Bosses at the London Taxi Company confirm the site is a leading contender in search for additional base
Coventry’s iconic black cab firm could be opening a new £150million factory at Ansty Park.
The London Taxi Company has confirmed the site – on the outskirts of Coventry – is a “leading contender” for its new plant.
If given the go-ahead, it would be the second local base for the taxi firm, which has been making cabs in Holyhead Road for more than 70 years.
The factory’s main role will be to make the new TX5, an upgraded ‘green’ version of the classic London cab scheduled to enter the market in 2018.
Production of the TX4 London taxi will continue at its factory in Holyhead Road.
Plans for the new plant have been in the pipeline for over a year and last month a planning application was submitted to build at Ansty Park, which is in the borough ofRugby.
However, bosses at LTC – formerly LTI – say the new factory is still in its very early stages and they are also considering other locations.
Geely, the Chinese car maker which bought LTC in 2013 after it collapsed into administration, is also looking at sites outside of the UK.
LTC’s vice-president Peter Johansen said: “Geely is actively considering a number of sites for the future production of the TX5 and has identified Ansty Park near Coventry as one of the leading contenders.”
The Coventry cab firm has enjoyed an incredible turnaround in fortunes over the past two years after being rescued from the brink of collapse by Geely in February 2013.
The Chinese manufacturer bought LTC from Manganese Bronze Holdings in a deal worth £11.4million.
The world famous cab maker was forced into administration after more than 400 cabs were recalled.
The faults were discovered after two cab drivers reported problems with steering in its TX4 models. A total of 99 workers – half the workforce in the city – were made redundant.
Months after the buy-out production restarted in Coventry and several months later, Geely announced plans to create 500 jobs as part of an £80million investment into research and production of the new hybrid TX5 model – the next generation of energy-efficient London taxis.
Business leaders in Coventry and Warwickshire have welcomed news of a potential second base for LTC.
Jonathan Browning, chairman of Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, said: “This would be outstanding news for Coventry and Warwickshire.
“Geely has the choice of several locations across the UK, so it is certainly not a foregone conclusion purely because of the ties between the London taxi and this area.
“A great deal of work has taken place to sell the multiple advantages of establishing the facility in this area.
“Ansty has been earmarked as a site for research and development and has attracted significant investment over recent years, but the arrival of a leading international name with such a major project would help take it to another level.
“Coventry and Warwickshire is very much the driving force of advanced manufacturing and engineering in the UK, and this news further underlines the capabilities we have in the sector as well as furthering enhancing our reputation as a fantastic location for inward investment.”
Manganese Bronze – the parent company of Coventry-based London Taxi International – saw shares plunge 34 per cent after it said it expected “substantially higher” losses for the first half and admitted an accounting blunder caused by its new IT system.
The faults were discovered after two cab drivers reported problems with steering in its TX4 models, which were only introduced into production in late February. It was the final straw for the ailing cab maker – which axed 99 jobs at its Holyhead Road factory.
December 2012
The fight to save the Coventry-made black cab was taken to Downing Street. Union leaders wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron and Mayor of London Boris Johnson urging them to back the growing campaign.
Unite, which represents LTI workers and taxi drivers, also sent letters to key ministers, urging them to publicly back the campaign to save the maker of the black cab and ensure the iconic vehicle was still built in Britain.
January 2013
Hopes were raised when it was revealed that a buyer had been found for the Coventry-based manufacturer. It was announced that Zhejiang Geely Holding Grouphad made a bid to buy a major share in LTI owners Manganese Bronze Holdings.
February 2013
It was confirmed that LTI was sold for £11.4million to the Chinese car maker Geely. The deal, which it said would safeguard production in the UK and the remaining 80 jobs in Coventry, was agreed with administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers. The name changed from London Taxi International to The London Taxi Company.
Production of the world-famous black cab resumed in Coventry. After an incredible turnaround, the London Taxi Company was back in business at its Holyhead Road factory.
The historic day came six months after the company was rescued by its new Chinese owners Geely Group.
And to mark the occasion local MPs, councillors and business leaders – many who had fought to save the city-based firm when it collapsed into administration – gathered at the Holyhead Road plant to watch as business secretary Vince Cable officially reopened the production line.
October 2013
Just a month later, bosses announce a contract win which would see Coventry’s iconic cabs taking a trip Down Under – but the famous black taxi was given a dramatic makeover.
Coventry’s new black cab owner announced plans to quadruple its workforce by creating 500 new jobs in the city. Geely said the massive jobs boost was part of an £80million investment into research and production of thenew hybrid TX5 model.
January 2014
LTC unveiled its vision-of-the-future taxi which could be on the road in just four years. The London Taxi Company revealed its plug-in range extended electric black cab, which bosses say meets Boris Johnson’s air quality ambitions for London.
The Mayor announced plans that would mean all new London taxis must be capable of running in zero-emission mode from 2018.
Addison Lee chief executive Liam Griffin says he won’t be drawn into a price war with rivals
Liam Griffin has had a busy year. As the head of the country’s biggest minicab firm, the chief executive of Addison Lee has found himself on the front line as global giants plunged huge amounts of money into the battle to give Londoners a lift.
If the tech sector has had the taxi and minicab industry in its sights for a number of years, then 2014 was when war broke out.
“We are in an industry that has seen more change in the last 12 months than it probably did in the previous 20 years,” Griffin says.
And, he insists, Addison Lee — set up by his dad John in Battersea 40 years ago — has been there every step of the way.
“We’ve led this market for a long, long time so there have not been that many surprises,” he says, sitting in his office in the company’s headquarters just east of Regent’s Park.
“The technology and whatnot, we’ve had many of these things in place for the last five years anyway. It’s just that somebody’s obviously come along with a whole new approach to it and has certainly made quite an impact.”
Who that somebody is doesn’t need to be said. At the start of 2014, San Francisco start-up Uber was operating in about 60 cities — by the end, you could use the smartphone app to book a cab in more than 250.
But with that breathtaking growth has come notoriety. Twice last year, the black-taxi drivers in the capital, angry at Transport for London’s decision to give Uber a private-hire licence, held protests.
Meanwhile, the company has also been rocked by stories putting its safety measures in doubt, such as an alleged rape by one of its drivers in New Delhi, as well as attacks on its business practices.
Not that its backers, which include Google, have been put off — in June a fundraising valued the company at $17 billion (£11.18 billion); just six months later, a fresh round brought that up to $40 billion.
“It’s quite phenomenal that if you said, ‘what was the fastest-growing company in the history of all companies — it’s a minicab company’, you’d go, ‘oh, do me a favour’,” says Griffin.
“It’s got to be Microsoft or Apple or Facebook or something else. You would never think it was a minicab firm.”
But for enthusiastic investors, Uber — and its rival apps around the world, which include GetTaxi, Lyft and the UK’s own Hailo — is the latest example of entrepreneurs disrupting a staid industry, a tech firm in the vein of Facebook or Google rather than a traditional minicab company.
“That’s a lovely idea, but that’s not the reality,” says Griffin. “As much as you dress them up, they are no different to us — they are minicab firms. They’ve got an app, we’ve got an app. They’ve got a Public Carriage Office licence, we’ve got a PCO licence. They recruit drivers, we recruit drivers — we all go and get the same customers.”
Once the novelty wears off, he feels, “the valuations will plummet and then we’ll come back to reality”.
Perhaps, but that hasn’t stopped Griffin, 41, taking note.
“It gets the brainwaves working — what should we do, how can we do that? Take some of their ideas,” he says. “They’ve clearly nicked a fair chunk of ours, so we’ll happily go and reciprocate.”
One thing Uber has done is put Addison Lee on the same side as London’s black-cab drivers.
“We never thought that would happen,” laughs Griffin. He sympathises with the protests against TfL, saying the body should not have given Uber a licence.
Like the black-cab industry, Griffin is also a strong believer in the need for drivers to be heavily trained.
“London is a complicated place, and being a minicab driver is not as simple as everybody thinks,” he says.
“We have lots of Uber drivers come to Addison Lee — we’ve had 48 apply this month, and of the 48 we’ve taken on eight or nine. That is because there is a big quality difference.”
He is more positive on Uber’s rivals. Sir Richard Branson-backed Hailo, set up by three London black-cab drivers, has had a tough time of it recently, having to pull out of North America, losing its co-founder and chief executive Jay Bregman, and angering drivers by deciding to work with private-hire vehicles rather than just black cabs.
The reaction to that last decision, says Griffin, “was no surprise to any of us in the trade”, but generally “they are one of the better ones”.
Then there’s Israeli start-up GetTaxi, which near the end of last year announced it was offering black-cab trips for just a fiver — albeit on journeys of 10 kilometres (six miles) or less that started outside Zone Two.
It was a bold move on price, but Griffin says he would only have been worried by it “if I was paying the bill — some of these guys have got deeper pockets than sense”.
Addison Lee has some firepower of its own behind it, with US private-equity giant Carlyle buying a majority holding in the company in a £300 million deal in April 2013.
Last autumn, Carlyle looked as if it was set for a swift exit amid reports that it would sell the company for £800 million, but any such plans seem to have been ditched for the moment.
“[Carlyle] love owning the company, they think it’s a great space to be in,” says Griffin. “They’re ready for the fight, they’re ready to back us and stick with us and to see what the next year or two holds.”
Still, Addison Lee won’t be drawn into a price war: “We believe people are prepared to pay for service. We’re not as expensive as everyone thinks we are — trust me, we’ve had consultants coming out of our ears looking at how we compare on price and the gap is not as big as everybody would seem to believe.”
But he accepts there is a difference with Uber — and it’s something he’s proud of: “We are a premium product — every market has its British Airways and its Ryanair.
“We’re here sitting here as British Airways, but people will always want the Ryanair equivalent.”
RMT is a progressive, democratic and highly professional trade union, a fast growing union with more than 80,000 members from almost every sector of the transport industry – from the mainline and underground railways, shipping and offshore, buses, taxis, and road freight.You can also visit American Freight Inc website as it can assure you the best freight experience.
Protecting and bettering our members’ pay and conditions are key RMT objective. We negotiate with over 150 transport-sector companies – using every opportunity to drive home our positive agenda for better pay, shorter hours and safer working conditions.
RMT members can rely on their union to protect and promote their interests in the workplace.
Our former general secretary Bob Crow, RIP, walked away from the sham that is the TfL Board because he recognized what he saw as control by TfL and compliance from the United Trade Group (UTG). Being a man of principle Bob would not have anything to do with such a sham that could not honestly represent members of the RMT and the licensed taxi trade.
We at the RMT have NEVER been involved in any of the agreements or meetings that have done so much damage to the licensed taxi trade in London. However we have been exposed to collusion that prevents the RMT playing a part in the fight to save the taxi trade. TFL have been assisted by a sham engagement policy drafted as we now know by the former director of LTPH and supported by the UTG.
TFL know that if the RMT’s representatives were at the table of the now called Cabbies Cabinet things would have been very different. Cast your mind back do you remember receiving a letter from the Mayor telling us all that there had been little interest in the cabbies Cabinet and therefore he wouldn’t be going ahead with his plan, then suddenly very recently we read in one of the trade papers that the UTG were attending meetings under the heading of Cabbies Cabinet.
TFL know full well that had the RMT been in attendance at these meetings we would have insisted on full verbatim minutes to inform the trade as a whole of discussions that took place.
How can you have a meeting without a full record of who says what to whom? It is ridiculous. What happens if there is a dispute in the future? How would anyone know what went on without minutes? More importantly, how do you find out what your members think of a proposal if they are only informed by a headline following agreement by the trade orgs.?
We have to face up to the truth that the UTG has failed the trade. We must come together and insist that we have a proper voice inside TFL. Ensuring proper policy is formulated that is in the interest of retaining the two tier system within London and that it is properly upheld.
The RMT London taxi branch believe that only the full protection of our right to ply for hire will ensure that our trade is future proof.
We acknowledge that there are many other issues that must be rectified but are steadfast in our belief that the right to ply for hire is fundamental to the future of the taxi trade in London.
But a trade union is only a strong as its members. Being a member of the trade union does not mean we can leave all the work to somebody else. We need to support each other and fight for our jobs in the words of the late Bob Crow “if you fight you may lose but if you never fight you will always lose”.
I believe that 2015 will be a very decisive year for the cab trade in London.
Private Hire Vehicles Act: 1998
Control of licensing of the London taxi trade was handed over to the newly formed Transport for London following the 1998 Private Hire Vehicles Act. Records of the debate at the time show that the trade was badly underrepresented. Some speakers at the time were supportive of the trade saying things such as” private hire vehicles must never be allowed to encroach on the licensed taxis right to ply for hire” but overtime this has been ignored. This right is hard earned by candidates completing the knowledge, investing both time and money. Licensed London taxi drivers are repeatedly described as the gold standard of the industry. With public safety being paramount to this stamp.
“RMT London Taxi Drivers in its written submission to the G.L.A highlighted that policies introduced by TFL should not only protect the public but also the taxi drivers hard earned right to ply for hire. Given that London has the ‘gold standard’ around the world for its taxi service, principles established through case law should be upheld in absence of a statutory definition.
The union will follow up to ask the London Assembly, why the oversight?
As we have seen recently under the control of TfL we have witnessed the gradual undermining of the licensed taxi trade. This has been further highlighted by the findings of the GLA investigation carried out recently. They commented that the service carried out by TfL was “Woefully inadequate”
So let us learn from our past mistakes, let us not allow the licensed taxi trade in London to be undermined and killed off by our own inaction.
We know what we need to do to protect our livelihoods and the livelihoods of future generations.
Join a specialist trade union that will fight to the end to protect it’s members. To ensure the licensed taxi trade has a future built by its members for its members which supports jobs for the future. For our sons, daughters and grandchildren.
Let us take our fight to the heart of Transport for London and the Government.
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has announced it will no longer carry out roadside checks involving bailiff firms after a review took into account issues relating to “the legal position” and “trust and confidence in the police”. The checks had been suspended since May when campaign group NoToMob raised concerns about the operations.
It emerged that the MPS had not been following its own standard operating procedure, which states that roadside checks should only be carried out to pursue criminal warrants. NoToMob said it found that roadside checks in more than half of London boroughs mostly involved pursuing civil warrants such as unpaid parking debt.
The MPS ANPR Programme Board decided to review roadside stops after acknowledging there was a “risk in the potential for ill-planned operations, inadequate briefings and some civil enforcement agents inadvertently pushing the boundaries”. It said that vehicles could be stopped at the request of the bailiff with the “reasons not being made clear to drivers”. There was also the danger of vehicles being stopped for a policing purpose and then being “handed over” to the bailiff without an ”explanation to the driver”. This, said the board, would lead to a loss of trust and confidence in the MPS.
As part of the review of roadside stops, the MPS carried out workshops, which were attended by NoToMob. In a letter to “interested parties involved in the review process”, dated 16 December, MPS Commander Richard Martin said: “Having taken into account the legal position, stakeholder input, trust and confidence in the police and frontline policing practices, the Met will no longer undertake roadside operations with bailiffs. We trust this brings the matter to a conclusion for all involved.”
In a letter to Met Commissioner Bernard Hogan-Howe in April, NoToMob’s Graeme Jones stated: “I am given to understand that the cost of the Met side of these operations is borne by local tax payers through the local authority whilst the bailiff side of the operation is done free to the local authority. I think the public would be most concerned to know that their taxes are being used in connection with the Met for the recovery of civil parking and traffic debt.”
Firstly May I wish you all Happy New Year, I must apologise yet again for the lack of communication to our membership.
We have been very busy doing, but very tardy in telling… Over the next few days I will update you all on the work we have been doing. There’s been a lot happening.
Hopefully now in the Kipper season we the committe of the UCG can draw breath and we can get the communicaton out just what we have been working on.
There are only a few days left to register your response to the TfL Consultation on the “proposed” ULEZ.
I can almost guess your response, because there are no options that suit us and no “other please explain” boxes.
If you haven’t been to the consultation site yet, here’s the link….
It’ll take you all of 5 minutes, because thats all they (TfL and the Mayor) don’t want you to object, this is a contrived consultation with loaded questions that will leave you without the ability to question anything. It’s a “closed questionaire”
They ignore all the scientific evidence…
But We in the UCG have worked closely with David Davis of Cabbies Against Boris to bring you the story behind the story….
Before Christmas both David Davis and the UCG both made a formal complaint to the Competitions and Markets Authority (The newly merged Competition Commission and Trading Standards Office)
Our complaint will be discussed by the Competitions and Markets Authority shortly.
Our complaint is very similar to David Davis’ and many of the facts shared across both complaints.
That complaint forms the backbone of our Written submission to TfL regarding the ULEZ.
I will post the full submission shortly on Totally Failling London.
For this reason a formal written response has been submitted.
Below is our “response in the only available comments field” that we felt could not be taken as acceptance of this ill thought out farce.
Feel free to copy and paste this into your response if you agree.
******** Q25 Please write in the box below if you wish to make any other comments about any aspect of the ULEZ proposal including any potential exemptions or expand on any of your responses above.
Comments:
Every Question Contained herein is a leading question without “Other please explain” options. None of the options and comments I wish to make are catered for in this very restricted “consultation” questionnaire. This has been designed to stifle debate and force answers in support of this woefully thoughtout proposal. I shall also submit a separate document outlining the farce that is being pulled on Londoners who will not have access to the scientific evidence that shows this consultation to be a totally misleading farce.
Where I felt that the question is a “Leading Question” I have answered either Neither Support or Oppose OR No Opinion.
The UCG does have an opinion But there was no options available as this consultation is purposely too restrictive to express reasoned debate.
Question 22 is particularly “leading”
Do you support the proposals to reduce emissions from taxis and private hire vehicles by:
b) Reducing the Londonwide age limit for non zero emission capable taxis to 10 years and exempting all licensed taxis from the ULEZ standards (and therefore daily charge)
This suggests that you propose a “Take it or leave it” attitude to imposing a ten year age limit despite a very significant amount of scientific research that proves that the later Euro standards IE Euro 4, 5 and 6 are creating as much as 5 times more pollution than the Euro 3 vehicles you are about to penalise. This will be far worse than TfL anticipate because “ALL” diesel vehicles will be emitting 5 times as much pollution in future, not just Taxis. You are about to create a bigger problem than the one you are trying to tackle.
Zero Emissions Taxis….. The IT industry call these proposals “Vaporware” all talk and promises but no actual product. Zero Emission Taxis are “Vaporware”
There are no Zero emissions Taxis available to buy at 9th January 2014 (Closing date for this consultation) [Yes I know there are some hybrids on test, but they aren’t in service, they aren’t in volume production and the long term reliability is an unknown]
How can legislation be passed to mandate the use of a Non existent vehicle?
How will Taxi drivers Charge their vehicles?
There is not one single fast Charging point in London.
Where will you find space for charging points for 23,000 Taxis?
You TfL cannot and will not keep our charging points clear of illegally parked vehicles and PHV (this is demonstrated by a complete disregard by Enforcement of the existing Taxi Ranks) Has it occured that there are peak times and slack times…. All working Taxis will seek to charge their vehicles at the same time, “Slack time” which is the same time for every Taxi, you can’t “Take it in turns” when you need to work busy periods and charge-up the batteries in slack periods.
Does the Underground Electricity Network have the additional capacity to charge electric vehicles Taxis and PHV…?
Has any research into the capacity of the Electricity supply been undertaken?
Have TfL even spoken to the power supply companies to enquire if they can supply this much power?
Who pays for the electricity at these points?
Will the price per KWH be regulated?
subject to price consultation?
Have TfL Spoken to the local councils about providing thousands of spaces for vehicles being charged?
A Taxi driver that lives in a block of flats or has no parking outside his home cannot charge his vehicle.
What if a desperate passenger needs to get home to the suburbs and a Taxi stops for a Hail, but the passenger wants to travel in the opposite direction to the drivers home, the driver realises he has enough power to travel to the passengers destination, but not back home or even make it to a charging point…. Is this a refusal of a fare?
In Japan they have trialled the use of these zero emissions vehicles and the frequent use of fast charging points is destroying the batteries. Disposal of rechargeable batteries is an environmental disaster, Will TfL pay compensation for prematurely failed batteries?
This is the most ill-conceived and poorly thought through of your consultations to date.
It is an embarrassment that I should have to point out the obvious shortcomings of this proposal. These are such glaringly obvious mistakes it proves once again that TfL have no understanding of how to operate a privately owned fleet of vehicles that isn’t subject to massive taxpayer subsidies to make it work.
If I have one comment to make that you may understand…..
Go back to the drawing board….. This is unworkable. There are no vehicles available that meet your criteria, There are no charging points in London and Taxi drivers who live in homes without off street parking? You will create claims for constructive restraint of trade as they will not be able to work.
Nordenfelt v Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co Ltd
This is the bedrock of restraint of trade claims.
If TfL prevent Taxi drivers from earning a living due to enforcing unreasonably high barriers to licensing then the Taxi trade will have no option but to take legal action.
On behalf of the UCG I will also submit a fully reasoned and evidence supported submission “Off line” via email.
For and on Behalf of the UCG
Len Martin
Chairman UCG
Get your responses in guys…..
In the next couple of days we will update the Totally Failing Website With Our written representation against the 10yr Age Limit…..
Remember, 15yrs became 10…. will become 7…… Get your objections in now and copy in the text into the comments box in question 25.
The maker of iconic London black taxis revealed a near £4million hole in its accounts and warned of mounting losses.
The world-famous cab maker was forced into administration after more than 400 cabs were recalledwith faulty steering boxes.
The fight to save the Coventry-made black cab was taken to Downing Street. Union leaders wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron and Mayor of London Boris Johnson urging them to back the growing campaign.
It was confirmed that LTI was sold for £11.4million to the Chinese car maker Geely. The deal, which it said would safeguard production in the UK and the remaining 80 jobs in Coventry, was agreed with administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers. The name changed from London Taxi International to The London Taxi Company.
New owners are reported to be planning to create 100 new jobs.
Production of the world-famous black cab resumed in Coventry. After an incredible turnaround, the London Taxi Company was back in business at its Holyhead Road factory.
Just a month later, bosses announce a contract win which would see Coventry’s iconic cabs taking a trip Down Under – but the famous black taxi was given a dramatic makeover.
Coventry’s new black cab owner announced plans to quadruple its workforce by creating 500 new jobs in the city. Geely said the massive jobs boost was part of an £80million investment into research and production of thenew hybrid TX5 model.
LTC unveiled its vision-of-the-future taxi which could be on the road in just four years. The London Taxi Company revealed its plug-in range extended electric black cab, which bosses say meets Boris Johnson’s air quality ambitions for London.
Recent Comments