Posts by Mark Bursa

Addison Lee doubled its profits in the 2021-22 financial year, despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and a chronic shortage of private hire drivers. The business achieved an adjusted EBITDA of £19.1 million, up from £7.9m the previous year, on a turnover of £218.5m, helped by the acquisition in January 2021 of black taxi…

ProDriver magazine is saddened to hear of the death of Edward (Eddie) Townson over the Bank Holiday Weekend. Eddie was a well-known and popular figure in the private hire industry, having served as Chairman of the Private Hire Board. Eddie was instrumental in securing Private Hire Licensing in London in 1998. Alongside his family, he…

Eighteen of the biggest electric vehicle charging companies have joined forces to form a new UK trade association called ChargeUK, with a goal of doubling the size of the charging network by the end of 2023. ChargeUK, backed by major players including BP Pulse, Shell Recharge, Osprey, Ionity and Gridserve, will serve as the representative…

Global taxi and private hire bookings are recovering month-on-month, but are still some way below peak-pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to a new report from Amsterdam based dispatch systems supplier Taxi Butler. But the Global Taxi Booking Industry Report showed that Q1 2023 experienced a 13.6% decrease in bookings worldwide compared to Q4 2022, and fewer…

Volkswagen has revealed a facelifted version of its ID.3 electric car, and is putting in new production facilities in Germany in order to ease supply restrictions on the car. UK customers can now order the enhanced Volkswagen ID.3 for delivery later in the year, There are just two trim variants – the original Business, Style…

The cost to charge an EV has stabilised over the past few months, following a year of climbing prices, according to new research from EV charging payment specialist Mina. In its latest EV Report, Mina claims the average cost of home charging only increased by 1p in the last quarter, to 31p per kWh, while…

Hackney taxi drivers in the south coast town of Eastbourne will be able to take jobs via the FreeNow app from May 3. The move follows a successful launch of the ride-hailing service in nearby Brighton in 2018. The company registered a 25% growth in demand and a 10% growth in trips in Brighton during…

Ride-hailing app Bolt has added London black cabs as a dedicated booking option on its London’s iconic black cabs available on its platform. Black cabs have previously been available on FreeNow, following its acquisition of dedicated app Hailo, but Bolt is by far the largest platform to add black cabs to an app. The move…

BMW has released images of its electric i5 saloon undergoing final testing in advance of its launch this summer. The car – an all-electric version of the next-generation 5-series range – will compete with the Mercedes-Benz EQE and Genesis G80 as battery-electric executive chauffeur saloons. Much of the technology used in the new i7 will…

Mercedes-Benz has revealed a new and larger E-Class saloon, but the car remains a petrol or diesel model, with plug-in hybrid versions. As with the S-Class, there is no electric E-Class – the EQE is designed to plug that gap. However, Mercedes claims that some of the PHEV versions will have an electric range of…

Wrexham Chauffeurs has been awarded the Fair Tax Mark, joining the movement of businesses committed to financial transparency and responsible tax conduct. Fair Tax Mark accreditation recognises businesses that pay the right amount of corporation tax at the right time and in the right place. Accredited businesses include listed PLCs, co-operatives, social enterprises and large…

Aberdeen is the British city where you are least likely to have a road accident, a new study by taxi insurance company Zego has found. Zego analysed ONS data to discover the number of road accidents in each UK city in 2021, both fatal and non-fatal. The number of accidents was calculated per 10,000 people…

Osprey Charging has accelerated its plans to install a major network of electric vehicle rapid charge points, installing as many rapid chargers in the first quarter of 2023 as it did in the whole of 2022. Osprey opened 142 new rapid EV charging stations in the January-March period, with a further 50 chargers being installed…

Gridserve has opened two Electric Super Hubs at Moto Washington North and South motorway services on the A1(M) just south of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The hubs each have six 350kW-capable High Power chargers, joining the Griderve Electric Highway network of more than 160 locations. All Gridserve Electric Hubs feature both CCS and CHAdeMO connectors, accept contactless payment…

The Government’s decision to stop building more so-called smart motorways has been welcomed by safety campaigners, But it does not go far enough, they say, and are calling for hard shoulders to be restored to all UK motorways. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who had pledged to stop building smart motorways as part of his Conservative…

The High Court has granted permission for a Judicial Review into the proposed expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) into all outer London boroughs from August 2023. Permission has been granted on two grounds: Failure to comply with relevant statutory requirements, and whether the Mayor properly considered the previous “buffer zone” approach as…

Bradford Council is offering taxi and private hire drivers grants of up to £10,000 to switch to cleaner vehicles. The grants, which will be available later this year, are to help with purchase, lease or running costs of electric vehicles. The council says this is the highest grant of its type anywhere in the UK.…

CityFleet Network has strengthened its presence in the north-west by acquiring the company that runs two major private hire fleets in Chester. In a letter to drivers, CityFleet Networks Limited confirmed that it had acquired Vedamain Ltd, which trades as KingKabs and Abbey Taxis, two long-running Chester taxi businesses. KingKabs was established in Chester in…