MountviewMountviewNewsNews

June 2011

Has the“Kipper Season”Ended?

HAVE YOU REALLY HAD TO STRUGGLE TO PAYYOUR TAX BILL ON TIME?I am still at a loss why not as to why many of you have not joined the Credit Union. Maybe it’s theworry that your savings may not be protected. Well let me allay those fears. All savings, like Banks,Building Societies, Credit Unions and all other financial services are covered by the Financial ServicesAuthority compensatory scheme up to a maximum of £85,000 for each member. In addition to thisour Credit Union covers you in the event that something should happen to you and your familywould be left with a debt, this is not the case. If you have an outstanding loan this would be coveredby our insurance scheme paid by us so that the loan would be cleared without any worry to yourfamily. Also any savings that you may have had would be returned to your next of kin, sometimes upto two and a half times that amount. I hope that this would encourage you to join. I know for a factthat there were many drivers who were struggling to pay their tax on time, this does not happen tomembers of the Credit Union, they have peace of mind when it is time to pay. Again there were manycalls that came from non credit union members panicking over how they were going to pay their bill,unfortunately they were not eligible as they were not members and did not know that there is aqualifying period of three months of regular saving before a loan can be granted.

I ONCE AGAIN URGE YOU TO JOIN.Now is the time to join Radio Taxis Credit Union. In this current economic climate it really is astruggle to save when money is so tight, you know how difficult it is to save directly from yourpocket, much easier when it is deducted at source from your credits. You may also pay in by Cheque,Cash or alternatively by Standing Order even by Credit Card

Ask any of your friends who already belong how useful being a member really is, loans may be usedfor whatever you want. It really is very easy to join, you decide how much you want to save eachmonth and we will deduct it from your credit work on a monthly basis, much easier than having topay in each month.

A typical loan from Radio Taxicabs (London) Credit Union Ltdis as follows: £1,000 over 12 months will cost you £88.85 amonth, total loan repayment is £1,066.20, interest payable is only£66.20, beat that if you can.

You do not have to take a loan if you don’t want, just save anamount each month until you are ready to take out a ShareWithdrawal to pay for whatever you want.

For an application form please call Alan Woolf on020 7561 5148 any Tuesday or Wednesday before13.00hrs – or leave your name, address andtelephone number and we will return your call.

Email: alan.woolf@radiotaxis.co.uk

Still haven’t joined the Credit Union?WHY NOT?

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. 2132322

4 This month’s latest newsRoger Sligo keeps us all updated with the latest

6 Feel Good Factor – What Feel Good Factor?Geoffrey Riesel considers where we are

8 The Power of Brand AwarenessSteve Cooper on the Radio Taxis’ rear window sticker

10 Curiosity CornerRoger Sligo reveals another mystery of hidden London

11 Where Did Our Love Go?Roy Hughes on attraction and the thrill of the chase

12 Olympic UpdatePeter Gibson with more ‘need to know’ info

14 Working With Taxi DriversGordon Brown and his take on ‘cabbies’

15 We Won the London UndergroundAccount Again!Alan Franks on retaining this account for 5 more years

16 What is Spread Betting?We look at this in some detail

18 The Chelsea Flower Show and the End ofthe Kipper SeasonRoger Sligo knuckles down and explains it all

19 Wimbledon Tennis FortnightRobert MacDonald Watson talks about the famouschampionship that’s on his doorstep

20 Lost Property on TfL Network ReachesRecord NumbersWhat the top 10 items left on TfL’s network are

21 London Overground’s East London RouteDoubles Passenger Numbers in One Year! “The Culture Line” – is it easy travel in East London?

22 TfL Announces Initial Results FollowingRemoval of the Western Extension ofCongestion Charging ZoneLower than expected increase in traffic numbers

23 Out of the Pencils of BabesA look at some children’s school work howlers

24 Test Your KnowledgeRoger Sligo challenges you to guess where he is

25 The Mountview Puzzler PageWaiting for a fare? Grab a pen and go here

26 Letters & Emails to the EditorCabbie related correspondence etc

INSIDE THIS ISSUE MountviewNewsCONTENTS

3

What on earth is this?Find out on page 18.

What on earth is this?MOUNTVIEW NEWS EDITORIAL TEAM IS:Roger Sligo – Editor & photosPenny Cuckston – AdministrationDoug Canning – Graphic design, layout, artwork, printing & distributionGeoffrey Riesel & Peter Gibson – Board productionDesign: © 2011 / DC-Graphics / Barnet / Herts / EN5 5TP

T: 0208 440 1155 / W: www.dc-graphics.co.ukContent: © 2011 / Radio Taxis Group Ltd / Lennox Road / London / N4 3TX

The information and images contained in this Newsletter are subject to copyright.Unauthorised use, disclosure or copying without prior written permission is strictly prohibited.

ON A VERY BUSY NIGHT FOR TAXISin London, so perhaps not the best evening tobegin a mobile sticker unit (me with the help ofthe Sun Street Marshall – Steve) starting at7.15pm on Thursday the 12th of May. Well at leastit was better than to start the following day –Friday the 13th especially if you’re superstitious.

I was pleasantly surprised how eager andsupportive all the drivers were. They all seemedvery pleased that Radio Taxis had brought thestickers to them rather than having to lose timegoing to Station Road.

Sun Street was the ideal location for fittingstickers to cabs logged onto the rank. With only 10minutes or so for fitting (OK, it was my first timeand I was only a rookie) it meant no down timeor loss of earnings for drivers. Everyone was ingood humour and happy to take part in our fight back.

My first victim was Steve Jacobs – Fox 83 who seemed“game for a laugh” when being told of all the wonderfulprizes he might win he said; “I never win anything” – wellas someone once said; “it’s not the winning but the takingpart” Steve put his hands up and said “alright then stick’em up”.

Some drivers asked if it really does help with gettingmore work – well if you’re in the computer age do youorder shopping over the phone where you then have tospeak to someone? Most people prefer to order onlinedirect – texting is another way we avoid not having tospeak (who would have thought that would ever catchon?) having a phone in your hand yet preferring to takelonger and text! People prefer to buy online where they canfeel more in control of their purchases.

We have a similar size fleet to say Addison Lee, yet lookhow more noticeable they have become with rear windowlogos – just the name without any phone numbers – therear window is seen longer than any other part of the cab,

and can be visible from a longway ahead.

My first outing to sunny SunStreet was great fun and verysuccessful with increasing ourrear sticker numbers.Many thanks to the Marshalland all the drivers letting meloose on their rear windows, justreinforces my belief in what agreat bunch we all are.

Don’t be shy – next time themessage goes out, come and getstuck in!

THE LONDON MARATHON AT ASNAIL’S PACE Twenty-six-days after this year’s London Marathonhad finished, Lloyd Scott could still be found battlinghis way along the route. He had bravely slivered hisway along in some of the hottest conditionsimaginable on his belly for the most part. Doing it allfor the charity Action for Kids of which Radio Taxisare sponsors.

I had met Lloyd whilst covering last year’s LordMayors Show shortly after he had gained some famedoing that year’s marathon dressed as a deep sea diver.I gave him a call to congratulate him this time afterslugging it out.

Lloyd spoke of his ordeal and told how it gave hima “good insight into how kids with disabilities mustfind difficulty getting about”. He also admitted it wasfar harder than he ever imagined crawling his wayaround for over 26 miles.

I asked him what the worst part of the journey was– he said; “the most difficult bit was crossing the roads”,although he had a few helpers with him it was still abit scary going across traffic filled roads on yourstomach.

Sun StreetStick Up!

4

This month’s

NEWS

Steve Jacobs Lloyd Scott as Brian the Snail crosses the finishing line.

There were some funny bits too – like when Lloydslept out one night alone in Jubilee Gardens on theIsle of Dogs. He was awoken by a man tapping on thesnail’s head, the man thinking it was an emptycostume. When Lloyd poked his head out of the suitthe man nearly had a fit.

Since writing this, you may have seen in the mediathat Lloyd has moved on from Action for Kids. RTGis still proud to support AfK.

AGM – MAY 18th 2011 The 8th Annual General Meeting began at 11am with ourChairman and CEO Geoffrey Riesel introducingdirectors and advisors, Alan Franks Group OperationsDirector, Peter Gibson Strategic Director, Gordon BrownChief Operating Officer, Steven Greene Non-ExecutiveDirector and Brian McBride Non-Executive Director.

First on the agenda was the group’s last year’saccounts and company activity with a brief review offuture plans. Geoffrey told how we came from making aloss the previous year (2009) to a modest profit in the2010 accounts. He also spoke of the delay with the newradio system through some teething problems whichhave now been rectified with fittings again taking place.

He also mentioned the new website and how we aregaining new business directly through online activity.This was due to our top positions with search engines andalso the rear window stickers advertising our website.

Our other companies within the group such as“One Transport” were doing very well with public servicesector such as the BBC – with us currently providing alltheir transport needs throughout the UK.

Questions from drivers ranged from yellow badgedrivers being able to accept jobs from Canary Wharf andas long as they are in their own working sector when theyaccept the trip, which we were told, by High Court caselaw is perfectly within the law.

Also credit card fees were discussed at some lengthwith the general agreement that the high cost ofprocessing and the cost of charge backs with the cardcompanies left little room at present for manoeuvre.

After an extensive question and answer session, voteswere taken, and whilst they were being counted it wastime for tea and biscuits and a chat.

The results were announced and shareholders hadvoted by a huge majority in favour for all the resolutions.

THE PEDIBUS PUBCRAWLERExactly a year ago in the June 2010 issue of RadioTaxis E-View Magazine, I wrote a piece on the Pedibus,a Booze Cruise through the streets of London. I mustsay that I am baffled by the fact that there has not beena single word in any other trade papers about these“death traps”, although these machines are even moreof a danger than the pedicabs, which havemushroomed beyond belief over the years. You caneither use one of their chauffeurs or you can be thedriver yourself, with the rest of your drunken partyproviding it is only pedal power you are using,amazing.

Their website flyer proclaims; “The Pubcrawler, barperson and chauffeur meets you at a pub in one of theareas. You’re invited on board. The safety rules areexplained, then everyone’s served a drink and you’reready to go.

The Pubcrawler arrives with 8.5 Litres of beer or3 bottles of wine for a 1 hour 15 minutes outing.Bring an MP3 player or iPod and bring your ownsounds. Enjoy travelling through London like neverbefore as you take the Party with you!”

The so-called chauffeurs in our picture are keepingwatch on the two machines parked on double yellowlines, taking the same road space as taxis, whilst thehirers are busy drinking in the Union Jack Pubopposite. I thought there was some kind of law aboutdrinking and driving!

THE €URO STINGBe on your guard for three men taking short trips andpaying with €50 Euros. They will claim to have noother money or credit cards with them, and willaccept almost any change you care to offer. Themoney they have looks to be genuine with watermarks and a silver hologram – beware it is completelyfake! They are doing this all the time, so make sureyou don’t get caught out.

Roger Sligo, Editor.5

UNSUSTAINABLE CORPORATE MIND-SETOur sales team is battling almost non-stop, to wintender after tender, for business, which is surfacing inthe market place. Almost every customer, whether theyare currently a client or not, is going out to tender, inour view, in order to try to force down prices.

Why? Well it’s mainly lead by the big Banks,although most of these Banks did make some moneylast year; they are striving to rebuild their balancesheets which were hit badly by the Banking Crisis.

FLAWEDSo they are trying to squeeze more profit out of costcutting. It is a flawed mind-set. What they fail toappreciate is what ultimately this unmaintainablesqueeze on prices will mean, it will bring about – poorservice and bad standards. There is nothing new underthe sun, it’s been done before (in the early 90’s) and itdemonstrates the naivety and inexperience of thosepursuing such a damaging policy.

When Mini cab companies and even some of ourfellow taxi company’s offer outrageously low prices totry to win or retain business, these prices becomeunsustainable. In the case of Private Hire, once theywin an account they then “cheat” on the mileage andpocket margin grabbed from their drivers.

The mini cab companies can’t cope even when itbecomes even slightly busy, for example when there is ashower of rain, and even the taxi companies offeringbasement prices will struggle to cover. That isinevitable.

The effect of all this is that more than a few PrivateHire companies are going bust and more than 33% of

Geoffrey Riesel Radio Taxis’Group Chairman and CEO

considers where we are.THERE IS A LOT THAT’SBEEN HAPPENING INLONDON RECENTLY –and there’s a lot about to happenas well; we’ve had the RoyalWedding; the EuropeanChampions League final; theEpsom Derby and the Chelsea

Flower show (which used to signify the end of the KipperSeason.) Last week, was the Queen’s Club Tournament,which was won by Brit Andy Murray, closely followed byWimbledon fortnight and then also relatively soon willbe the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the 2012Olympics next year shadowed by the Paralympics.

There should be a feel good factor in the countryand especially in our capital city of London.

But the economy has been stuttering somewhatthis year and only now seems to be slowly gatheringpace and showing some small growth in the work.

AGMA few weeks ago we held ourAnnual General Meeting atMountview House and I toldthe shareholders whoattended, that we hadexperienced 4% averagedgrowth over the whole of

2010. This was made up basically of no growth in the first twoquarters of last year and almost 12% growth in the final sixmonths of the year.

Business never stays the same it either gets better or it getsworse. The graph either goes north or it heads south; thenagain 2011 has been uniquely different. In response toswingeing government cuts the economy stuttered this yearand the recovery faltered. The first 6 months of 2011 has seena flat line in the graph, almost unheard of. Of course the Bankholidays didn’t help, April saw only 18 corporate workingdays.

The good news is that we are now experiencing, throughMay and June, about 6% growth when compared to the samemonths in the previous year. Maybe that feel good factor isreturning after all?

6

Feel Good Factor –What Feel Good Factor?

“It is a flawed mind-set. What they fail

to appreciate is what ultimately this

unmaintainable squeeze on prices will

mean, it will bring about – poor service

and bad standards.”

only 23% of our drivers have one, in fact I’d be willingto wager that some of those who cannot be bothered toput a rear window sticker on complain the loudestabout how mini cabs are taking their work.DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT AS NOW YOU HAVENO EXCUSE!

CHARITY BEGINS AT HOMEI am very proud of our company’s support of thetrade charities, the War Disabled, theUnderprivileged Children’s Fund and the Companyof Hackney Carriage Drivers’ Magical MysteryTour to Disneyland Paris.

A little closer to home in Hornsey is the HQ of a nationalcharity called Action for Kids. The charity provides workrelated learning as well as training for children and youngpeople many of whom are disabled by Autism or Asperger’ssyndrome. It also helps with specialist wheelchairs andmobility equipment to help these wonderful young peoplelead as independent a life as is possible. Over Easter RTG staffhelped to organise Easter Eggs for the AFK youngsters andwe went to their HQ to deliver them personally.

Next time you think you are having a bad day, look at theoptimism of these young people and count your blessings.

Geoffrey Riesel

all Private Hire drivers do not renew their licenses asthey cannot earn a living.

You might think why should I care about PrivateHire companies or their drivers who nick our work?

Well for every one that goes bust or gives up othersset up and do an even worse job recruitinginexperienced and inappropriate drivers from all overthe world. The passenger/users get a substandardservice putting their own business and personnel atrisk, but the bean counters don’t care. You know theyknow the cost of everything; regrettably they appreciatethe value of nothing.

Those customers who do understand that we givethem good value and unrivalled service and who showconstancy and durability as clients are the ones whowill succeed in the market place as the economyimproves and we will help them steal a march on theircompetitors by delivering them where they need to bewhen they do business.

WE ADOPT A BALANCED APPROACHOf course we do offer a one stop shop service and yes inthis market we do offer discounts or decent fixed priceson some longer journeys but we believe these are goodvalue prices for both customer and driver. Our balancedapproach both saves the client money and at the sametime ensures that the radio work is attractive enough togive the client good coverage. And we recognise that ifbeing on the radio is to be value to our drivers’ thenprices need to be equitable for both the customer andfor you.

We should not accept big firms who use bully boytactics on our industry because of their own pastincompetence in the credit crunch. Their earlier wordsabout “working with us in partnership” have long sincetaken on a hollow ring.

REAR WINDOWSTICKERSUCCESSESThere is now aconstant flow ofaccounts coming indirectly as aconsequence of ourwww.radiotaxis.co.ukrear window sticker.

We are fitting these both at Station Road in thedaytime and at night in the City, courtesy of our editorRoger Sligo. We have also negotiated a £1 per washdiscount for those drivers who carry the sticker atBubbles Cab wash in Malcolm Place E2. Also we aredrawing two prizes a month for six months’ worth offree cab washing at Bubbles.

Put a sticker on your cab; help me to help you tofight against those who would like to filch your work.If you have no sticker you are helping them and not us.

One high profile mini cab company, who shallremain nameless, has 2,000 rear window signs. To date

7

8

Steve Cooper, RTG’s DriverServices Manager talks aboutThe Power ofBrand Awareness

WHAT A BRILLIANT PIECE OF MARKETINGSTRATEGY– a statement that delivers the messageloud and clear and viewed by thousands, every day.It is all about maximising exposure at everyopportunity, after all, what’s the point in providinga service if users don’t know it exists? Who wouldnot want to promote their own brand?

I am pleased to be able to say that since its launchlast year we have seen the acceptance of thewww.radiotaxis.co.uk rear banner increasesignificantly. Initially some drivers were reluctant andtook a bit of persuading before they acknowledgedthe benefits of displaying the sticker.

We looked at creating some extra incentives interms of prizes and added benefits for allparticipants. Currently, if your Taxi is displaying thebanner you can claim £1 discount on any wash atBubbles Car Wash, Malcolm Place E2 and your call-sign will also be entered in to a Prize Draw to winunlimited washes inside and out for six months.There are 2 draws per month until the end of July2011. We will also be looking at other prizes for thefuture.

Knowing that some drivers find it difficult to getto Station Road we have arranged for mobile fittingsto take place at strategic points in the EC and SE1areas. Data messages will be sent to keep youinformed. The more we have the more work they willhelp to generate so if you haven’t already done so,please get yours fitted as soon as you can.

By the way; these banners meet requirements tobe approved, one of which is that the fabric they areprinted on is virtually transparent from inside theTaxi, and they do not obscure your rear vision.

NEW MDTI am delighted and somewhat relieved that we havecompleted and signed off our pilot scheme for thenext generation MDT. There have been a number ofchallenges along the way but everyone has playedtheir part and we now have a proven, robustsolution for the foreseeable future. If you want tofind out where you are on the fitting list pleasecontact Driver Services.

PCN UPDATENow that a number of PCN appeals have been before the adjudicator we are starting to see therewards of our endeavours. While many of ourappeals are still refused by the issuing bodies, theadjudicators have found in our favour in the majority of cases. It is not all plain sailing though.One council regularly sends reminders in the form of a warning of instructing bailiffs, even when thereis an appeal lodged. Of course when we prove this,these PCNs are, without exception, rescinded.NB: PCNs at Resident Parking or Pay and Displaybays are always issued by parking attendants (civilenforcement officers). CCTV cannot verify one wayor another whether you are parked legitimately inthese bays.

NON-FAULT ACCIDENT MANAGEMENTSERVICESOver the last few months we have looked at thevarious accident management service offerings thatare available, during which we met up with GavinCooper of Chief Rentals. Gavin is an expert in thisarea and I must say I found the discussionsenlightening.

I had been of the opinion that these schemesplayed a part in the soaring cost of our insurance.In fact the established agents in this arena are helping the insurance companies arrive at recognised and agreed settlements, speeding up theclaims process and minimising the stress to thevictims of non-fault accidents. I am pleased to saythat Gavin will be working with RTG so that we canprovide a service for all of our drivers if they shouldfind themselves involved in a non-fault accident.

PERSONAL ACCIDENT AND SICKNESSINSURANCEAfter meeting up with Michael Rose of Cabsuranceearlier this year and discussing the merits of personal accident and sickness insurance, following which weasked him to write a piece for the magazine that willhelp Drivers make an informed decision whenconsidering a sickness policy.

This is Mike’s response;“Whilst a licenced taxi driver would never dream ofdriving his taxi without full insurance cover, very feweffect Personal Accident & Sickness Insurance.To protect oneself is as important as insuring yourvehicle. Remember if you are not working, you are notearning, and the bills still have to be paid!Whilst a cold or sprained ankle which prevents youworking for a few days, or even a couple of weeks wouldnot present a major financial problem, a serious injuryor illness that stops you driving for several monthswould cause hardship. Even worse, an illness thatresults in the suspension or permanent withdrawal ofones taxi driving licence is a disaster that could happento anyone. Over the past 25 years, numerous drivershave had cause to thank their foresight in effectingcover with Cabsurance due to the connection withMountview.

JD was just such a taxi driver. He was diagnosed withepilepsy and had his driving licence revoked.

Thankfully he received payments for the durationof the policy, during which time he was able to retrainand obtain alternative employment. Another driver was IF. He developed a major heart problem. He wasnot only able to obtain benefits under his CabsurancePersonal Accident & Sickness which paid him for twoyears, but he had effected a Permanent Health policythat continued to pay him for many years as cover was in force up to the age of 65.

The Cabsurance policy costs from as little as £17 per month for the standard Personal Accident &Sickness cover and very little more for the permanenthealth extension.”

To obtain a personal quotation without obligation,call in or telephone Cabsurance at any of theiroffices:

Seven Kings: 020 8597 2622

Dunbridge Street: 020 7613 0060

KPM Showroom (Hemming Street): 020 7247 0007

LTC Showroom (Brewery Road): 020 7697 9990

Mike Rose, Cabsurance.

9

EACH MONTH TWO WINNERS WITH REARWINDOW STICKERS are being selected atrandom to have six months of free cabwash inside and out at Bubbles, MalcolmPlace E2.

The first couple picked for June are S066 PhilipSon, alongside U116 Craig Allen. I am pleased to

say that Philip Son (pictured below) was only fittedwith the rear sticker recently on the rank at SunStreet by our mobile sticker unit.

As a night driver, Philip was pleased to havebeen fitted whilst booked onto the Sun Street rankwithout losing time or money, and is glad to berewarded with his prize.

The June Rear Window Stickers Winners

Roger Sligo on themysteries of hidden London

“The fated crew of 115men including oneparson were never

to return.”

THE HIGHWAY, FORMERLY THE NOTORIOUSRATCLIFFE HIGHWAY, which was once populatedby smugglers and thieves, has, since the opening of theLimehouse Link Tunnel, become a rather busy roadleading out of the City to Canary Warf and City Airport.Most taxi-drivers will use this stretch of road at leasttwice or three times a week without ever realising whathistory this part of London has witnessed.

Shortly before entering the tunnel, on the right hand side, is one of

London’s undiscovered parks – The King Edward VII Memorial Park,

first opened as an unsuccessful fish market and now a small children’s

playground which has a couple of other surprises in store.

In a quiet riverside corner of the park is a grand circular building,

which from a distance, you might think is a round chapel with a single

tomb placed in front of it. Closer inspection would reveal you are

looking at the ventilation shaft for the Rotherhithe Tunnel, which

passes directly beneath the park.

The memorial stone has an even bigger surprise, for it was from

here that Sir Hugh Willoughby and several other sixteenth-century

sea-men, walked down the Ratcliffe Cross Stairs (wrongly spelled on

the tablet) and onto three ships, to search for the north-west passage

to India in May 1553. The fated crew of 115 men including one parson

were never to return.

Willoughby’s ship and one other, was blown off course, and he was

forced to make camp in Lapland where their food ran out, and

everyone died of starvation. The crew’s corpses were found several

years later.

Richard Chancellor, the captain of the surviving ship, managed to

make it to northern Russia, only to be shipwrecked off the coast of

Scotland on his return, with all on board drowning.

10

CuriosityCornerCuriosityCorner

The RotherhitheTunnel VentilatingShaft...

11

Roy Hughes, Radio TaxisGroup Head of Sales andAccount Management

“It can often be morerewarding to cultivate an

existing relationship, thanto chase after the next

attractive new prospect.”

WITH THE COUNTRY RECENTLY IN THE GRIP OFROYAL WEDDING MANIA, it occurred to me that the searchfor new business is often like chasing after a new romanticconquest. First the attraction, then the thrill of the chase and ifyou’re lucky, contentment and happiness; if you’re unlucky,rancour and separation!

At Radio Taxis we rarely get divorced, but have long-termrelationships with many of our customers – for some of you thismay be literally true; I know of at least one of our clients who ismarried to a driver!

While our key customers are lavished with attention and“affection” some of our lower profile ‘partners’ might receivesomewhat less attentiveness than that. It would be wonderful tohave an Account Management team, where each and every one ofour 4,000 plus account clients is treated with the same ultra-highlevel of care and attention – however I suspect that the number ofpeople required for a team of that size, would involve Radio Taxischarging “Champions League Final” type prices.

Since the start of the year, Chris Constantinou, the newestaddition to our team, has made a concerted effort to contact everyone of our ‘unmanaged’ accounts, especially those which wereshowing a reduced year on year spend or more limited activity.

The principle behind this exercise is that it can often be morerewarding to cultivate an existing relationship, than to expendsignificant time and effort chasing after the next attractive newprospect to catch your eye; a pursuit that may ultimately result inrejection.

The information received has been interesting. Many clients havereduced spend because of cost cutting and one or two have actuallygone out of business altogether. For a variety of reasons, someclients have moved their supply to private hire (the odd misguidedclient has even moved their business to another black taxi fleet).With two particular clients, it had been some time since we had anycommunication and once back in touch, we discovered that the keycontacts at the account had unfortunately passed on!

However, this re-engagement is starting to deliver tangibleresults; with increased spend from a number of previously semi-dormant accounts, increased usage of online booking and concretebusiness development leads from others.

And we’ve also re-connected with a large number of clients andhad lots of positive (and occasionally some negative) feedbackabout our services. Even negative feedback is useful, it helps us toidentify and implement improvements to the quality of our overallservice offering.

The plan from here on in is to remain faithful and avoid anyarguments that might lead to divorce!

Where Did Our Love Go?

ChrisConstantinou

�

12

On the panel were members of TfLresponsible for transport at theOlympics and business advice groups.

We will provide you with a full update of whatwas said in a future edition.

We invited several account clients some of whomhave been asking how we will cope over the fourweeks of the Olympics and Paralympics.

From now until the Olympics are completed I willbe using this publication to do a regular update of allthings “Olympics”. If little has happened since the lastupdate then I will implore you all again to make surethat you do not go on your holidays during the periodsfrom 27 July to 12 August (Olympics) and 29 August toSeptember 9th 2012 (Paralympics).

We now have sight of the Olympic Route Network(ORN). This document identifies the Olympic highwaysthat will be created to ensure that Athletes and theOlympic family are all able to get to the various venuesthroughout London in a timely fashion.

The traffic will be a lot busier than normal but a lotof companies that we are talking to are looking for waysof allowing staff to work from home or work flexiblehours to minimise the contribution made to theelongated “rush hours” expected throughout the games.

At Radio Taxis we will be implementing variousways of incentivising drivers to come out to work andthose same drivers covering the account work instead ofthe street work. We are still debating the variousoptions available that will evolve as incentive schemes –so these will not be known to you until later on thisyear. When the schemes are agreed I will make sure thatyou are continuously reminded of their structures so asto help persuade you to make yourself available.

The Olympics in London will be a “once in a lifetime”event. The lead up to and, hopefully, the buzz created by theirsuccess will help tourism in London for the four years afterthe Olympics until the 2016 games are held in Rio de Janiero.

The sceptics and cynics can murmur but the games are areality and will be upon us soon – therefore I am including areminder of some of the venues and effects of the Olympicsthat I have written about previously.

� City of Coventry Stadium� Earl’s Court� Eton Dorney� Eton Manor� ExCeL� Greenwich Park� Hadleigh Farm, Essex� Hampden Park� Horseguards Parade� Hyde Park� Lee Valley White Water Centre� Lord’s Cricket Ground� Millennium Stadium� North Greenwich Arena� Old Trafford� Olympic Stadium� The Royal Artillery Barracks� St James’s Park� Wembley Arena� Weymouth and Portland� Wimbledon

There are some 216 countries participating in the 2012Olympics and many of these countries will have a “non-athlete” base somewhere in Central London for press andfor partying. These “Team HQ” establishments will beused to invite dignitaries, Olympic Committee members,Embassy officials and friends.

Previous Olympic Games have shown that there is agreat deal of “extra-curricular” activity going on in townduring the two weeks of the Olympics and again duringthe Paralympics. So, be aware that spectators that come towatch the Archery during the day, often want to partyduring the night and this will mean that there will be asignificant amount of additional taxi work available.

You may have seen messages on your in cab terminalthat there’s a concerted effort to encourage taxi drivers toembark upon obtaining a new language skill. We at RadioTaxis are compiling a database of drivers that have asecond and/or third language.

Peter Gibson, Radio TaxisGroup’s Strategic Director on...

ON THE EVENING OF JUNE 14th, in conjunction with the LondonChamber of Commerce, Radio Taxis hosted an OlympicsTransport Question and Answer session at The London TransportMuseum in Covent Garden.

List of some of the Olympic venues:

The Olympic

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We have been told that all the airports that serviceLondon will be extremely busy throughout theOlympics – especially City Airport and Heathrow.

All roadworks are to be suspended during the twoweeks of the Olympics. Many bus lanes will also becancelled, at certain times in the day, to enable them tobecome Olympic Lanes. Part of the winning bid tobring the Olympics to London was the offering ofService Level Agreements (SLA’s) for travel times.There are guarantees that need to be met in transfertimes from Heathrow to Team Hotels and from TeamHotels to Olympic Venues and Training Facilities. Theonly way that these transfer times can be met is tomake sure that the vehicles that transfer the athletesand the Olympic “family” members are given prioritylanes. There will be thousands of BMW cars that willtransfer Olympic Athletes and the Olympic family toand from the various venues and team HQ’s.

Only the Olympic BMW’s and Olympic buses willbe allowed to use the Olympic lanes. There will also bean increase in the number of traffic enforcementpersonnel during the Olympics to make sure thattemporary restrictions are enforced rigorously.

Constitution Hill, The Mall and Horseguards Roadwill be closed for Volley Ball. Certainly our“knowledge” is going to be tested to be able to getaround town and we need to ensure that we keepeverybody continuously informed of road closures sothat alternative routes can be planned as normal

service will be suspended.Some events, such as

Basketball, will be held late atnight so that television times inthe United States can be primetime viewing. Consequently therewill be “bursts” at St Pancras at2am in the morning on somedays, as spectators emerge fromthe Olympic Javelin trainarriving just in from Stratford.These trains will take just sevenminutes nonstop from Stratfordto St Pancras. So we need to beaware that there will be a lotmore work about later and in thevery early hours.

Whilst trying to cope with themix of the Olympic events,Olympic lanes, traffic conditions,spectators and the Olympicfamily, it will be something called“everyday life”.

We will all be trying hard tocarry on business as usual at Radio Taxis and betweennow and that fateful late July Friday we will have tocome up with some “creative” ways of keeping youavailable so that we can service the accounts that use usin between the every four years that is the OlympicGames.

The street competition will be relentless but theaccount work will need covering and my job is to findways to keep you available for us and our radio work aswell as for the punters on the streets.

Stay, and be part of it; go on your holidays any timeafter Sunday 12th August – you will have earned therest. Just make sure that you are back by 29th Augustfor the start of the Paralympics, just enough time tosandwich two weeks in the sunshine between fourweeks of London featuring as a global travelogue.You can then start counting the times that passengerssay we decided to come to London after seeing theOlympics on TV.

Update

“Make sure that you do not go on

your holidays during the periods from

27 July to 12 August (Olympics)

and 29 August to September 9th 2012

(Paralympics).”

Working withTaxi Driversby Gordon Brown

I’VE NOW BEEN WORKING AT RADIO TAXIS for over5 years and for a lot of that time I have (or it feels likeI have) been surrounded by taxi drivers and their vastknowledge of all things taxi, all things Radio Taxisand any other subject that comes up in conversationwhich they all obviously have an opinion on.

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My previous experience of meetings wasthat they had a time limit and that theystuck to the agenda. Radio Taxismeetings have a time limit and anagenda, however both should beregarded as ‘optional’.

We often take a tour around theGranby Grill; ladies of easy virtue; ‘thebest job I ever did’; ‘guess who was in theback of my cab?’

The top subjects are probablythe lady of easy virtue; together withwhat’s wrong with Spurs midfield; whatDavid Cameron is doing to the country;and what GDP will be next quarterand why.

I’m also impressed with theirmemories, they can all go back to the1960’s, 70’s and 80’s as if it was yesterday,though they all seem to have differentversions of events especially with regardto which driver worked the hardest andwho spent their time chatting up the girlsin the control room.

This certainly makes meetings moreeventful, colourful and fun, plus we alsoagree what needs to be done to keep thebusiness moving along.

What is very striking is how theformer taxi drivers working for Radio

Taxis have this built in camaraderiethrough mutual characters, stories andrespect which filters it’s way down to thenon-cabbies and makes for a veryenjoyable place to work… although itdoes often make the days very long!

At a recent meeting to review the newZeus equipment it was evident that theyremain taxi drivers at heart. They were allgiven a terminal and a set of test jobswhich they were accepting, rejecting, andadjusting the meter with a ready ease andknowledge, deciding what features wereessential and what features would reallyimprove the ‘experience’ for the driver.

The benefit to the current taxi driverson the circuit is that they continue to dowhat they think is best for you, thedrivers, and although not all drivers agreewith all decisions and ideas we come upwith, it is certainly done after answeringthe question: ‘what will it mean to thedriver?’ and making sure it’s a positiveresponse, which in the long run benefitsboth you and the company.

Obviously there is always one thingthey all disagree on: which is the quickestway to get from Mountview House toTrafalgar Square!

“Cabbies can all recall the

1960’s, 70’s and 80’s as if it was

yesterday, though they

all seem to have different

versions of events!”

Photo by LaMir.

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Alan Franks, Group OperationsDirector announces…

We won the LondonUnderground Account Again!

Radio Taxis Group was successful in retaining this account for another five years when it went out to tender back in 2010.Acutely aware of the work that this account offers us, at times where there is very little other cash or account work available, we

were deliberately competitive in ensuring that we did as much as we needed to retain this prestigious account. However we were alsodetermined that drivers should receive a fair return for their work and that this would ensure good coverage as well.

For many years the account has run along the lines of a fixed percentage of the metered fare being given to the driver forcompleting a scheduled trip (job). To ensure that we retained the account, given the current economy and prevailing market conditionswe took the decision to reduce this percentage from 75% to 70%.

However rather than keep comparing the longer trips with the meter price we decided to get our IT engineers to write somesoftware that would price the longer trips automatically.

We wanted to take into account the following:� The time it takes to do the job including wait time between stops� Estimated mileage of the job based on the shortest route� A configurable percentage of the current TfL rate 3 tariff

The software was several months in development and is now beingused to price scheduled trips over a certain distance. We try as hardas possible to get as close as we can to a fare that resembles 70% of ametered fare using the criteria above – but the Fixed Price is just that,it is the price that we are offering for you to complete the trip thatyou are being assigned.

Naturally drivers take a variety of routes and travel at varyingspeeds and both of these factors can result in disparate fares. This is not want the customer needed. They wanted certainty of pricing.

We look carefully at the time taken to complete the trip and we aim to ensure that no trip returns less than a reasonable hourly rateor a pro rata of that for a part of an hour.

This account is priced differently to other accounts and we do not receive, as a company, metered fares. We receive a fixedcontracted price for each route and it doesn’t matter if that route is one mile or fifty miles. We get the same price.

So as we do not ever receive the meter price we cannot pay you in the normal way. Actually the company makes an especially smallmargin in total which can be easily eroded completely if fares or journey lengths rise. However overall it seems to work well for bothdrivers and company.

Taking into account the time of night and early mornings that these trips are completed the best way to judge the fixed prices is bytime and not by the meter.

We competed and beat other Taxi companies and we beat Private Hire companies as well to win this account, so it is important thatwe continue to give an excellent service.

THE LONDON UNDERGROUND ACCOUNT will not be part of the daily merry-go-round for the majority of you reading this article as it is serviced, primarily, by adedicated group of late night and very early morning drivers.

I would end by thanking the majority of drivers who carry out the LUL jobs night after night.We truly believe we have achieved an equitable solution for both driver and client, given the tough economic climate.

Remember:� It is an account that offers work when there is very little

other work available� It is an account that would

not use taxis but for thecompetitive fares on offer.

The rules of this account are:� A Fixed Price Fare is a Fixed Price Fare.� We try very hard to ensure (but cannot always

guarantee) to offer approximately 70% of what we thinkthe metered rate 3 fare should be.

� The estimated mileage of the trip is set by the softwarethat we use.

What is SpreadBetting?

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We thought that it was a way of betting onsporting result aggregates – like how manygoals will be scored in the Premiership onSaturday, or the famous one of a few yearsago of how soon after the kick off the firstthrow in will take place?

If the average time of the first throw-induring a Premiership match is 1 minute 22seconds, then you can place a bet that saysthat it will happen before the average 1.22and place a bet of £10.00 per second. If thefirst throw-in happens at 22 seconds thenyou win 1 minute (60 seconds) x £10.00 =£600.00 but if it happens at 2 minutes thenyou lose 38 (seconds) x £10.00 = £380.00.

After reading a few articles and talkingfurther to a couple of city bods that weknow we discovered that sport is just aminuscule part of this sophisticated versionof gambling.

So, Spread betting is any of various typesof wagering on the outcome of an event,where the pay-off is based on the accuracyof the wager, rather than a simple “win orlose” outcome.

A spread is a range of outcomes, and thebet is whether the outcome will be above orbelow the spread. Spread betting carries ahigh level of risk, with potential losses orgains far in excess of the original moneywagered and here in the UK; spread bettingis regulated by the Financial ServicesAuthority rather than the GamblingCommission.

By far the largest part of the officialmarket in the UK concerns financialinstruments; the leading spread bettingcompanies make most of their revenuesfrom financial markets, their sportsoperations much less significant. Financialspread betting in the United Kingdomclosely resembles the futures and optionsmarkets, the major differences being the

“charge” occurs through a wider bid offerspread. Spread betting also has a differenttax regime compared with securities andfutures exchanges.

Spread betting is more flexible since it isnot limited to exchange hours ordefinitions, can create new instrumentsrelatively easily (e.g. individual stockfutures), and may have guaranteed stoplosses and the trading is off exchange, withthe contract existing directly between themarket-making company and the client,rather than exchange-cleared, and istherefore subject to a lower level ofregulation although the spread bettingcompanies themselves are some of the mostregulated entities in the City of London – inother words it resembles the markets butwithout the red tape and tax implications.Unlike fixed-odds betting, the amount wonor lost can be unlimited as there is no singlestake to limit any loss. However, it is usuallypossible to negotiate limits with thebookmaker.

A “stop loss” or “stop” will automaticallyclose the bet if the spread moves against thegambler by a specified amount.

A “stop win”, “limit” or “take profit” willclose the bet when the spread moves in agambler’s favour by a specified amount.Spread betting has moved outside thenarrow confines of sport and financialmarkets to cover a wide range of markets,such as house price movements.

In a falling stock market, financial spreadbetting can, and is, also used by investors asa means of hedging against predicted lossesin a portfolio of shares.

In the UK, and some other Europeancountries, the profit from spread betting isfree from tax. These countries taxauthorities designate financial spreadbetting as gambling and not investing,

Like many of you, we haveheard the term ‘spreadbetting’ used over thepast decade or so.

CHIEF RENTALS is proud to announce thatthey have joined forces with Radio Taxisas their main supplier of replacementlicensed Radio Taxis for their drivers whofind themselves involved in the unfortunate circumstance of a non-fault accident.

This specialist service enables Radio Taxis drivers who are involved in such an incident to get straightback to work and more importantly, back on the Radio Taxis circuit as all replacement vehicles suppliedby Chief Rentals are fitted with a Radio Taxis terminal.

Other aspects of this exceptional service also include repair management of the driver’s own vehicle aswell as the handling of all personal injury claims, either from injured drivers or their injured passengers.

Not only are these services available to Radio Taxis drivers, but Chief Rentals has alsoagreed to expand them to drivers’ families and friends who may also find themselves in asimilar predicament following a non-fault accident and requiring a like-for-likereplacement vehicle.

Chief Rentals look forward to working with both Radio Taxis and their drivers long-term into the future and endeavour to provide them with an outstanding service thatwill keep everyone ‘on-circuit’ and at work during difficult times.

meaning it is free from capital gains tax and stampduty, despite the fact that it’s regulated as a financialproduct by the Financial Services Authority. Mosttraders are also not liable for Income Tax unless theyrely solely on their profits from financial spread bettingto support themselves. The popularity of financialspread betting is partly due to this tax advantage.However, this also means any losses cannot be offsetagainst future earnings for tax calculations.

Conversely, in most other countries financial spreadbetting income is considered taxable. For example inAustralia they reached a decision, saying that the gainsfrom financial spread betting are assessable income andtaxable and therefore any losses on the spread bettingcontracts are deductible. This has resulted in a muchlower interest in financial spread betting in countrieswhere the tax regime taxes the profits gained fromspread betting.

A FINANCIAL SPREAD BET EXAMPLESuppose a Big Bank Ltd is trading on the market at410p bid, and 411p offer. A spread betting company isalso offering 410 – 411p. We use cash bets with nodefinite expiry or “rolling daily bets” as they arereferred to by the spread betting companies. If wethink the share price is going to go up, one might bet£10 a point (i.e., £10 per penny the shares moves) at411p. We use the offer price since one is “buying” theshare and therefore one is betting on its increase.

17

The punter needs an amount of collateral in the spreadbetting account to cover potential losses. Usually this iseither 5 or 10% of the total exposure he is taking onbut can go up to 100% on some stocks.

The bad news or the alarming aspect of spreadbetting is that approximately 30,000 spread betaccounts were opened last year, and that the largeststudy of gambling in the UK on behalf of theGambling Commission found that serious problemsdeveloped in almost 15% of spread betters comparedto 1% of other gamblers. And, only 1 in 5 gamblersends up a winner, which is food for thought – sowe think we will stick to the Grand National.

Kipper time comes from the season (January until May) inwhich fishing for salmon was forbidden on the River Thamesby an Act of Parliament; with kippers the order of the day.Boats plying for hire in medieval London were the taxis of thetime. So it all makes perfect sense, particularly the first fewmonths of the year, to be handed down through generations oftime to our present day Kipper Season.

The Chelsea Flower Show traditionally marks the end of thekipper and apart from the holiday season of July/August, we canusually expect a good run through to the end of the year.Thousands of visitors come each year to London just to look atflowers in the shows but why? Let’s take a look at some of thestory behind what has become a staggering success.

THE GREAT SPRING SHOWThis was the first name given to the Chelsea Flower Show, whichbegan life during 1833 in a large garden at Chiswick. Because ofpoor transport links and falling visitor numbers it wastransferred in 1862 to Kensington Gardens and remainedthere for twenty-six-years before the Royal HorticulturalSociety (RHS) decided to move to the heart of London.The site of Temple Gardens, between the Thames andFleet Street was chosen in 1888 as an ideal location; forit was here in Shakespeare’s Henry V1 Part 1 where thoseonce famous roses were mentioned.

Using two marquees requisitioned from the Kensington Garden Shows the new exhibition was an instantsuccess for both amateurs and professionals alike. By 1897 fivemarquees were being used with many of the most well knownflower merchants of the day displaying their plants.

ROYAL HOSPITAL, CHELSEAIn 1912, the Temple Show was cancelled to make way for theRoyal International Horticultural Exhibition. Sir Harry Veitchthe great nurseryman secured the grounds of the Royal Hospital,Chelsea, for this one-off event. It proved such a good site for anexhibition that the Great Spring Show was moved there in 1913,where it has taken place almost every year since.

THE CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW TODAYThe Chelsea Flower Show receives lots of publicity. It is attendedby 157,000 visitors each year (a number limited by the capacity ofthe 11-acre ground), and all tickets must be purchased in advance.

The area of land devoted to the shows gardens has increasedsteadily between 1970 and 2000 and the show itself has becomean important venue for watching the latest trends.

From 2005 the show was increased from four days to five, withthe first two days only open to RHS members. The show isextensively covered by the BBC TV network and it isbroadcast around the world. This year the broadcasts werehosted by Alan Titchmarsh who has become one of the bestknown faces in the gardening world.

The top people’s choice at this years’ show for the bestexhibit was the Irish Sky Garden, which attracted a greatdeal of attention. My personal favourite was the

Jinrickshaw, not a flower but a new way in public transportalongside of the ever increasing number of Pedicabs illegally plyingfor hire. Outside, in Chelsea Bridge Road by the flower show’smain exit gates, were teams of Pedicabs illegally ranked up bothsides of the road on double yellow lines, waiting to steal our work!

With this amount of visitors coming to the show each year,many taking taxis to and from the event, it’s no wonder the ChelseaFlower Show has been linked with the end of the Kipper Season.Roger Sligo

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The Chelsea Flower Showand the End of theKipper Season

LOTS OF PEOPLE OVER THE YEARS have tried to establishwhat the words “Kipper Season” really means. Through myown research I have found out that…

Pedicabs parked illegally in Chelsea Bridge Road

The Irish Sky Garden

Back in 1986, Boris Becker and Martina Navratilova were the singles champions. They would befollowed by the delights of watching Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf and then came the dominanceof Pete Sampras and Roger Federer on the one side and then the Williams sisters on the other.

In recent years we come to see the battles between Roger and Rafa (Nadal), especially the epicfour and a half hour match in 2008 when Nadal finally triumphed in virtual darkness. Then we hadthe classic match between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut last year. I saw the beginning of thismatch and then wandered off. Little did I expect that it would not finish until three days later. Thematch lasted 11 hours and 5 Minutes and was the longest match in Wimbledon history.

We know the Championships are coming when the paintbrushcomes out at the surrounding Tube stations. We have had artificialgrass on the Tube platform at Southfields and the Marquees startgoing up in early May. In the week before the Championships,people try to sneak a glimpse of famous players out on thepractice courts or travelling to and fro in the courtesy cars.Martina often used to cycle in from a nearby house and many ofthe players are lodged in local houses too.

I know from my colleagues here at RTG that when the yellowjacket marshals are out the taxi sharing begins.

In our house, which is within walking distance of the grounds,you will usually find we have a line judge staying and one or twouniversity students we know who are working during the fortnightas stewards or waiters/waitresses. They have uniforms for all kinds

of weather and when it rains it usually pours down. You might remember that year when CliffRichard sang on Centre Court to cheer everyone up.

The whole of the “All England Club” grounds have changed so much since we moved here.The Club always seems to be building something new and exciting, from new show Courts, to theamazing new Centre Court roof. In the first week it is fun to wander around all the outside courtswhere you can get really close to the action. So close that you can see the fur fly off the balls andhear some interesting phrases when the shots don’t quite come off.

Watching on TV gives no real sense of how hard the balls are hit. I often wonder how they hitthem back let alone get it over the net and between the lines.

Each year we hope for a British player to win something. We have had Mixed Doubles success in2007 with Jamie Murray (and Jelena Jankovic) and a Girls singles win by Laura Robson in 2008.

On that famous hill in the middle of the ground (either Henman’s Hill or Murray Mount) youcan tell they will be ready when Andy Murray gets going. We can hearthem hundreds of yards away and if we are not there we will beglued to the TV.

When you see the Army of campers, now in serried ranks inWimbledon Park, you see true enthusiasts from all over theworld come to support their favourites. It is 12pm onMonday morning, the call will be “Play” from all the Umpiresand our necks will start to rotate from right to left andback again.

“Come on Andy…”

Wimbledon Tennis FortnightBy RTG Company Secretaryand SW18 Resident – Robert MacDonald WatsonSTARTING ON MONDAY 22 JUNE, a strange phenomenon hits Wimbledonand the area northwards towards Southfields; it is that annual whirlwind ofactivity known as only the British would, as “The ChampionshipsWimbledon”. This will be the 125th Championships and the 26th that myfamily has lived in the shadow of the "Grand Slam".

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The Lost Property Office handlesitems that are left behind on the

TfL network, including buses,London Underground, LondonOverground, DLR, licensed

taxis or in Victoria CoachStation. It is one of the busiest lost

property offices in the UK.Books were the most common item

left by passengers on the networkwith 41,000 handed intothe Lost Property Officeduring 2010/11. Passengersalso handed in more than31,000 bags and around28,000 items of clothing.The variety of propertyhanded in is vast and includes sportsgear, folders of school work, toys,power tools, pushchairs, suitcases,walking sticks and even crutches.One of the more interesting itemshanded in recently was a handbagcontaining an invitation to the Royalwedding. On average one in three itemsis reunited with its owner.

Transport for London’s LostProperty Office Manager, Paul Cowan,said: “We do our best to reunite peoplewith their property, through acombination of our own detective work,using Sherlock – our computer systemand, of course, through passengerscontacting us to claim items. Althoughwe store property for three months,sadly a large number of items remainunclaimed after that period. In theseinstances items are donated to charity,sold at auction or recycled.”

“We would encourage all passengersto check and make sure they take all theirbelongings with them. However, anyone

who does lose something on publictransport in London should get in touchwith us at the Lost Property Office.People are generally honest and thosetreasured items that passengers thoughtthey may have lost forever mayactually be in our office just waiting to bepicked up.”

MORE THAN 207,000 ITEMShave been handed in to Transportfor London’s Lost Property Officein the past year – the highest inits 77 year history…

The top 10 items left on theTfL Network in the last year are:

1 Books 41,370

2 Bags 31,005

3 Clothing 28,672

4 Valuables* 25,665

5 Telephones 23,432

6 Keys 10,632

7 Glasses/Sunglasses 10,150

8 Umbrellas 8,052

9 Jewellery 4,243

10 Pair of Gloves 3,725

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*Valuables include wallets, cash, laptops, cameras etc.

“Even a handbag containing

an invitation to the

Royal Wedding was handed in!”

Lost Property on TfLNetwork ReachesRecord Numbers

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London Overground Train

Mike Brown, MD of TfL

London Overground’s new East London extension is provinghugely popular with residents and commuters withpassenger numbers doubling in its first year of existence.

Air-conditioned trains on the line which runs from Highbury &Islington to New Cross, Crystal Palace and West Croydon via the City ofLondon has carried over 20 million passengers – an average of 85,000people a day.

In late February this year, the line was connected with the widerLondon Overground network by a new link between Dalston Junctionand Highbury & Islington. In the six weeks since opening, passengernumbers increased by 75 per cent.

Mike Brown, the Managing Director of London Rail, Transport forLondon’s rail division which manages the line, said: “The East Londonextension of the London Overground is now a major transport arteryconnecting key hubs in north, east and south London. We expect the newhigh-capacity trains running on a reliable high-frequency timetable tocontinue to attract a lot more passengers as word gets around about thisturn up and go service. With its link to Stratford it is an Olympic legacyarrived early and it has connected parts of London not previously wellserved by rail to the Capital’s wider transport network. With the new linkopen in February, we’ve noticed a lot of journeys between Highbury &Islington and Shadwell. Passengers are clearly seeing the benefit ofinterchanging with the DLR at Shadwell to continue their journey tothe Docklands”.

The new route has been quickly dubbed “The Culture Line” because itconnects ten museums plus numerous art galleries based in those areasof East London known for promoting cutting edge art, design, music and

performance such as Dalston, Hoxton, Shoreditch and New Cross.David Dewing, Geffrye Museum Director said “The new

Hoxton Station on the London Overground contributed toThe Geffrye Museum’s overall increase of 10% in visit numbers in2010/11. It has made travel to the museum far easier, especially forthose from South East London. Since the Overground opened 9% of

our London visitors have come from Lewisham.”The Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe has reported visitor numbers up

65 per cent since the line opened. Robert Hulse, Museum Director said:“The new line has given a huge boost to visitor numbers of the museum”.The line has featured on The Culture Show on BBC2 and is also the focusfor a “Pop-up” restaurant and arts space that runs events at hiddenlocations along the East London route, which it is calling “the Gingerline”.

Kerry Adamson for the Gingerline group, said: “We are a group offemale artists, performers and food enthusiasts (who all live along the line)who came together to celebrate the new link and encourage the commutercommunity (a diverse bunch!) to explore its hitherto hidden delights.”

London Overground’s East LondonRoute Doubles Passenger Numbersin One Year!

“With its link to Stratford it is an

Olympic legacy arrived early.”

Commuters and visitors alike find“the Culture Line” the key to easytravel in East London…

22

Transport for London (TfL) announced that following theremoval of the Western Extension of the Congestion ChargeZone, initial observations show a lower than expected increasein the amount of traffic driving both into and within theformer zone and no discernable impact on air quality.An analysis of the first 12 weeks of this year by TfL found aminimal change in traffic speeds within the zone.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of Londonsaid: “I’ve always believed that WestLondoners never wanted the extension ofthe Congestion Charge and had it foistedupon them. I am glad I gave the people asay and thrilled that the initial resultssuggest there has been no significantdownside in removing the WesternExtension zone and reopening these streetsto the good people of Hammersmith,Shepherds Bush and Kilburn.”

The Federation of Small Business, Greater London RegionChairman, Steve Warwick, said: “We are very pleased that theWestern Extension of the Congestion Charging zone has finally beenabolished. Small businesses in west London will be able to go abouttheir business without being subject to the Congestion Charge; anissue on which many of them voted in the last Mayoral election.”

Key initial results observed by TfL are as follows:

� Traffic entering the former zone:In the first 12 weeks of this year traffic entering the former zoneduring charging hours increased by 8 per cent when comparedwith the same period in 2010. That figure is at the lower end ofTfL’s forecast increase of 8 to 15 per cent and means that, todate, there has been less pressure on the road network than wasexpected.

� Traffic within the former zone:Traffic driving within the former Western Extension did increase,but again, at a lower rate than expected. Traffic driving withinthe former zone has increased by an estimated 6 per cent, whichis at the lower end of the forecast 6 to 12 per cent increase.

� Average traffic speeds within the former zone:Average traffic speeds in the former Western Extension wereimpacted significantly less than estimated. Average traffic speedsare estimated to be up to 3 per cent slower than in the sameperiod last year but that is well below the forecast traffic speedreduction of between 6 and 12 per cent. This is due to lowerlevels of traffic increases occurring and mitigation measures thathave been put into place.

� Air quality impacts:In terms of air quality, TfL modelling showed that the removal ofthe Western Extension would have a very small impact onpollution concentrations. The available data so far for 2011shows that air quality in the former Western Extension zone hasbehaved in the same way as that in the rest of London and therehas not been a discernable ‘WEZ removal effect’. Concentrationsof NO2 have actually fallen, both inside and outside the formerWestern Extension.

The first few months of this year have seen adverseparticulate pollution episodes affecting the whole of London, butthese are not linked to the removal of the former WesternExtension. They have been caused largely by the weatherconditions and from pollution from the continent, whichworsened concentrations of PM10 across London.

However, the Mayor and TfL are delivering a range ofmeasures to improve air quality in the Capital, including thedevelopment of electric vehicle infrastructure and smarter travelinitiatives to encourage a shift to cleaner modes of transport.The Mayor has alreadyintroduced the Barclays CycleHire Scheme and two BarclaysCycle Super Highways are upand running with two moredue to open this summer.

From the start of next yearthe London Low EmissionZone will see standardstightened for HGVs, busesand coaches and, for the first time, will require larger vans andminibuses to meet challenging emissions standards. Age limits arealso to be introduced for taxis and private hire vehicles andmaking eco driving courses mandatory for new licensees. TheMayor funds and supports car clubs and is particularly pushingfor the introduction of hybrid and electric cars. He is also triallingdust suppressant technologies.

The proposals to remove the Western Extension zone weresubject to extensive public consultation. The last consultationclosed in August 2010 and saw 62 per cent of people back theremoval of the Western Extension. The Mayor, on considerationof the outcome of the consultation, confirmed the removal of theWestern Extension in October 2010. The last charging day of theformer Western Extension was 24 December 2010.

TfL Announces Initial ResultsFollowing Removal of theWestern Extension of theCongestion Charging Zone…

Lower than expected increasein traffic numbers driving intoand within the former WesternExtension zone

23

Out of the Pencils of Babes...

24

Test Your Knowledge –

I am looking up at an ancient sculpturedstreet sign baring the name Wood Street,long forgotten and renamed!

I am in the City of Westminster close to the seatof government. I’m on the corner of a busy road.If I walk across this road I can easily get to the bankof the River Thames. I am in the shadow of theworld’s most famous clock. Where am I?

Email answers to:mvn.editor@radiotaxis.co.uk

Or by post to:The Editor (Where Am I Competition)Mountview NewsRadio Taxis Group LtdMountview HouseLennox RoadLondonN4 3TX

Where Am I?

Dear Tracey

Further to our phone conversation lastweek, please find attached a photo of mewith my caricature (posing with my RadioTaxis mug) which was a birthday present. As you know I am 54 years old, married towife Debbie and have two children, Ellie14 and Nicholas 12 and have been with RadioTaxis approximately 27 years.

I couldn’t believe our phone call andit made me chuckle for the rest of the daywhen you said you had managed to geta replacement mug! As you know myoriginal got broke a few years ago and itwas a favourite!

Hope this photo is all you need, let me know if not.Could you let me know that you have received this ok –I don’t trust technology!!

Kind regards – Jeff Middleton (V70).

?

The Mountview Puzzler PageCLUES ACROSS8. Send to school (7)9. Clip wool (5)10. Loose (5)11. Unconscious (7)12. Regretted (4)13. Recurring at intervals (8)16. Safety (8)19. 365 days (4)22. Absence of sound (7)23. Hand operated implements (5)24. Stare angrily (5)25. Speech (7)

CLUES DOWN1. Gauges (8)2. Merciful (6)3. Handkerchief (5)4. To lower (6)5. Mohammedan (7)6. Recompense for hardship (6)7. Authentic (4)14. Baptize (8)15. Device for printing (7)17. Underground room (6)18. Triple (6)20. Second book of the Bible (6)21. Inventory (5)22. Narrative of heroic exploits (4)

Jotting space:

MOUNTVIEW SUDOKUThe object is to write in the missing numbers in the empty boxesbelow. But to satisfy only one condition: each row, column and3 x 3 box must contain the digits 1 through to 9 exactly once.What could be simpler?

Hooked? You can find more Sudoko online at: www.sudoku.cc

?

Winner of theAmusing CaptionContest is DeanByatt E187 with…

Pong; “Oi Wong Ping,ain’t seen you aboutlately.” Ping; “Yea, I’vebeen on a working holiday”Pong; “Yea, were did you go?”Ping; “London’s West End.”

A bottle of champagne is on its way to Dean.

The Mountview News AmusingCaption Competition –If you spot something funny yourself,take a picture of it and email it to themvn.editor@radiotaxis.co.uk and wemay use it in the next edition.

The MountviewAmusing CaptionCompetition

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possession of the facts. ButWhich magazines’ defamatoryand incorrect “slander” wasunforgivable.

This is what we wrote tothem:

Dear Editor:The recent super complaint by “Which?”wrongly includes Radio Taxis Group among companiesit alleges charge “exorbitant” credit card fees.

Radio Taxis currently charges a 12.5% fee forprocessing credit cards. A typical credit card averagecab fare is £25 which would mean a £3.12 fee,which includes: • VAT : 52p.• Merchant fees : 78p.• An additional 20p per journey goes to chargebacks.

These occur, for example, when unscrupulousindividuals book or take taxis using stolen or clonedcredit card numbers.

• Marketing both to customers and drivers : 30p.• Back office operations including reconciling receipts,

payment processes to drivers, and support costs fordata transfer to credit card customers : 30p.

• Investment in new technology (ie; mobile chip and pinmachines) to benefit customers and improve despatchoperations : 30p.

After these costs, Radio Taxis’ gross margin on that£25 fare is 72p, or 2.9% of the total cost to thecustomer. This is before the cost of personnel and allother internal fixed costs.

I wish that “Which?” had taken just five minutes tocontact my office so that we could explain this costbreakdown to them. Instead, uninformed, they resortedto misinforming the public and the OFT about thetaxicab industry, which is a skilled, dedicated and hard-working sector for our economy. The actions of“Which?” in this matter are shameful, and an apologyand retraction of their allegations are in order.

Sincerely an affrontedGeoffrey RieselCEO, Radio Taxis Group

Letters & Emailsto the Editor...Dear Editor,Re: The credit card debateWell it all kicked off a week ago when Which? (amagazine I have subscribed and contributed to for over45 years) published their article ‘The great cardsurcharge rip-off ’.

I told you I wasn’t happy about Radio Taxis chargesas per my letter to you back on the 4th January.

You can now Google in their news section‘Crackdown on hidden credit card rip-off ’ and you willget a spin-off of about 45 articles.

The crunch line now for RTG being that the ‘Officeof Fair Trading’ has now got involved.

Which? Chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith said:“Consumers are really fed up with paying excessivecard charges.”

Which? has launched a super complaint to the OFTto pull the plug on the ‘rip-off ’ card surcharges thismeans that you RTG will be in their gun-sights!

I have always defended Geoffrey Riesel, but for thischarge HE has no defence.

I hope that Mr Riesel and RTG will see sense.Reduce the charge fee now, down to say 5%, before

the OFT starts their investigations or suffer theconsequences that all the bad publicity that it willbring to RTG.

I look forward to your response.Norman Stone (Z55)

Chairman Geoffrey Riesel responds.Norman many thanks for your interest please see here,the letter I sent to Which Magazine and to theGuardian as well as the Evening Standard, which isself-explanatory. I can well understand you having acertain point of view and one can expect driverssometimes to criticise without really being in

SEND YOUR LETTERS BY:

Email: mvn.editor@radiotaxis.co.uk

Or by snail mail:The EditorMountview NewsRadio Taxis GroupMountview HouseLennox RoadLONDONN4 3TX

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We asked Penny Cuckston (our Finance Manager) tointerview a couple of drivers who do a lot of creditcard work and find out what it is that makes them doabove average numbers of credit card jobs?Penny asked first Matt Williams (F175) why?Mr Williams listed a number of reasons:

1. Its work available in addition to regular cash andaccount work.

2. Payment is weekly, so it’s a way of saving.3. Prominent notices in his cab inform passengers

that payment can be made by Credit Card.4. Pick up at hotel ranks – he always asks at start of

the journey if they wish to pay by credit card,especially if it’s an airport job.

Why did Mr Williams think that some drivers don’twant to do credit card journeys?

They are worried about tax issues.

Penny then spoke to David Sherrin (Q083).Again Mr Sherrin listed a number of reasons:

1. It doesn’t matter where it’s going – it’s a job,especially when London is quiet.

2. He too has prominent notices in the back ofthe taxi.

3. He also has a Credit Card sticker in thewindscreen, (pavement side) which is particularlyuseful when picking up from a station rank.

4. He always asks cash street hiring’s if they want topay by credit card at the start of the journey.

Why did he think some drivers don’t do many creditcard journeys? He said that he thought they wantedcash to pay for diesel and have the readies in theirpockets.

Geoffrey Riesel concludes:Of the £2.5m per annum (fast growing) that RTG doesin credit card journeys about 20% of our drivers do80% of the work. This as I have said before tells a storyin itself.

I am not against lowering the charges and indeed ifwe are able to grow the amount of credit card workand reduce the costs by volume business then this maybe reflected in a modest lowering of the charges atsome stage.

Geoffrey Riesel

I got a call from Malcolm Paice, General Manager atCom Cab asking if together with Brian Rice(Chairman, Dial a Cab); could we please help withtransport for the evening of the Royal Wedding?

We put out the messages to our drivers. I then receivedthis follow up email from Malcolm.

To: Geoffrey RieselSubject: Re: Royal Wedding taxi demand

Brian, Geoffrey,

I thought you’d like to know that both afternoon andevening events went very well indeed – withsurprisingly good taxi coverage for both events.

This is a good result for the taxi trade – as private hirewere never even considered. The Royal Householdspecifically wanted the safety and assurance of blacktaxis – and we delivered.

I will be doing a press release around this good newsstory and will be sure to mention the circuits all unitedto spread the word.

Thanks for your help.

Malcolm PaiceCom Cab

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