you can put in theback of your cab or hand to passengers when you givethem their change. This will create more awareness ofRadio Taxis and it will also encourage people todownload our app or to view the website.

So just what are the other benefits of handing outthese cards?

The business card is one of the most powerfulbusiness tools – pound for pound – you can invest in.

It’s compact, energy-efficient, low-cost, low-tech andit keeps working for you hours, weeks and even yearsafter it leaves your hands!

These are some of the things a business card can do:� Tell people the name of our business� Provide passengers with a way to contact us� Give them a taste of our work, style and personality� It can be reused, as it passes from person to person,

giving the same message to each person who comesinto contact with it

� Win more work, which in turn, will make youmore money

However, from our point of view (and from yourstandpoint too) the main function of our business cardis to gain business from the person you give it to.

Now when a person books with Radio Taxis, they willreceive an SMS text message asking them if they wouldlike to open an account. So for every business card thatyou handout there is the chance, that person may openan account, which will generate more work.

ACCOUNT CARDS In addition to the Business Cards we will also besupplying you with Pre-paid business reply paid postcards, which you can give to passengers who are

interested in opening an account with us. Just put yourcall sign on the card and for every customer that opensan account with us you will receive £25 (once they havespent their first £25). So get chatting to your customersand help us in this quest to start generating some newaccounts. It can be a win/win for us all.

We shall be handing out both types of these cards atStation Road and also at ranks around town. We reallyneed you to be as enthusiastic and positive about thisproject as we are; as some of the potential success of thiscampaign will be driven by you.

So if you can also, take some extra cards to give toyour friends on the circuit, feel free to do so as it will bea great help.

WHEEL CHAIR RAMPS I need your help and cooperation for one more thing.Can you please check that your wheelchair ramps areworking properly in your cabs, we have had a couple ofoccasions, in recent times, where a passenger hasrequired ramps on a job only for the driver to turn upwith them not working, leaving the account customervery unhappy. So please, just have a quick check if youhaven’t used them in a while.

Many thanks. Dan Ellis.

Business CardsBy Dan Ellis – Technical ManagerDriver Services

14

We are now over half way through the year and things do not get easier with all ofthe financial woes going on. It is the time of the year when those Tax demandsstart dropping through your letterboxes again, for some a time of dread.

Our Credit Union has once again been inundated with applications for loans and

savings withdrawals from members, not one has been disappointed, all have great

peace of mind to get over this hurdle. The concern for many of you who do not

belong to the Credit Union has again caused headaches for some of you; if you need a

loan you will pay an exorbitant rate, that is if you can get one.

If you join now you will be eligible, if needed, to take a loan to cover this expense

for the next demand in January 2015, or just save as much or as little as you like.

Once again I cannot emphasise enough how useful being a member is, you

may apply for a loan for whatever reason you may have, no questions asked. Apart

from the tax issue you may want to take a holiday or buy items for home, or you

can just save for a rainy day, your choice.

Ask any of your friends who are members just how easy it was to raise

money for whatever reason they may have had.

Join now, it is so much easier to have money deducted from your

account work than having to come in to pay, alternatively if you wish, you

may pay by Standing Order direct from your Bank/Building Society, you

decide how much you wish to save each month.

A TYPICAL LOAN FROM RADIO TAXICABS (LONDON)CREDIT UNION LTD IS AS FOLLOWS:£1,000 over 12 months will cost you £88.85 a month, total

loan repayment is £1,066.20, interest payable is only £66.20,

beat that if you can. In addition to this all loans and savings

are insured and fully protected in the event of an untimely

death, this normally costs a great deal more with other

lenders.

For an application form or other

information, or if you just want to discuss

anything relating to the Credit Union just give us

a call, we would be happy to discuss this with you.

Call Maria Collu on 020 7561 5148

Monday to Friday between 10:00am and

4:00pm.

Email: maria.collu@radiotaxis.co.uk

CreditUnionRadio Taxicabs ( London) Credit Union Ltd No. 90C

Mountview House, Lennox Road, London N4 3TX

Tel: 020 7561 5148 Fax: 020 7561 5166

Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority FRN. 213232

Why not join the Credit Union now!

15

IS IT ME OR HAS SOMEONE GOT IT INfor taxi drivers in London? The latest barmyproposal comes from Camden Council.

They want to make Gower Street two-way for allvehicles, as if it’s not congested enough; and theyrecommend that cabs would then be banned

from Charing Cross Road between Cambridge Circusand Oxford Street.

I hear you sighing already, but wait, the main theme ofthis “batty” plan continues with TottenhamCourt Road becoming two-way for buses andpedal cycles only, between 8am to 7pmMonday to Saturday.

During these hours taxis would only beallowed access to a small section ofTottenham Court Road via side streets.The proposal goes on to say that the areawould have less traffic as a whole, but some streetswould see an increase in traffic (no kidding Sherlock!)

Radio Taxis has put in a strong condemnation ofthese plans and hopefully so have other interestedparties. Anyone who feels able to make a cogentargument using, wherever possible, an evidence baseddisapproval should write to Camden, let’s hope thetrade takes this up (perhaps through social media too)before it becomes set in stone.

We will keep you all informed as soon as we hearany news.

The Crossrail project of course continues to disrupttraffic in London, as forty two kilometres of newtunnels are being built to link Reading and Heathrowin the west with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east.

There will be 10 new stations at Paddington, BondStreet, Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon, LiverpoolStreet, Whitechapel, Canary Wharf, Custom House,Woolwich and Abbey Wood. The remaining are 30

existing Network Rail stations.These tunnels are being drilled using

eight, one thousand ton, boring machinesthat are one hundred and forty metres inlength and have the equivalent force oflifting three thousand nine hundred, LondonTaxis. This project is due to be ready andrunning in Central London by late 2018 and

it should be completed in 2019 with the total fundingamounting to £14.8 Billion.

It is said that it will bring an additional one and ahalf million people to within forty five minutes ofCentral London. The impact on the Taxi trade is notyet known. Often the effect of more people coming inand through town is to bring the trade a smallpercentage of the additional footfall, who knows?Only time will tell.

CROSSRAIL –Proposed Pedestrianisationof Tottenham Court RoadBy Alan Franks – Group Operations Director

We booked a taxi a couple of weeksago and my son left his toy taxi inthe cab. As he rarely loses things,my son was quite upset. Imagine hisdelight when a few days later aneighbour gave us the same car andsaid that the taxi driver dropped itback to our apartment building.

We are very thankful to the driver(my son in particular)! That istruly great customer service!

Please pass on our sincere thanksto the driver.

If you need to work out who the taxidriver was, the pickup was on 5thJune 2014 at around 3pm from,Eamont Street, London NW8 7DG.

Thanks, Jatin.

Jatin OndhiaShojin Capital Partners32 Bloomsbury StreetLondonWC1B 3QJ

Dear Customer Services

Roger Sligo on themysteries of hidden London

CuriosityCornerCuriosityCorner

The Old AeroWorksI ADMIT TO BEINGan Art Deco lover andluckily enough, Londonhas a good variety ofbuildings left to whet myappetite. Some of thesewonderful buildings areunfortunately hiddenaway from public view inthe wrong places.

One such building is the formertyre factory which belonged tothe Palmer Tyre Company and is

at the back of Edgware Road nearLisson Grove bounded by PenfoldStreet, Frampton Street, Hatton Streetand Boscobel Street.

Built in the 1920s for the Palmer TyreCompany who also produced wheels,tyres, brakes and gun turrets, whichwere fitted to wartime Spitfires,Hurricanes, Wellingtons and Lancaster’s,both fighters and bomber aircraft.

You won’t however find the nameSpitfire Works anywhere on this buildingas they never actually built Spitfireshere, although there is a black and whiteplaque on the wall in Hatton Streetdepicting the aeroplanes they did makeparts for, also metal Spitfire sculptureson the roof. The company continuedaerospace research and development inthis building right up until 1984.

When you are in the St John’s Woodarea make sure you divert to see this ArtDeco beauty of Hatton Street, if you getthe chance.

16

Spitfire sculptures

The plaque in Hatton Street

17

London Upside Down

FOLLOWING ON FROMthe Upside Down Houseprinted in our last issueand sent in by JeffMiddleton (V70) I amdiscovering more andmore Upside Downthings in London.

Shortly after the last publicationTim Harlow (G54) wrote to meabout the original Upside Down

House on the Regent Canal.The entrance to this house is from theupper storey at 120 Lisson Grove,known locally as “The Upside DownHouse.” It was built in 1902 for themanager responsible for controllingbarges that supplied coal to the nearbyelectricity station. The detached househas five bedrooms, four bathroomsand two reception rooms and is worthan estimated £2,173,507 – What anupside down world we live in!Moving on to Kentish Town, ourupside down readers may neverventure far enough off the beatentrack to find that Leighton Crescenthas a small private park complete withan upside down tree. It’s a cut-downtree with an iron balcony or pulpitattached. I have searched all thecouncil records and it is just called the“upside down tree” with no otherexplanation!Roger Sligo.

The upside down tree

18

DIGITAL DISRUPTERS; NO IT ISnot the name of a group, at leastas far as I am aware, but it is adigitally based business thatdisrupts existing “heritage”businesses and indeed,sometimes can even disruptwhole industries, wholebusinesses and all because theirstaff and management are usedto using old fashionedmethodologies. Technologychanges for sure and furthermorethe pace of change isaccelerating.

The most recent phenomena is the Digital age,which has without doubt, “changed the game”.The so called digital disrupters have entered

many markets, not just our own; and ourcompetitors, our customers and our partners are nowalmost all going digital.

I am grateful to the Research made available by theNetworked Society at Ericsson, which looks into thewhole picture. It is clear that businesses will have tocreate or improve their digital connections bothinternally and externally.

Banking, for instance, is being transformed. The oldfull service banks aim to drive through more customertransactions at lower unit costs and to head for realtime transactions to boot. Strangely, branches are stillpopular but visits are more interactive andappointments are now usually to see an expert of somesort. The costs of servicing fully digital bank accountsare said to be 70% lower per household thantraditional accounts. There is also the little matter of2.5billion people who are “unbanked”.

In my profession as a Company Secretary I have hadsome experience of dealing with businesses whoarrange payments in Africa via mobile phones, whenaccess to banks and security for cash can posesignificant problems.

What digital disrupters often do is to “mine” big data,

The Digital By Robert MacDonald Watson,

whereby they open up new revenue streams, measure risk andidentify sales and cost saving opportunities. Every time wecarry out a transaction these days someone is getting aninsight into our behaviour and spotting trends using analyticsfrom the internet.

The mantra seems to be to eliminate the middlemen,have less waste, reduce storage, decentralise production andcustomise products.This obviously has an effect on manufacturing and retailing.Just look at the way Amazon operates, for example.They have developed in order to dominate e-trade over avast range of retail categories and by no means only just inbooks now. You can order virtually anything throughAmazon.

Traditional businesses are giving ground to versatiletechnology platforms, to open market places and tonetworked company structures. A networked group, whomay be in one company, will try to piece together productsand services then test them out and at that juncture, improvethem. Many fail quickly and at that point they try again.

The process is much more inclusive at best and caninvolve “crowd sourcing” to pick brains in all sorts of places.At the same time tapping a new form of capital called“Crowd Funding” to raise the cash to support thedeveloping business.

These platforms are no longer things that we catch trainsfrom but they are foundation products beyond product thatencourage others to build, collaborate with and/or iterate ontop of. Then along comes Apple with their APP Store.The platform, as a consequence, moves onto a technologyinfrastructure, which then includes a range of other outsideproducts.

19

DisruptersGroup Company Secretary

Facebook – This is a classic, a rapidlyexpanding technology platform changingfrom a student network to a worldwidesocial network. A rapidly growing numberof other services now use the Facebooklogin for marketing and advertising.

The following internet based open market places are thenatural disrupters, the key being simplicity and ease of use:

ebay – Originated as a platformfor second hand auctions, whichpeople are familiar with andwhich expand exponentially.

Airbnb – Suddenly the market moves fromhotels to people’s own houses or rooms andopens up a huge range of new choices foraccommodation. You can rent a place in over34,000 cities and 190 countries.

Netflix – This starts life as amail subscription rental serviceand “morphs” into a hugestreamer of video through itsuser interface design andrecommendation system so as tojeopardise the Video rentalbusiness and cinemas.

Google – Originally based on analgorithm for on line searchengines and one that connectsadvertisers to those search results.

Spotify – Free music downloads if youdon’t mind putting up with advertising,otherwise its by subscription and they areinvolved in an on-going battle overroyalties to artists.

You Tube –As an example of building ona platform, it enables its sports partners tobroadcast highlights, to archive material andeven to “stream” live events, also to search andturn into cash the fans own selected content.

BT Sport – Nobody sitscomfortably for long as BTdecides to barge its way into themarket of those current existingsports rights holders like SkySports.

New disrupters are often on the mobile first, the idea beingto build a great product that instead of being built up justby the old word of mouth method is promoted digitally.

Digital businesses have to “monetise” themselves.In simple language they have to earn revenue fromadvertising, also from fee subscriptions as well as frompay-per-use. Other methods of “Monetisation” aresponsorships, service charges, download fees and evenvirtual in-service currencies like Bitcoin.

What end users are looking for is data privacy andservice quality. Inevitably, the use of ratings comes inhand, for instance a bit like those seen on Trip Advisor.

Times have changed, not just in housing from owningto renting, driven by high costs. Users of digital servicesand products tend to rent, stream, share, download andsubscribe rather than owning and consuming.

I will leave the notorious disruption caused in our ownindustry by HAILO and UBER to those of our team whoare much better qualified to comment, but we can look tosee at what is coming up in our specific line of work.

The invention of 3D printing may sell a vision of aproduct, designing it digitally and being able then tomanufacture it on demand. Then there is the futuristic,wearable technology, such as Google glasses; smartwatches and bionic contact lenses; as well as voicerecognition; eye tracking and Geolocation.

Finally, it will no doubt not just be pets that mightcarry implanted microchips.

The “I want it and I want it now” syndrome, these dayswe have to give immediate access to exactly what thecustomer wants, whenever and however he or she wants it.

Sales people referred to CRM or customer relationshipmanagement, which is now being turned on its head.

The good news is that personal talent is the new asset.To be up with the disrupters we have to achieve a realunderstanding of current user needs and of technicalsolutions. We do have an ability to tackle these needs morequickly and effectively than most anyone else. As PwC putit, try designing your fiercest competitor.

20

ON THE MORNING OF JULY 4TH 1829,a large crowd gathered outside ofthe Yorkshire Stingo pub in OldMarylebone Road almost oppositeChapel Street. The reason for such

a large gatheringwas to see thelaunch of thefirst twoOmnibusesleaving for BankJunction in theCity of London.

The chosenroute was Marylebone

Road, Euston Road, Pentonville Road, CityRoad and Moorgate terminating at Prince’sStreet by the Bank of England in the Cityof London.

This new service was provided by MrGeorge Shillibeer, who was born in 1797 atTottenham Court Road. Shillibeer had workedfor a while in Paris in 1825 for M. Lafitte,

who, besides being a banker, was also theproprietor of the world’s first Omnibus and inwhich Shillibeer had also assisted in itsbuilding. The first Omnibus was started byJacques Lafitte, in Paris, in 1819 during thereign of Louis XVIII and had been a popularsuccess.

Earlier Shillibeer had been aMidshipman in the British Navy; he quit theservice to work at Hatchett’s in London’sLong Acre, Covent Garden, to learn Coach-building. After his training he took over hisown premises in Bury Street Bloomsbury,where he began to build a new vehicle calledan Omnibus, although many people at thetime referred to them as “Shillibeer’s,” laterof course, to be known simply as Buses.

These first Buses carried twenty-twopassengers all inside; the fare fromPaddington to the Bank, was a shilling (fivepence in today’s money), half way was sixpence (two and a half pence).

Newspapers and magazines were

“…a driver was charged with

manslaughter for running

over and killing a man

in City Road while racing

another Omnibus…”

George Shillibeer –The London Omnib

Shillibeer’s grave, Chigwell

21

provided free of charge. The first few conductorsemployed were friends of Shillibeer’s from the navy,who were attired in ‘blue cloth’ uniforms, cut to thestyle of a Navy midshipman. Once trade picked up,Shillibeer was taking £100 per day and naturally hisbuses soon spread across London! The first company tocopy this service was “The Post Office” and very soonothers competed for passengers, Shillibeer renaminghis buses as “Shillibeer’s Original Omnibuses.”

Then in 1835 the railway was introduced intoLondon. The rivalry of competing Omnibus companiesbecame so bad, that in 1842 a driver was charged withmanslaughter for running over and killing a man inCity Road while racing another Omnibus doing twelvemiles an hour, a dangerous speed in crowdedthoroughfares with horses to stop.

The offenders were fined only a few shillings andcontinued their subsequent behaviour.

With all that growing competition, Shillibeer wasultimately pushed out of the London Transportationnetwork altogether and he then moved into thebuilding of ‘Shillibeer Funeral Coaches’ and his name,

which had been connectedwith buses soon becameforgotten.

Shillibeer died in 1866 atthe age of sixty nine. He isburied at St Mary’s ChurchGraveyard near to his home,Grove house (demolished in1964) at Chigwell in Essex.Roger Sligo.

bus Pioneer

Shillibeer stables entrance

22

Mountview driver retires after more than 40 years

Name Twitter address DescriptionKnowledge of London @KnowledgePoint One of the most interesting London sites with

lots of fascinating trivia, history and famousLondon Landmarks. Run and managed by ourown Mountview News editor Roger Sligo.www.knowledgeoflondon.com

Radio Taxis @Rtg_London The world’s first carbon neutral taxi company –taxis that don’t cost the earth! To book nowcall 020 7272 0272 or download the App!

The LTDA @TheLTDA The Licensed Taxi Drivers Association.

Gordon Thom @londontourguide A London taxi driver and City of London tourguide with www.londontaxitour.com

Jamie @SuperCabby London Taxi driver of 21 years, passionate about our trade.

TfLTPH @TfLTPH Official updates for London Taxi and PrivateHire trades by Transport for London.

TheLondonTaxiCoUK @LondonTaxiCoUK Since 1948 we’ve produced & sold THE BlackCab. London Taxi + Knowledgeable driver =global British icon.

Radio Taxis @Rtg_London The world’s first carbon neutral taxi company –taxis that don’t cost the earth!www.radiotaxis.co.uk

Thomas the Taxi! © @thomasthetaxi Writer, Journalist, Short Film Maker,Taxi Driver, Troublemaker, Toutbuster.Never ever give up.www.taxileaks.blogspot.com

In that time I know that more and morereaders of Mountview News have alsojoined Twitter – a valuable source of

information and entertainment. I havebecome a regular on the site and find it helpsme to stay in touch with news about Londonand communicate directly to drivers andcustomers.

Recently I have noticed a lot moreengagement on my TimeLine from people inthe taxi industry, often talking about importantissues affecting our trade. It has of course beena busy time with much of the trade uniting toraise concerns about how we are regulated byTfL and the future of our industry.

I therefore thought it would be helpful to

point you in the direction of a few accountsthat would enable you to be involved in moreconversations with, and about, those fromour industry.

They aren’t endorsements of the views oropinions you will find on the accounts – andeveryone in the taxi industry has a view, butrather a cross section of a few who are talkingabout our industry and who you might liketo follow.

If you are in the trade and tweetingregularly send me a tweet to @radiotaxis_bossand I will follow you back: Even if you are notin the trade but a relative, tweet me and I’llfollow back too.Happy tweeting!

Twittering about TaxisStaying in touch with industry chat and personalities

by @radiotaxis_boss (Geoffrey Riesel)

23

OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS this feature hasbeen giving tips and advice on how to useTwitter and interesting accounts to follow.

24

FOR MANY CENTURIES LONDON BRIDGEwas the only structure for crossing theRiver Thames. London Bridge refers toseveral historical bridges that havespanned the River Thames between theCity of London and Southwark. The “Old”(medieval) London Bridge was built byPeter de Colechurch and it was finishedby 1209 during the reign of King John. Ithad taken thirty three years to completeand John licensed out building plots onthe bridge, to help recoup the costs; butit was never enough.

In 1284, in exchange for loans to the royal purse,the City of London acquired the Charter for itsmaintenance, based on the duties and toll-rightsof the former “Brethren of the Bridge.”

By the Tudor era there were some two hundredbuildings on the bridge. Some stood up to seven storieshigh, some of them overhung the river by up to sevenfeet; and some of them overhung the road itself.This formed a dark tunnel through which all traffichad to pass. The roadway was just twelve feet (fourmetres) wide, divided into two lanes, so that in eachdirection, carts, wagons, coaches and pedestrians each

shared a passageway only six feet wide. When thebridge was congested, crossing it could take up to anhour. Those who could afford the fare might prefer tocross by ferry, but the bridge structure had severalundesirable effects on river-traffic. The narrow archesand wide pier bases restricted the river’s tidal ebb andflow, so that in hard winters, the water upstream of thebridge became more susceptible to freezing and thusimpassable by boat. This medieval bridge lasted over600 years.

In 1799, a competition for designs to replace the oldbridge was held. Entrants included Thomas Telford,whose proposal of a single iron arch spanning sixhundred feet (one hundred and eighty metres) wasrejected as unfeasible and impractical. John Renniewon the competition with a more conventional designof five stone arches. It was built one hundred feet(thirty metres) west (upstream) of the original site byJolliffe and Banks of Merstham, Surrey, under thesupervision of Rennie’s son. Work began in 1824 andthe foundation stone was laid, in the Southern Coffer,on 15th June 1825. The old bridge continued in usewhile the new bridge was being built and it was thendemolished after the latter opened in 1831.

New approach roads had to be built, which costthree times as much as the bridge itself. The total costs,around £2.5 million (£192 million in today’s money).The approach road to the Old London Bridge was fromFish Street Hill and through the side of St. Magnus theMartyr. The present church was built by Wren after the

Crossing the ThamesBy Roger Sligo

fire of 1666. It was found necessary to provide betteraccommodation for pedestrians crossing Old LondonBridge; an archway was cut through the tower of StMagnus. Wren had anticipated this, so the work wascarried out without difficulty. When the newer bridgewas built it was moved one hundred yards west, so FishStreet Hill and the church entrance became redundant.

After London Bridge, the next to be built wasPutney Bridge in 1726 and then Westminster Bridge in1738 – today we have a line of bridges crossing theThames with the newest being the MillenniumFootbridge, which opened in June 2000 – because itwobbled so much it closed after just two days,modifications were made to eliminate the wobbleentirely. It reopened in 2002.

Plans are now underway for a new £40m pedestrianand cycle only bridge which could be named after itssponsor. The only other river crossing named after thesponsors is the Excel to Greenwich cable cars – theEmirates Air Line – which received £35m backing fromthe Middle East carrier. The new bridge would be builtsomewhere between Nine Elms and Pimlico. One ofthe favoured spots is from the new American Embassyto Dolphin Square. I can just imagine some bigAmerican brand names sponsoring that one, calling itthe Coca Cola Bridge, Google Bridge, Amazon Bridgeor the McDonalds Big Mac Bridge! As it is going to befor cyclists and pedestrians only I would like it namedafter bicycles – how about the BMX Bridge or PennyFarthing Bridge?

Bridges are just like buses, you wait for one to comealong and two come all at once! Boris Johnson hasplans for a garden Bridge without traffic including nocycling, although it is thought that many cyclists willignore the ban as they do with pavements and trafficlights!

The London Mayor insisted that the £150 millionbridge, which is being built with £30 million ofgovernment money and £30 million matched byTransport for London, which Johnson oversees aschairman, would “transform” the local area. The bridgewas devised by actress Joanna Lumley and designed byThomas Heatherwick. It is hoped that the hanginggarden, will, after planning permission has been given,be finished by 2018. The reason for a garden river

crossing from the Temple to the Southbank is unclear,but I think I have the perfect name for it – “Paradise!”

Roger Sligo.

NB: Since writing, Radio Taxis Chairman GeoffreyRiesel attended a consultation presentation organisedby the London Chamber of Commerce, at CanaryWharf. He told us about this presentation of thecurrent consultation on River Crossings in EastLondon which was made by Richard de Cani, who isthe Director of Strategy and Policy, TfL in respect ofBridges and crossings.

It seems that the main reason there are lesscrossings East of Tower Bridge is the logistics of theincreasing width of the river. To build bridges on widerreaches of the river, height clearance is required forbigger ships more spans etc, swivel bridges which stoptraffic are counterproductive and if bridges are builttoo high, it could be a problem for City Airport interms of take-off and landings. Also the bigger thebridge the longer the run up to them and bridge runup areas frequently become blighted.

Digging tunnel crossings are also considerably moreexpensive and time consuming to build as well as beinghuge feats of engineering. However TfL are looking atthe possibility of a tunnel possibly somewhere not farfrom the Woolwich Ferry, which is in itself becomingobsolete. The difficulty with a new tunnel is that inSouth London; particularly the road network wouldneed to be totally revamped to cope with the traffic.So there are lots of knock on effects and demands onconstrained financial resources.

To have your say, go online respond to theconsultation and also find out what the issues are:www.consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/river-crossings

25

26

IN THE NEW DIGITAL AGE,WEBSITES ARE the modernday version of the shopwindow. As John Lewis andDebenhams race towards ahigher percentage ofturnover being realisedfrom their online sales,rather than through theirstores and what is more,many companies are nowopting to have only anonline presence and noteven having any “physical”shops or high streetoutlets, so it follows that acompany’s website says alot about an organisation.

In other words a small company with a great websitecan make them look better than say M&S forexample. Well we feel that we are the “M&S” of the

taxi trade and it’s certainly about time that our onlinepresence reflected that.

Over the past six months Radio Taxis has beendesigning, building and testing the newwww.radiotaxis.co.uk website. It was built by aninnovative, young company called “Foxcreateur” whowork out of the “Google Campus” near Old Streetroundabout. The coordinator and art director for thepurposes of the project was our own MarketingDirector, Robert Stead and the three othercontributors to the finished product were our esteemedchairman, Geoffrey Riesel, long term RT staff memberPenny Cuckston and Group Strategic Director PeterGibson (Penny, who is finance manager, has beenseconded to very ably assist in our marketing drive.)

There are three very short films on the homepage ofthe website and the fourth, the driver segment is thelongest of the four and it is also, conceivably, the mostimpressive – we hope that you will play this minidocumentary film all the way through, (about 7minutes) as it is quite moving and shows Radio Taxis

drivers in a very favourable light as well as beingreflective of what a good industry we are.

The rationale behind the creation of a new website is todrive revenue. In cabman’s terms, “to drum up work!”

The Digital Age and wor... how and why we

27

Peter Gibson told the story of when he worked forSketchley Dry Cleaners, many years ago, in his pre-cabdriver days; he described how they had some fairly robuststatistics which confirmed that, sales increased by up to15% in the first year after the shop front had a facelift. Inthis new digital age it will be interesting to see if this istranslated through to our online sales.Of course we will not just be leaving it to chance, we haveemployed an agency to undertake a substantial and

complete digital marketing campaign, not to mention thequarter of a million hand-out cards that we will be givingto you to distribute to your passengers. That combinedwith an incentive scheme for drivers to get their customersto fill out an enquiry card to open an account. The systemwill have our new online quote fixed price & pre-pay bycard booker on it and we will then “complete the circle” byautomatically sending every cash or credit card customer,an SMS text message with a link to open an account.

A new shop window with a different and much easierway to book and pay for a taxi online is all good stuff but,as Selfridges Christmas window display is only any good ifyou get to see it, we do need to make the world aware ofthe new website and we will need your help in drivingtraffic towards the new www.radiotaxis.co.uk website.

Take a look at it yourself and if you like what you see,tell others. If you don’t like what you see, then tell us.Like all good shop windows it needs to be alive, dynamicand relevant. You can help us to keep the new website

vibrant. If you have an idea to help us reach out to thegreat, digital taxi using public, please email us and let usknow what you think we should be doing to drum up evenmore work.

The website is formatted for all devices, so that means itworks not only on a PC or Laptop but also on a “Tablet” or“Smartphone” and it will automatically adjust the websiteparameters to fit the device. There’s a Driver’s section as wellas all the other “departments” or “sections” required to

complete our digital shop window.The overarching theme of the website is “the best way to

get around London”. We know this to be true and we need tomake sure that we say it often; and that we also say it outloud. Your assistance will not go amiss as far as spreading theword of how the new and refurbished “digital” Radio Taxis –is open for business as well as bigger and better than ever!

www.radiotaxis.co.ukbuilt a new website

THE SCOTTISHGOVERNMENT ARE

expecting a sustained rise in domesticand overseas visits to Scotland in generaland Glasgow in particular, as a result ofan increase in the profile of Scotlandinternationally, afforded by hosting the2014 Commonwealth Games this summer.

It’s one of those relatively odd facts, thatduring the 2012 Olympics, the amount ofoverseas tourists visiting London actually fell

by 5% when compared to the previous August in2011; at least that’s according to the Office forNational Statistics (ONS). This may have beenbecause of fears of overcrowding due to theLondon Olympics and the ‘unseasonably’ wetweather in August 2012.

So has there been a post-Olympic tourism boostto London?

The answer, according to the 2014 GlobalDestinations Cities Index produced by Mastercard,UK is a resounding “yes”; with London topping alist of the most popular global city destinations.

The city is expected to receive 18.7 millionvisitors in 2014, equating to about £11bn beingspent. Bangkok was the second most popular citywith 16.4 million visitors predicted for 2014.

The MasterCard index ranks cities on thenumber of their total international visitor arrivalsand the cross-border spending by those visitors,incorporating visitor and passenger growthforecasts for 2014.

The top 5 cities for overnight visitors predictedfor 2014 are:

� London: 18.7 million

� Bangkok: 16.4 million

� Paris: 15.6 million

� Singapore: 12.5 million

� Dubai: 12 million

With Nostradamus’ levels of predictive ability,Gillian Edwards, spokesperson for the Associationof British Travel Agents (Abta) said shortly after the2012 Games: “We would expect a tourism boost fromthe Games to come in the next few years and it will beessential for the UK to continue to market itself athome and overseas to make the most of theopportunities that being a host nation has opened up.”

Indeed, this is the third time in four years thatLondon has topped the list, missing out to Bangkoklast year – although the running street battles inThailand, the military coup, the curfews and theimposition of martial law have probably all nothelped much to encourage their prospective visitornumbers in 2014!

Earlier this year the ONS released data whichshowed that London had 16.8 million visitors in2013 which was the highest recorded number ofoverseas visitors since records began in 1961.

Using information on the total number ofinternational arrivals and spending from overnightvisitors, Mastercard found that 67% of London’sinternational visitors come from other Europeancities, although our capital city’s top “feeder” wasNew York.

With his usual level ofunderstatement, BorisJohnson remarked; “Our cityperfectly combines history,heritage, arts and culture, notto mention vast amounts ofgreen space and major eventsthat are the envy of the planet.”Certainly, the envy of thosetourists who got stuck behinda tank in a traffic jam indowntown Bangkok!

FARES FAIRWe are constantly hearing about how expensiveairport taxi fares are in London. So much so thatyou would think that the rest of the world is a

At Home he feelslike a TouristBy Roy HughesDirector of Commercial Development

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Utopia of cheap airporttransfers, but actuallyLondon has some seriouscompetition when it comesto the cost of airport taxifares.

According to recentresearch, conducted byDigital Hothouse, taxipassengers in Christchurch,the biggest city on NewZealand’s South Island, facean average rate equating to£2.30 per kilometer.Christchurch’s nearneighbour Queenstown wasbarely any cheaper, comingsecond in the poll at an average rate of £2.25 perkilometer. Two other New Zealand cities – thecapital Wellington and the biggest metropolisAuckland – also made the top ten. Costs seem to bebarely any less on the other side of the Tasman Sea– where three Australian cities also make the topfive for the most expensive airport cab journeys.

Sydney is listed as the chief Australian offender,with an average rate per kilometer of £2.17, while,west-coast metropolis Perth and the capital ofVictoria, Melbourne, are also named and shamed

for the price of their airport taxis.London only ‘achieved’ eighth place in the costs

of taxis table, below the likes of Wellington andPerth – however, London was listed as the mostexpensive city in Europe, and pricier than cities inthe United States.

All worth remembering next time you have avisitor from New Zealand or Australia in the backof your cab!

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No winners for the Marchissue of the Where Am IContest, so again we

repeat the same clue from thelast issue;

CLUE 1: I am looking through the window of a

London Undertakers. They are so proud of a

famous person whose funeral they arranged over

two-hundred years ago, from this very same

establishment that they have kept

several artefacts associated with the

deceased person and which are still on

display, including a block of wood and

a rusty nail shown in our picture.

Where Am I?

CLUE 2:

To help you in your search I am adding

another picture clue (right) also

displayed in the same window of the undertakers.

This picture is of a miniature coffin, an exact copy

of the original made for their famous client, who

was buried in the crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral after

a colourful state funeral. Where Am I?

The prize goes up to *£50 worth of

M&S Vouchers.

If you think you know the answer

please email:

mvn.editor@radiotaxis.co.uk

with your answers. Include your

name and call sign.

You can also enter by sending your

answer via Snail Mail to:

Where Am I Contest

Mountview News

Radio Taxis Group Limited

Mountview House

Lennox Road

LONDON N4 3TX

Roger Sligo asks:“Where am I?”WIN £50*

Give your brains a reallygood work out!

HAVE A GO AT THIS ISSUE’SSUDOKU PUZZLE!

The object is to write in the missing numbers inthe empty boxes below. But to satisfy only

one condition: each row, column and 3 x 3 box mustcontain the digits 1 through to 9 exactly once.

What could be simpler?Hooked?

Well you can find many more Sudoko puzzles online FREE by going to: www.sudoku.cc

The Mountview Puzzler Page

Jotting space

???

MOUNTVIEW SUDOKU

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CLUES ACROSS1. Wave riders5. Restraint8. Marine crustacean9. Moment10. Small common brownish

bird12. Internal part of poultry15. Impertinent18. Abduct20. Postmortem examination23. Capital of Georgia25. Incomplete26. Visage27. Listener

CLUES DOWN1. Slender cord2. Clarets3. Angers4. Old sailors5. Venomous snake6. Member of a Rotary Club7. Muscular strength11. Select13. One-celled organisms14. Makes brown16. Ceded17. Downy19. Actor21. Composure22. Seaport in the Crimea24. Resting place