Jamie Heywood will leave his job as Uber’s regional general manager for Northern Europe next month after four years. Heywood is credited with repairing relations with Transport for London after the regulator refused to renew Uber’s licence, citing safety concerns. And in 2020, Heywood was the prime mover behind the acquisition of dispatch systems provider…

Uber continues to roll out its Local Cab network into towns and cities across the UK. The latest launches are in North Tyneside, Durham, Stoke-on-Trent and Corby, taking the total number of towns where Uber operates Local Cab to more than 40. New recruits are Direct Cars in North Tyneside, Phoenix Taxis subsidiary Pratts Taxis…

As new electric models start to become more freely available, the drive toward greener mobility is gathering pace. Everyone, from taxi and private hire operators to the self-sufficient ride-hailing driver, is in the market for an electric car. But the vehicles are not cheap, so an ecosystem of companies has grown up to supply the…

Last-mile mobility provider Jyrney has agreed a strategic partnership with dispatch software provider Autocab, which will make an additional 40,000 private hire vehicles available to the UK travel industry. Jyrney integrates directly via API with travel and transport companies to provide customers access to ground transport services within their existing booking systems. It already integrates…

Addison Lee has returned to profitability in the financial year to the end of August, 2021, recording pre-tax profits of £7.9 million on a turnover of £164m. Addison Lee acquired London black cab operator ComCab in the period, and started the programme of fleet electrification, and the business is now poised for significant growth this…

Radio Taxis Southampton, Apple Central Taxis of Weston-super-Mare and TOA Taxis of Scotland are among big names in the industry that have signed up to Uber’s Local Cab network, the ride-hailing giant has announced. Local Cab has been extended into nine new locations across the UK as Uber continues to build a national service in…

Uber has chosen a former senior manager at British Airways to head up its UK operations. Andrew Brem (pictured), who was chief commercial officer at the airline, will oversee all areas of Uber’s mobility business in the UK and report directly to Jamie Heywood, Uber’s regional general manager, northern Europe. Brem is replacing Ash Kebriti…

Chauffeurs will finally be able to specify a fully-electric large saloon later this year when the new BMW i7 goes on sale. The i7 forms part of an all-new 7-series range, giving BMW a crucial advantage over rival Mercedes-Benz, whose new S-Class does not have a battery-electric option, only a plug-in hybrid. Mercedes offers the…

Mercedes-Benz has revealed the SUV version of its top-line electric car the EQS. The car is expected to reach showrooms before the end of the year, with a price tag of around £100,000. Based on the same platform, but with a taller body and an optional three-row interior, it offers an alternative to the four-door…

Uber is accelerating the roll-out of the Local Cab service by announcing new partnerships in West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire. Passengers can now book trips with local operators in Nottingham and Bradford (pictured), as well as a number of other towns as six more private hire firms have joined the service, which allows operators to…

Magenta Technology has integrated its Echo dispatch system with what3words, bringing precise location services to its users. The partnership means Echo customers can use a what3words address for their pick-up and drop-off destinations instead of long and often inaccurate traditional street addresses. Magenta users include Jonny Goldstone (pictured), founder and co-managing director of Green Tomato…

Gridserve has completed upgrading the old Ecotricity Electric Highway motorway charging network, just 10 months after buying the business. Since June 2021, Gridserve has replaced more than 300 medium-power Electric Highway chargers, some dating back to 2007, at more than 130 motorway service areas run by Extra, Moto, Roadchef, Welcome Break and Westmorland. New rapid…

New emissions standards and CCTV rules are coming into force in the next few months. All new taxis and private hire vehicles in the East Riding of Yorkshire will have to meet Euro 6 emission standards from July 2022. But the council has sensibly ruled that existing vehicles will be able to remain in service…

Sadiq Khan’s plans to extend the ULEZ zone across Greater London is facing a backlash from local MPs, who have branded the idea a money-making scheme. Gareth Bacon (left), Conservative MP for Orpington described the proposal as “madness” and warned it would be fiercely opposed by MPs of all parties representing outer London constituencies, as…

Uber’s nationwide platform push continues, with the launch of its Local Cab service in Birmingham. Four West Midlands operators have signed up: Ace Cars of Birmingham, XL Cars of West Bromwich, ABC Cars of Wolverhampton and 47 Cars of Willenhall. Their cars will be available via the Uber app alongside Uber’s own Birmingham drivers. The…

Fuel price campaign group FairFuelUK is calling on the government to force petrol retailers to pass on the 5p per litre fuel duty cut announced in last week’s Spring Statement. Howard Cox, founder of the FairFuelUK Campaign said: “The perennial pump pricing rip-off scandal that FairFuelUK has been campaigning against for the past decade, rears…

Sheffield is boosting the size of grants available for drivers who need to replace older vehicles in order to avoid fines in the new Clean Air Zone. For private hire vehicles, the grant to upgrade to a compliant Euro 4 petrol or Euro 6 diesel car has been doubled from £1,500 to £3,000. For those…

Last-mile travel booking platform Jyrney has announced a partnership with Safety as a Standard to support improved safety across private hire and taxi journeys. The two organisations will collaborate on driver training, supplier audits and technology. The first-of-its-kind partnership will strengthen Jyrney’s core proposition to ensure taxi journeys are safer for its clients. Jyrney was…