Newport entrepreneur Carl Harris is looking beyond the Covid-19 pandemic by launching a new chauffeur business called Luxstar, with the backing of a £24,000 micro loan from the Development Bank of Wales, and support from Business Wales, Newport Council and UKSE. Harris was faced…
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Ride-hailing app service Gett could follow Uber and Lyft to the stock market after it emerged that the Volkswagen-backed company is in merger talks with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) – a common route to an Initial Public Offering (IPO). According to a…
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Leeds Council has announced a multi-million pound support package to help struggling taxi and private hire drivers and operators across the city. The Council is making £2.5million available to fund free three-year taxi and private hire license renewals for drivers, while drivers and operators…
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The Department for Transport has released long-overdue guidance for the fitment of screens to their vehicles to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The DfT guidance states that fitting a screen can help to reduce the risk of virus transmission and “should be one of…
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Veezu Group’s Leeds subsidiary Amber Cars has made another local acquisition, adding Pudsey B-Line’s 50 cars to its West Yorkshire fleet. Amber Cars is the biggest taxi and private hire operator in Leeds, and the Pudsey B-Line fleet will now operate under the Amber…
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Cordic has become the first despatch system provider to offer what3words geocoding as part of its white-label apps. for improved location accuracy. Geocoding is the process of encoding GPS coordinates: what3words has encoded the coordinates of every 3-metre square in the world with a…
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A freeze on fuel duty and an extension of job support schemes were the relevant highlights of Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s 2021 Budget for the taxi and private hire sector. Motoring issues Chancellor Rishi Sunak has continued the freeze on fuel duty charged on petrol…
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Uber’s Belgian division and its drivers have reacted angrily to the Brussels government’s extraordinary decision to ban Uber drivers from using smartphones – effectively shutting Uber down in the Belgian capital. Brussels Minister-President Rudi Vervoort announced on Monday that any of the 2,000 Uber…
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Blacklane is launching a ‘chauffeur hailing’ service in 21 cities across 11 countries this month, allowing customers to book an executive car on demand in real time. New York is the first city, launched on March 1, with London the second to go live…
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Wolverhampton taxi and private hire drivers who have been significantly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic can apply for a £2,000 grant, the local council has announced. The Additional Restriction Grant – Taxi and Private Hire Grant scheme is designed to help drivers who live…
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High-end chauffeuring firm Berkley Executive, the company backed by pop singer John Newman which went live just before the March 2020 lockdown, has become the latest high-profile casualty of the coronavirus pandemic. Berkley Executive, which pitched its services to wealthy people in the entertainment…
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Eastbourne Council has agreed to licence an electric taxi – after originally refusing the application, fearing that “it might set a trend”. Driver Dean O’Hara (pictured) was shocked to have the licence request for his new all-electric MG5 refused after fuddy-duddy councillors said a…
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Uber drivers attempting to pick up bookings in York are likely to be escorted from the city by Police, as the city looks to protect local operators. York removed Uber’s operator’s licence in December 2017 when the City of York council gambling, licensing and…
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The Supreme Court’s decision to reject Uber’s final appeal against an Employment Tribunal ruling that its drivers are “workers” sets a precedent that will have a significant effect on the gig economy. Lawyers representing the drivers who brought the claim in 2016 now expect…
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The Supreme Court is expected to announce its judgement this Friday, February 19, on Uber’s appeal against an earlier ruling that its drivers are classified as “workers”, not independent contractors. The dispute has been grinding through the courts since 2016, and the final ruling…
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Taxi operators and drivers in the south coast towns of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are angry at local council plans to introduce sweeping changes to taxi and private hire policies in the towns. Despite the massive downturn in trade resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic,…
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Jaguar has axed the production ready, all-electric new XJ as part of a radical revamp of Jaguar Land Rover’s strategy. The move will come as a blow to chauffeurs who were looking to Jaguar to provide a luxury alterative to the big three German…
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DG Delivery, Nottingham private hire giant DG Cars’ takeaway food delivery business, has now signed up more than 160 restaurants across Nottingham and Derby – and helped the company buck the trend of driver losses by recruiting 175 new drivers during the pandemic. The…
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