Newcastle

Up to 150 new jobs could be created as a Newcastle taxi firm launches a recruitment drive.

In the run-up to Christmas, Budget Taxis will be starting its own training school, employing senior drivers to pass on their knowledge both in a classroom at its Hadrian Road premises and through one-to-one on-the-road practice.

Budget has already bought 10 new vehicles for the first batch of new recruits, and, in the long-term, wants to take on as many as 150 more drivers.

All those who pass Newcastle City Council’s driver test at the end will then be guaranteed a job.

David Singh, a consultant who masterminded the plans for the firm, said: “The company has grown so much, so I thought, ‘Why not provide some new opportunities?’.

“I wanted to keep this work in the North East and to take some people off the dole.

“It won’t cost them anything; we will pay for them to get through the test and give them a vehicle for use if they don’t have one.

“This is open to everyone who enjoys driving.”

The world of taxi firms is relatively new to Singh, who founded and ran a range of retail stores for 35 years before taking on a job as a taxi driver himself.

About a year ago, he joined the ranks of Noda Taxis and helped created Budget as a cut-price spin-off with a focus on account work.

“Ideas are always running through my brain and I thought I could take this company places,” he said.

Now, the firm’s operations room borders on “futuristic”, with everything computerised and featuring state-of-the art satellite navigation technology.

To launch the recruitment campaign, Singh had a run-down van refurbished and painted with a eye-catching advertisement that will be seen around the city in the coming weeks.

Vehicles used by the new drivers, meanwhile, will be serviced by the company, and repaired if necessary.

All the drivers will have to pay for, in fact, is the petrol they use.

“We have in the region of 280 drivers as it is and work is solid - we’ve won a lot of new contracts,” Singh added.

“The new drivers can make good money.

“Our city has got a very good nightlife and people who travel here from places like London enjoy it.

“It’s a good time to get involved, as its in the run-up to Christmas.

“It depends on each person how long it takes to qualify, but it can be done fairly quickly.”

Budget, which has swipe card machines in its cars, bases itself on the concept of “superior service at budget prices”. It claims to offer up to a 45% reduction over cabs on the rank and operates throughout Newcastle, Gateshead, North Tyneside, Sunderland and South Tyneside and Northumberland.
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Paris

Taxi wars have erupted in Paris as the monopoly long enjoyed by the French capital's notoriously protectionist cabbies is being challenged by a new breed of bookable minicabs.

Parisian taxi drivers get a bad press for being rude, playing loud music, almost never accepting credit cards and turning up for a booked ride with €10 already on the meter. They are also notoriously hard to find.

Standing in a long queue at a taxi rank outside the Opera Garnier, one irate Parisian watched a string of cabs with the red "taken" light on their roof drive past, and exclaimed: "Taxis, taxis all around, but where's one when you need one."

Martin Pietz, a German Paris-based photographer, said: "One or two drops of rain and there are no taxis at all. When you do stop one, they can be very rude and if it it's not on their way home or to lunch they often say: 'Take another one, I'm busy.'

With just 18,000 vehicles, Paris' taxi fleet has remained virtually unchanged since the 1950s, while London's has swelled to around 23,000 black cabs and 40,000 minicabs.

Despite the clear dearth, Paris' powerful taxi lobby has successfully fought off repeated attempts to deregulate the industry and bring in minicabs - usually by bringing the capital's main ring road to a total halt.

Charles de Gaulle threw in the towel in 1958 after a two-day strike. Right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy capitulated in 2008 after a drivers staged a three-day "operation escargot".

Now, however, the undisputed reign of "le taxi parisien" is under threat due to a recent change to the law liberalising so-called "tourist vehicles with chauffeurs", or VTCs - the French equivalent of minicabs.

Yan Hascoët, the 29-year old CEO of Chauffeur-Prive, started with 20 cars 18 months ago and business is booming. He now has a fleet of 320 vehicles, a client base of 15,000 and is seeing 15 per cent week on week growth.

"Our drivers are dressed in a suit and red tie, they open the door, make you feel at home in the car, doesn't blast their own music and don't talk unless talked to – just basic service which is hard to find in France," he told the Daily Telegraph.

VTCs work on reservations and cannot be hailed in the street. But the advent of smart phone applications using global positioning means cars can turn up almost at once, enraging taxi unions which accuse them of bending the rules.

"We have to pay 240,000 euros for a new taxi licence, and have a strict area where can work, while they pay just 100 euros to work where they want and can do what they like," said Jean-Michel Rebours, Defence of Paris Taxis Union, UDIP.

To stop this, taxi unions are calling for on the government to impose a 15-minute delay between when a customer books a minicab and its arrival.

Minicab companies say the 15 minute rule is an attempt to kill off competition. "How can we tell our customers to wait another eight minutes when their car has already arrived?" said Mr Hascoet.
With a decision expected in the coming weeks, experts said the taxi lobby will pull out all the stops to get its way.

"The French government is frightened of Paris' taxi drivers, and has a similar relationship with them as French farmers as they protect the big players," said Richard Derbera, author of "Where are taxis going?" and member of the City on the Move institute.


"Almost 20 years ago I said to myself, this is ridiculous, there's no way we can go on like this in Paris. But we have," he added. "France will be the last to change."
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Rochdale.

Untidy taxi drivers could have penalty points slapped on their operator's licence.

Town hall bosses in Rochdale want to start dishing out points to drivers for a range of infringements - including dressing untidily, smoking, urinating in the street and refusing to take guide dogs.

The drive is part of a tough new crackdown on the industry in the wake of last year's grooming scandal when five taxi drivers from the town were convicted of being part of a nine-strong paedophile ring which raped and abused vulnerable young girls.

Under the proposed measures if a driver amasses 12 points in a single year, they will be hauled before the council's licensing panel who will decide if they are fit to carry on working.

The points systems will apply to both private hire and black cabs. Stephen Campbell, who runs Heywood-based taxi firm Car 2000, welcomed the move.

He said: "As an owner it will help me when I take on new drivers as I'll know if they've got a clean record or not and it will also focus the drivers' minds to ensure they adhere to the standards they should.

"Oldham council run a similar scheme where cars carry star ratings on their doors so passengers know which firms are reputable.

"If we could integrate this new scheme in a similar way to Oldham by allowing passengers to see how many penalty points a particular driver had it would help them make a better choice about how they choose to hire."

Under the scheme, which the council is planning to put out for consultation before deciding whether to introduce it, infringements including smoking and failing to issue a receipt will attract three points.

More serious offences, such as using a mobile while driving and urinating in public will attract a six-point fine while 12 points will be handed down to those who refuse to take an assistance dog with good reason or drive while under the influence of drugs.

Mark Widdup, the council's director of economy and environment, said the move would improve standards and safety for passengers and drivers.

He added: "The penalty points scheme is designed to identify drivers, vehicle proprietors or operators who repeatedly behave in a manner, which if taken as a whole, indicates that they are not fit and proper to hold a licence.

"It is a means by which officers can identify and record low level activity of an unacceptable nature.

The scheme will act as a record of a licenced individual's behaviour and conduct, and will offer guidance as to whether a person is fit and proper to hold the relevant licence."

Nine men were jailed for 77 years in May 2012 for a string of sexual abuse against youngsters.

Five of those convicted were private hire drivers who drove their young victims around in their licenced cabs.