Black Cab fires claims continue

Manganese Bronze to contest cab drivers' claims

Manganese Bronze, maker of London's traditional black cabs, said it would contest a court litigation by 436 cab drivers, who alleged a loss of income after a recall of taxis three years ago.

'The claim arises from the product recall, announced by the group on 26 September 2008, following twelve under-bonnet fires in early production models of the TX4 taxi,' the company said in a statement.

The claim has been issued against company's taxi manufacturing unit LTI Ltd and eleven other parties.

Manganese Bronze, which recently agreed its biggest London taxi order worth $27 million with a company in Azerbaijan, said it had taken adequate steps to cover the cost of the litigation.

The company, 20 percent-owned by China's largest private automaker Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd, said the taxi drivers were yet to provide details of their alleged income loss.

'Although the claim is at an early stage, it appears that all except one of the claimants is alleging loss of income alone, for when the taxis were off the road,' Manganese Bronze said.

The Coventry-based company's shares were down 1.1 percent at 46 pence at 0730 GMT on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange.

Durham to de-regulate?

Controversial County Durham cab changes approved

CABBIES have vowed to pursue legal action after controversial new trade rules were nodded through without a single word of protest. Widespread changes to County Durham's taxi trade were rubber-stamped at County Hall yesterday - with the proposals winning all-party support.

Councillors approved creating a deregulated, countywide hackney carriage zone, allowing unlimited numbers of vehicles to operate and imposing an all-white colour scheme. Afterwards, fuming cabbies claimed the changes would put taxi firms out of business and "destroy" historic Durham City, leaving it overrun with cabs.

Is it time to Pony up? AND - Private Hire price wars!!

So here it is again - will the "pony" receive it's trap or not? The jury is still out. More to follow. On a seperate issue, does this sound familiar?

Private Hire Drivers to stage go-slow protest through Sheffield
Private Hire drivers are to stage a drive-slow through Sheffield tomorrow in protest at cab firms’ pricing policies.
Up to 50 Private Hire cars will converge in Woodbourn Road, Attercliffe, at 11am, before driving slowly through the city centre and then back again.
Mohammed Yasin, chairman of the Sheffield Private Hire Drivers’ Association, said 1,400 self-employed Private Hire drivers in the city are being caught in rival firms’ price wars.
“Fuel prices have rocketed sky-high,” he told The Star.
“But we are not allowed to change our prices.
“We are all self-employed and pay companies a weekly fee for them to take bookings.
“They set the prices we charge - and the prices have not changed since 2009.”
Unlike Hackney cab drivers, private hire drivers cannot carry passengers that have not pre-booked.

They rely on firms such as Metro, Sheffield City Taxis, Mercury and Abbey for their bookings.

Mr Yasin said: “There is a price war going on in Sheffield and it is being fought at the drivers’ expense.

Licensing manager "retires" at Stockport Council

It appears as though Norman Elthorpe, the controversial manager of licensing and trading standards is to "retire" in two weeks time.
He made the announcement at a meeting of taxi trade reps earlier this week. Norman Elthorpe will be most remembered by the taxi trade for leading the council into two expensive court cases.
He first tried to force all taxi owners to paint their cabs Green. This was overruled at Manchester Crown Court by the wise HH Judge Geake, leaving the tax payers of Stockport with a huge legal bill.
Then two years ago, after failing to ensure he had carried out the legal requirements to limit the number of taxis, spending untold thousands of tax payers money on worthless studies. He once again met HH Judge Geake at Manchester Crown Court. As predicted he again lost the case with further resultant unnecessary expense for the hard pressed residents of the town. His "departure" comes at a time when the Council are on the brink of Crown Court action. They are to appear on Wednesday 23rd March 2009 in a disability case brought by a Stockport cabbie.

At last he is "retiring" as to what sort of package he has been "awarded" one can only guess at this stage. It is hope that it will be revealed "in the fulness of time"
For now, let's pray it was nothing close to this chaps cheerio:

A council boss was given a £365,000 payment when he quit a job after a year.
Adam Wilkinson, now chief executive of Derby City Council, received the huge pay out from Kent County Council where he had worked as director of environment and regeneration.

Stockport Council Court date 23rd March 2011

The preliminary hearing has been set at Minshull Street Crown confirming :- mention, fix & directions hearing on the 23rd March 2011.

 

In the saloon Hackney Carriage case.

Petrol hits £1.40 a litre as minister makes alarmist forecast it could reach £4

Government desperate to avoid repeat of fuel blockades as senior Lib Dem claims that those on low incomes cannot afford expense of getting to work

By Matt Chorley, Kunal Dutta and Susie Mesure

East Lancashire taxi drivers to support Rossendale strike

TAXI drivers across East Lancashire say they will support two strikes which have been called by fed-up cabbies in Rossendale this weekend.

Private hire and hackney carriage drivers’ representatives in Burnley and Hyndburn have backed walkouts and will not send taxis into the valley this weekend.

Anger at new licensing and enforcement policies, drawn up by Rossendale Borough Council, has built up over the past 18 months and prompted the industrial action.

Delroy Grant 'was Night Stalker rapist'

A man has gone on trial accused of being the so-called Night Stalker who targeted elderly people in a 17-year campaign of sex attacks.

Delroy Grant, 53, of Honor Oak, south London, sexually assaulted men and women in their 80s during burglaries, Woolwich Crown Court was told.
He denies charges relating to 29 offences committed from 1992 to 2009.
Opening the case, prosecutors said Mr Grant preyed on the elderly and vulnerable in their homes at night.

Manganese Bronze seals biggest London taxi order

LONDON (Reuters) - Manganese Bronze  maker of London's traditional black cabs, said it had agreed an order for 1,000 taxis with a company in Azerbaijan, sending its shares up nearly 50 percent on Thursday.
The company, which has struggled with falling sales and market share, said the deal was the single largest contract it had received for its London taxi.
The $27 million deal will see 1,000 TX4 London cabs supplied by Shanghai LTI -- Manganese Bronze's joint venture partner with Chinese car manufacturer Geely Automobile Holdings -- to private Azerbaijani firm, the Baku Taxi Company, in 2011.
The Baku Taxi Company had been set up to develop a program originally announced by the Transport Ministry of Azerbaijan to introduce London cabs into Azerbaijan's capital city, Baku.
Shares in Manganese Bronze, which had fallen from a high of 240 pence per share in June 2006, were up 49 percent to 55 pence.

How self-employed are Addison Lee's 2,400 cab drivers?

Order a taxi anywhere in the country and the odds are, the driver who picks you up will be "self-employed".
But how self-employed are they really?

In areas where the pplates for black cabs are regulated - If you don't have ££££s for a plate, you will no doubt be renting a cab. Rents can vary in Greater Manchester from £200 to £350 a week, add in £100 - £150 fuel, and you soon begin to wonder what your hourly rate is for a 35 - 40 hour week.

CLICK HERE  To read the rest of the story (which has a video clip) and below, another tale:

London-based Lancaster Private Hire has lucrative contracts with a string of big firms, including the BBC.
Most of its drivers are eastern Europeans who were told they could earn £400 or more a week in take-home pay.
However, we've heard that the reality for some is very different.

Alin Condrutz, from Romania, worked for Lancaster for two months last year and averaged £99 a week, after deductions for car hire, insurance and a security "bond".

Taxi cap lift could hit town cabbies

CONTROVERSIAL plans to lift a cap on the number of taxi licences could "drive cabbies out of business". That was the view of taxi drivers in response to a Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition initiative to claw back £3.4m to balance the books.

It is part of the council's Growing Revenue and Cost Recovery Project, a scheme drawn up by accountancy firm Deloitte to look at ways to generate more income by reforming everything from waste management to advertising and sponsorship.

The document is yet to be finalised, but one idea includes uncapping the borough's  Hackney Carriage licences, in line with other authorities and increasing the charges to generate an estimated additional £83,500.

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We are back!!

What has been happening while we have been away? Well, Norman has been writing his own laws again for a start. For those of you who don't know - Norman Elthorpe is the licensing manager at Stockport MBC.

More on him to follow. The leader of Stockport Council, Dave Goddard has been on a "slimathon" to lose weight for charity. More on that to follow

In Ireland, the possibility of a new Government could see a change in the crazy de-regulation of taxis that saw more cabs per head than New York.

And finally for now... The crazy spiraling costs of Taxi Insurance and Diesel prices - We will be providing tips and advice to keep your costs as low as possible

If you need a decent taxi case law website then click on Keith Jeffreys Solicitor or give him a call.

One simple way is to license a saloon car .... OOps (sorry Norman)