Who gets paid for
what?
No one is looking over my shoulder as I
write this - they never do anyway! The
Chairman is currently in Boston at a
TLPA meeting and as I say, these are
just my views.
I have nothing against the duo who for the sake of editorial
comment from elsewhere, have become
known as the two Geoffs – even though Mr
Kaley has just one ‘f’ in his name! My
views on Messrs Riesel and Kaley have
not altered over the years and they
still remain the same today. Geoffrey
Riesel has the best speaking voice this
trade has ever seen and could have been
a radio presenter without any shadow of
doubt, whilst Geof Kaley dragged the
radio taxi business - via his MD
position with London Wide – into the 20th
century at a time when our industry was
stagnating.
Now, and as Dial-a-Cab lead this section of our industry into the
21st century, I remember that
it wasn’t always like this. I have not
any doubt that Geof Kaley deserves the
ultimate praise for those early days and
his technical foresight. Of course there
are those who say that Mr Kaley, for all
his undoubted skill, led two radio taxi
companies almost to the verge of
insolvency. ComCab were saved by
Singapore finance, whilst Xeta were
taken from administration by the Radio
Taxis Group – led by Geoffrey Riesel.
That leads us to those who also question how successful RTG can be
when their accounts show that they are
losing money each month by virtue of
their car fleet – First Executive - and
with their internal share value
plummeting to 6op, valuing the Company’s
market capitalisation at under
£1.25million. That, bearing in mind that
the starting point was visualised at
£3.30 and almost £7million…
It isn’t much of a secret that both Geoffs are earning large sums
of money – by taxi standards anyway - at
RTG and we now hear of Mr Riesel’s
promotion from Chairman to Executive
Chairman while Andrew Herbert moves up
to Managing Director – effectively
meaning that RTG are now paying two
people to do the job that Brian Rice
does here!
I do not begrudge anyone the opportunity to capitalise on their
earning capacity, after all, there comes
a time in everyone’s life when you have
to live on what you have earned and we,
as cab drivers, do not put a limit on
what we can earn if we decide we want to
work harder.
But one thing seems out of synch with the rest of my comments. The
man who as DaC Chairman has taken this
Society to undreamed of heights, earns
no more than he could have had he |
still gone out to drive his cab. Brian Rice, together with the Board of
this company, has undoubtedly made us
number one in our field. Like you, I’ve
seen the posters at Waterloo and other
stations telling all and sundry how much
Brian earns. The problem was that
whoever put the posters up - and I know
who it was because he rather stupidly
boasted to a client that it was him, the
client told DaC and I managed to weasel
the info from them - actually lied about
the figures as they grossly
over-estimated his earnings by tens of
thousands!
Brian Rice and the DaC Board have put our "bottom line" on around
£4.5million and could probably offer our
bank overdraft facilities! On the other
hand, some of our competitors of late
have struggled to even put a plus sign
on their bottom line and indeed, had
they shown their accounts in the way
that we do, probably would have shown a
minus.
So should not Brian Rice be rewarded for leading this company to
the dizzy heights we now occupy? How
about getting rid of him as Chairman and
rehiring him as the Chief Executive on a
salary? Sadly, I can see some drivers
reading this and calling me every name
under the sun for daring to suggest that
anyone concerned with this organisation
should earn more than they do. As one
driver famously said to the Chairman at
an AGM some years ago:
"You’re unemployable – you’re only a cab
driver!"
I believe that through my Editorship I have gotten to know Brian as
well as many on the circuit and he is
proud of his licence to drive a cab. I
also know him well enough to suggest
that he has Dial-a-Cab running through
his veins. But as the Chairman of our
most successful radio circuit by far,
other companies – both in the private
and public hire fields – would no doubt
love to tempt him away from our Society.
Nine years ago, we were at the bottom of
the pile; now we are probably the best
radio circuit in Europe and quite
possibly, the world! Yet the Chairman is
on an hourly rate with no contract and
is free to walk away with no notice.
Surely that is ludicrous? No doubt
thereare some on their Internet lists
who will think I am mad. "A decent
salary? Whatever next," |
they will fume, "what’s wrong with an
hourly rate? He’s only a cab
driver. Old Fisher’s on a commission if
Rice gets a rise…!"
Well, as the Editor of a magazine who is fortunate enough to be
given the freedom to say what he likes -
just as drivers have that freedom in the
Mailshot pages – I wanted to put my
views on the record. Your comments, as
always, are appreciated…
Peter Hulme Cross Report
The recent report into the taxi trade
and the PCO by Peter Hume Cross seems to
contain much common sense. A Knowledge
lasting between 3 and 4 years is too
long – in fact I’d be happy to see one
taking around 2 years. This trade may be
busy at the moment, but it is also dying
because of the attitude of those who
cannot see beyond today. The
report says that we have more drivers
over 70 than under 30! That is
symptomatic of an industry in decline –
one that needs fresh blood gradually
replacing the old variety, yet our
numbers are currently decreasing year on
year and new recruits are dropping out
of the Knowledge because they see no end
to it.
London has always been a difficult city to learn, but two years of
hard slog should give any prospective
taxi driver a good grounding. London
cabbies have always learned more after
passing out than they ever knew while on
the KoL.
I have to also register my disgust at the trade’s two biggest
organisations – the LTDA and the T&G
who, according to Peter Hume Cross,
refused to take part in the exercise
even though it was one of the most
important surveys of its kind ever
undertaken. Perhaps Mr Hulme Cross’s
suggestion of incorporating everyone
into the London Taxi Board merits
discussion? Those two organisations
walked out of that too…
In addition, Call Sign has asked many times on this page for taxi
representation on the TfL Board. Now in
his report, Mr Hume Cross also
recommends it. We’re glad to have
finally been listened to, but we would
like to make it clear that our version
of representation does NOT mean the PCO!
Happy holidays…!
You will read other contributors in this
issue wish you a Happy Christmas and New
Year, but I’m not falling for that one
again! So whether you celebrate the
forthcoming Christmas and New Year or
have just finished with Ramadan, Eid,
Duwali or anything I’ve missed out, then
Happy Holidays to you all…
Alan Fisher
callsignmag@aol.com |
