Litigation
As those present will probably remember, I was asked questions at the last AGM regarding Mountview suing Dial-a-Cab. You may also recall that I was very forthright with my answers and extremely disappointed that the situation had resulted in a court case.
   I had endeavored in the first instance to negotiate with Mountview, however my request was declined. I then asked their solicitors to go to arbitration, again my requests were declined. Consequently, the proceedings have drawn on and on and the money that has been poured into this situation has been nothing short of disgraceful. The situation I was faced with was quite simple - either capitulate to Mountview and let them walk all over us, or stand my ground and let us take them on. The decision was the latter, as in my opinion there is only one thing worse in this life than a bully, and that is a bully that gets away with it. Eventually the case did go to court much to my dismay, and I attended the Law Courts in the Strand for four days at the latter part of July while the case was heard.
   On the second day, I spent five hours in the witness box being cross-examined by their QC (and you think your job is stressful). 
Unfortunately, we will not know the outcome of the case until the beginning of September and as soon as I know the outcome I will give you a full report in Call Sign.
On a more personal note, I must say how disappointed I am that this case had to go to court. In my opinion, regardless of who wins, loses or draws, at a conservative estimate another £200,000 will have left the licensed taxi trade. A similar amount left our trade when the same organisation who are suing us now undercut our prices in order to 'buy' some work.
   Under the circumstances, the Board of Management at Dial-a-Cab felt that it was inappropriate for us to sit around a table with Mountview at JRTA 

and discuss the future of the licensed trade, especially as flooding London with taxi drivers that had completed a 'quickie' knowledge was not in the best interests of the trade or Dial-a-Cab.
   Another reason why we left JRTA, was that the BoM of Dial-a-Cab felt that in recent times certain members of the Mountview Board had seen fit to make personal attacks on me in a newspaper that is owned by Mountview. I must say that I am very flattered that our Board cares so much for my feelings, it isn't necessary, but much appreciated!
   In conclusion, there are people in this world who believe that they are so important that they can't be 'set up'. All I can say is that 'they that live by the sword will die by the sword'. You are basically a good guy... but you've lost the plot.

August ... Aaggh!
I am writing my report approximately one week earlier than usual as I'm off on a one-week holiday - apparently along with the rest of the population of London! Every year we moan about the month of August because it's so quiet, every year it is quiet, but every year we moan. However, have you ever noticed that it always appears to be quieter this year than it was last year? Our minds sometimes play strange tricks with us!
   Our figures compared with last year are very similar, but it appears that we have fewer tourists than usual possibly due to the foot and mouth outbreak. I have read somewhere that the

foot and mouth epidemic has cost the UK around £65billion in lost revenue due to the absence of tourism and associated costs. Consequently, due to that lack of tourists, members are more readily accepting radio work and thus it appears that we are quieter than normal. This is not the case at the moment, but I must confess it could be the case in the future.
   On my return from holiday, I have three appointments in the first two days with our three biggest accounts who all wish to discuss our terms. We can safely assume that they don't want to see me in order to increase our charges, so there can only be one way they want our charges to go. This is very disconcerting when you know that there is someone in the wings who is willing to undercut you.
   The end of our financial year comes at the end of August and whilst I do not have all the figures readily available, at the moment it would appear that our turnover will be approximately 16% up on last year. Not too bad under the circumstances, however, at one point this year our turnover was up by over 22%! So as you can see, all our majors are looking to make savings and the work has definitely leveled off over the past few months, which makes me even more sceptical about the Mayor's proposed increase on the night tariff.
   Anyway, before you all fall on your swords, we do have one or two good pieces of news. We have retained Euston with an increased rate, likewise with Eurostar and we have also now started servicing Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein (DKW) along with JP Morgan. We have also heard that we have acquired 'Shell' from the Upstream and Downstream building for a five-year contract.
   To all members, it is not only imperative that we go after new work, it is equally important to retain what we have; we can all play a part in that one.

Brian Rice