Addison Lee is offering new drivers a guaranteed £5,000 for their first month with the company in a bid to recruit 1,000 new drivers. The payment will be made if the driver completes at least 140 jobs during the month.  It is also offering a competitive vehicle rental plan, and drivers do not have to…

Uber has announced it will roll out its pension plan to all eligible UK drivers. The move is another outcome of the March 2021 Supreme Court ruling that it must reclassify its 70,000-plus drivers in Britain as workers. Uber has previously offered guaranteed holiday pay and minimum wage rights – though only when the drivers…

In a landmark ruling, an Employment Tribunal has ruled that private hire drivers at Northampton/based Bounds Taxis are workers. In a case brought by drivers Shafqat Shah and Samuel Adjei and backed by the App Drivers & Couriers Union (ACDU), the Employment Tribunal has confirmed that Bounds Taxis must respect the right of drivers to…

Osprey Charging has announced a £75 million plan to open 150 high-powered electric vehicle charging hubs across the UK over the next four years. The rollout is a major boost to the UK’s public EV charging infrastructure and will support drivers with EV charging ahead of the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol…

Uber has announced four new UK towns into which it is launching its Local Cab service, which gives local operators on Autocab’s iGo platform the opportunity to take on Uber jobs. Local Cab is now live in Northampton, Aylesbury, Stranraer and Dumfries, with the latter two being the first Local Cab launches in Scotland. The…

Addison Lee has formed a strategic alliance with Volkswagen as part of a plan to go all-electric by 2023. The private hire giant has chosen the Volkswagen ID.4, recently chosen as 2021 World Car of the Year, to begin its transition to a fully electric fleet. Over the next two years, Addison Lee will invest…

Can a chauffeur service work like a ride-hailing minicab? Yes it can, believes ambitious operator Wheely. Ride-hailing may have revolutionised the minicab market thanks to the efforts of Uber, Bolt and others. But high-end chauffeuring has remained largely out of bounds to the world of click-and-hail systems. Wheely is here to change that – and…

Leading insurers are threatening Uber with a referral to the Competition & Markets Authority after the ride-hailing operator introduced a new insurance system that excludes a number of the biggest companies. Uber has introduced a system called Instadoc, which it says is designed to streamline and simplify the documentation approval process for drivers. The Instadoc…

Addison Lee will keep partition screens between drivers and passengers in its vehicles until at least summer 2022. The announcement comes as the Government announces the removal of most restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic, despite a sharp rise in infections in recent weeks. The installation of partition screens into Addison Lee’s fleet of 4,000…

French-backed chauffeur operator Chabé, which launched in London last year, has grown its operations in the capital with the takeover of Global Chauffeur, the chauffeur division of Global Interconnextions. The move is a good strategic fit, according to Chabé UK managing director David Bruce (pictured), as both companies are aimed at serving the London luxury…

Heathrow Airport is planning to introduce a new £5 drop-off charge for all vehicles – including taxis and private hire vehicles – from this October. The move – another blow to the beleaguered travel sector – will apply to any vehicles entering any of the terminals. The airport says the charge is designed to “improve…

Gridserve has unveiled plans to establish a national network of high-speed electric vehicle charging stations under the Gridserve Electric Highway brand. The move follows the acquisition of Ecotricity’s EV network in May. Under the new plan, Gridserve, which opened Britain’s first electric charging forecourt in Essex last year, will open 100 more Electric Forecourts, a…

Bedford has become the third town in which Uber has launched its new Local Cab product, which enables passengers in the town to book a trip with a local taxi company via the Uber app. Uber has already launched the service in Plymouth with Need-A-Cab, and in Oxford with 001 Taxis. In Bedford, the Local…

Ambitious taxi group Take Me has added another company to its growing portfolio, with the addition of Plymouth-based Tower Cabs. The £1.8 million deal has been funded by Take Me managing director David Hunter and fellow director John Gardner. It is not part of the ongoing funding agreement with MBH Corporation, which has bankrolled much…

Cab comparison app Minicabit has entered into a strategic partnership with travel management company Roomex aimed at offering safe and affordable transport services to customers of both platforms. Roomex helps customers book, manage, pay, and analyse all their accommodation and expenses in one place – bringing control and visibility into all travel spend. Roomex already…

The Mercedes-Maybach S-Class is now on sale, with prices starting from £162,390 for the Maybach S 580 4Matic, and £177,025 for the S 580 4Matic First Class. The top-line, V12-engined Maybach S 680 4Matic First Class costs £204,375. The cars are available to order now, with first UK vehicles arriving in early Autumn. The Mercedes-Maybach…