A recent news article about taxi drivers in Beijing, China, got me thinking about the unlicensed minicab trade in London.

Last week, 300 registered cabbies rioted in Beijing, host to the recent Olympic games, in protest against the ever growing illegal taxi industry.  Thankfully, there were no injuries or arrests, but the problem in this small city has clearly stirred up strong emotions amongst the legal drivers, concerned about loss of trade at a time of economic concern.

So where do we stand in London on this issue?  We’ve all seen them.  You might be leaving a theatre, restaurant or night club (I can just about remember what a night club looks like) and you hear a chorus of multilingual offers for a ’minicab mate?’  We’ve also read the horror stories of arguments and assaults made on passengers traveling in unlicensed minicabs.  So just how big is this problem in the capital?  Ken Fuller, of the Transport and General Workers’ Union, recently claimed that as many as 3,500 of London’s 22,000 cabs are unlicensed.  Clearly, this is a significant percentage and the hope remains that heavy penalties will continue to be served on those breaking the law.  In fact, regular fines of over £1,000 are handed out to minicab drivers prosecuted for not possessing a license.

Over the years at Addison Lee, this issue has often been at the forefront of our business plans.  A uniformed fleet of black people carries (now once again displaying our company logo) ensures that passengers can always be confident that they are getting into one of our vehicles.  Text message alerts, detailing the registration of the car and also giving the driver’s mobile phone number, also helps the client to feel completely safe when embarking on a journey with us.  Our driver training programme focuses heavily on the comfort and safety of our passengers and we transport tens of thousands of clients around the clock every month.  We must be doing something right.  In Addison Lee’s 33 year history, there has never been a successful prosecution made against one of our drivers.

With Christmas just around the corner, the vermin that is the unlicensed minicab driver will be out in force looking for a cheap buck to take you home from the office party, or the Oxford Street shopping scramble.  Why risk it?  Put this number in your phone and call us.  0844 800 66 77.  We might not be able to do anything about your hangover, but we’ll get you home safely - every time.

After reporting the success of Tohier Adams at the Go Skills Transport Awards, there’s more great news for 2 members of Addison Lee staff.  Shauna Lightbourne and Shirley Lewis have both successfully completed NVQ level 3 in Customer Service.  These awards require real commitment and the girls are the first Addison Lee employees to achieve a level 3 pass.  Great stuff girls.

At risk of blowing our own trumpet, Tohier, Shauna and Shirley are great examples of what sort of company Addison Lee is.  To some people, working for a minicab company may appear an unglamorous career, but these are the people that simply don’t understand the scale of our operation.  Including drivers, Addison Lee employs nearly 3,000 people and due to the training initiatives we have in place, every one of our staff has the opportunity to learn and progress within the company.  Personally, I’ll never tire of the statement that Addison Lee is not your avearge minicab company.

Speak tomorrow.  Jeremy

Far be it for me to ever recommend a minicab company other than Addison Lee, but I must say I’m tempted towards a ride in The Ultimate Taxi, should I ever find myself in Aspen, Colorado.  Jon Barnes has been running his one car fleet since 1984, but I think it’s fair to say he may offer a slightly different service from the Addison Lee experience!

Jon has completely stripped out his 1978 Checker minicab and replaced the interior with four red lasers, a laser projector, black light effects, light washers, light orbs, mini-strobes, color changing fiber optics, a sound system, stage lights, a mirror ball, a fog machine, a keyboard, digital drums, a digital camera, a DV cam, a notebook computer, a printer, and much, much more.  Jon even throws in a pair of 3D glasses for this once in a lifetime experience.  The journey itself lasts for approximately 40 minutes and throughout the ride he constantly plays an organ and horn (at least he wont be talking on his mobile!).  As a souvenir of the experience, photos and a dedicated web page are provided.

This incredible experience has become so popular that Jon is booked up for months in advance and the list of celebrities who have enjoyed the ride include Clint Eastwood, Jerry Seinfeld and The Beatles.

As London’s largest and most successful minicab company, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before Addison Lee start supplying mobile discos in all of our cars.  During the credit crunch, it might just brighten up the days of some of our Canary Wharf clients!

http://www.ultimatetaxi.com/

Good morning and ‘welcome back’ to the Addison Lee blog.  After a brief trial run in October and a little technical tinkering, we are now fully up and running and words of wisdom from your correspondent will now be posted on a daily basis.  However, being very honest, I’d rather be paid to do nothing, so please send me any ideas, stories, pictures etc you have related to Addison Lee or the private hire and taxi industry in general.  Drop me an e-mail at jeremyb@addisonlee.com

I’d like to start today by passing on my sincere congratulations to Tohier Adams, a former colleague and friend of mine, who has just been awarded a ‘Manager and Leadership Achiever of the Year’ award from Go Skills Passenger Transport.  Tohier was up against 3,000 other nominees for the award and it speaks volumes about his personality that he was one of three to receive the accolade.  Well done mate.

And now to something long overdue - the return of the Addison Lee livery. 

When I first moved to London as a bright eyed twentysomething, I was forever seeing these big black vehicles with Addison Lee plastered all over the back windscreen.  It seemed that everywhere you turned there was one next to you.  That was 10 years or more ago and, as memory serves, Addison Lee had roughly 500 vehicles out and about in London.  Now, with well over 2,000 cars dotted around the capital and liveries returning not just to the back of the minicab, but also on the roof, Addison Lee’s profile within London will be nothing short of phenomenal. 

Ok, that’s a wrap for today.  Please drop in occasionally to read more and make my life easier by contributing something yourself.  Cheers

Jeremy

Addison Lee is delighted to have won another prestigious environmental award, The Energy Saving Trust’s Fleet Hero award for large fleets.

The Fleet Hero awards aim to highlight best practice in fleet management. The awards aim to acknowledge organisations that are addressing climate change by reducing carbon emissions from business travel. Best practice will be recognised as these organisations demonstrate the way forward in green fleet management. This includes reducing the total mileage travelled, reduced emissions from private cars used on business, used technology innovatively, leading by example, or simply taking a series of sound steps that together have made a big difference.

Philip Sellwood, Chief Executive of the Energy Saving Trust commented: “The winners and runners up in the Fleet Hero Awards have taken simple, practical steps which not only help the environment but also help to save money and resources.  My congratulations go to them all.  They provide an example to any business or organisation that operates a fleet - no matter what size.”

This award is further confirmation of Addison Lee’s unwavering commitment to improving the environment in which we operate.  Since 2002, Addison Lee has employed a full-time Corporate Social Responsibility Manager and we have made subsequent reductions in emissions of 17.6%. 

Liam Griffin, Managing Director of Addison Lee commented: “Environmental awareness will continue to remain at the forefront of our business plans and we are delighted to have received further recognition of our efforts in this field”

Great to see Ronnie O’Sullivan safely into the second round of the Grand Prix - the first terrestrially televised tournament of the season.  Ronnie overcame a sluggish start to defeat the prodigiously talented Liang Wenbow 5-2, finishing the match with a century clearance to set up a second round meeting with reigning champion, Marco Fu.

Addison Lee is proud to be sponsoring Ronnie throughout the season and it’s great to see our logo displayed on his waistcoat.  We’ll keep you posted on his progress.

Following on from last week’s introduction, I am thrilled to report that my mail box has been swamped with literally no e-mails.  I have given much deliberation as to what will make interesting reading on this blog and have come up with very little so far!  As we are new to this, I thought I’d give you a little potted history of Addison Lee - Europe’s largest minicab company.

·   Addison Lee was established in 1975.  The name was created by our founders, John Griffin and Daryl Foster, our current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer respectively.  Contrary to popular belief, the names ‘Addison’ and ‘Lee’ have very little in common with….. well anything really.  Apparently, John was standing on Addison Road and liked the sound of it.  Daryl agreed and added the Lee for good measure.

·   Our Managing Director, Liam Griffin, was shortlisted for Young Entrepeneur of the Year in 2005.  The rumours that Liam is in the running for Old Entrepeneur of the Year in 2008 are largely unsubstantiated.

·   After being in business for nearly 30 years, Addison Lee completed the buyout of 3 major companies within a 3 year period.  In 2004, Anderson Young’s cars, clients and staff made the move from West to North London.  Redwing, London’s largest coach operator were purchased in 2006 and the following year, Blueback Cars became all black cars.

·   Addison Lee has over 10,000 registered clients, 2250 cars and employs over 700 people.

·   Addison Lee have been major shirt sponsors of The Londons Masters, held at Wembley, for the last 2 years.  Football remains a constant source of amusement within the office with the Director’s loyalties split between Arsenal and Tottenham.  As a gentle reminder, here is a brief look at the current Premier League table.

I would like to assure all readers that this table has not been printed upside down.

More to come tomorrow, but in the meantime, get those e-mails sent to jeremyb@addisonlee.com

Over the coming pages, we’ll keep you posted on all things Addison Lee.  From company news to industry updates, the aim of this blog is to take your mind off the price of shopping and offer a quirky look at the glamorous world of minicabs!

First up, it would be great to hear from you.  If you’ve got something you want to get off your chest, ping me an e-mail.  Keep it clean and I’ll do my best to post it here.  The first prize for the best post of the year will be a night out with the Addison Lee management team.  Second prize will be two nights out with the Addison Lee management team!

Send your thoughts to jeremyb@addisonlee.com