A winding-up order has been lodged for Capital Cars Ltd for unpaid VAT but the jobs of 25 staff and 350 self-employed drivers have been secured after a phoenix company bought the assets of the collapsed firm.
Seven Sevens Cars Ltd took control of the private hire firm on Thursday and has retained the trading name.
An official liquidator has been appointed for the old company.
A petition to wind up Capital Cars Ltd was published on Tuesday in the Edinburgh Gazette. It is understood that despite “management restructuring” the company was unable to meet repayments of VAT totalling around £300,000.
Following legal advice, director Stephen Rose – who took over the running of the firm in August – decided to file for insolvency.
Staff at the firm’s Gorgie Road depot were alerted to the insolvency event yesterday but it is understood there will be no job losses.
In an e-mail to staff, director Stephen Rose said despite the financial collapse it was “business as usual”.And he moved to allay any fears about future job losses.
It read: “Capital Cars (Scotland) Ltd has gone through a necessary financial restructuring process.
“Seven Sevens Cars Limited has, as of yesterday, concluded the purchase of the entire ‘Assets and Undertakings’ of Capital Cars (Scotland) Limited, including the trading name.
“The old company has had an official liquidator appointed. Do not worry, the only changes that take place in the future will all be positive and all jobs remain secure.
“We will be starting an exciting and fairly aggressive marketing campaign in the near future that will ensure the continuing growth and success of the company.
“We will keep you all informed of progress.
“I cannot stress enough that there is no need for concern about the security of all your positions within the company and this turn of events means we can implement even more features and benefits of our services.”
Capital Cars – which is taking bookings and hasn’t been affected by the change – is thought to be the second largest private hire taxi firm in the city.
The firm won praise last year for prioritising bookings from women travelling alone throughout the year and for offering a text service to customers informing them of the make and licence number of the collection vehicle.
Last February, a lucrative £30 million contract to control Edinburgh Airport’s taxi rank was awarded to rival firm Edinburgh City Private Hire.
A spokesman for the HMRC said: “We can’t comment.”
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Wolverhampton
Court upholds taxi licence decision
The owner of a taxi firm which has had it’s licence revoked has seen the decision upheld by magistrates after he challenged it in court.
Councillors in Wolverhampton ordered for the licence of Westside Radio Cars to be revoked in October but Tahir Hussain, the owner of the firm, had appealed to magistrates.
It was revoked after a council investigation found they had four uninsured cars operating over a weekend in July last year.
Mr Hussain had appealed the original decision, which was made by the licensing sub-committee in October, and appeared at Wolverhampton Magistrates Court to hear his fate.
But magistrates upheld the ruling made by the committee, saying he was not a ‘fit and proper’ person to run the firm.
Mrs Sarah Hardwick, who represented Wolverhampton City Council at the hearing, said Mr Hussain had failed to provide the correct insurance documents when the council visited their base. She told the court that the trips the four uninsured cars carried out jeopardised public safety.
She said: “Under council guidelines, they can revoke a license for multiple breaches of guidelines, and the council believe there were multiple breaches as a number of journeys were made across the weekend.”
She said Mr Hussain accepted that the cars he was using from another company, Motor Accident Claims Ltd, were not properly insured.
Chairman of the bench, Dr Alison Felce ordered Mr Hussain to pay £2,125.52 in costs, but he said he will now appeal to the crown court.
Speaking after the hearing, he said: “I have 21 days now to appeal which I will do. I feel as though we have been treated unfairly and I will take it as far as I need to, to clear my name.”
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Adelaide
A MIDDLE-AGED taxi driver who had sex with a 13-year-old-boy and then claimed he thought he was 17 has been jailed.
District Court Judge Rosemary Davey last week criticised prosecutors for not disputing James Stanley Higham’s submission that he reasonably suspected the boy was an adult.
Higham, 57, of Seaton, pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse with the boy, aged between 13 and 14, in 2010 and 2011.
In sentencing, Judge Davey said she still did not accept Higham’s assertion that he thought the boy was 17 partly because he had prior convictions for indecently assaulting underage persons in the 1970s and 2004.
“It defies common sense that you would engage in an ongoing relationship with a young man without knowledge of the very serious risks if that young person was underage and I do not accept that you did not turn your mind to this matter,” she said.
Judge Davey said Higham was a taxi driver when he met the boy but stopped working when he was arrested in 2012.
She sentenced him to seven years jail with a non-parole period of four years and six months.
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Leeds.
A YEADON private hire firm claims its future could be in jeopardy following a decision by bosses at Leeds Bradford Airport to axe a scheme which allowed drivers access to the pick-up point outside the main terminal, without having to pay the usual fee.
Until now, SJK Private Hire has paid an annual charge of up to £35 to be a member of the airport’s Voyager scheme, which meant its drivers were exempt from the £2 charge, paid to allow vehicles access to the concourse outside the main arrivals and departures hall.
Airport management confirmed yesterday Voyager has been discontinued and replaced by an hour’s parking now available available free of charge in a car park a few minutes’ walk from the terminal.
A statement added a free shuttle bus will also run 24 hours a day.
A spokesperson added: “There is also an option for all users to use the terminal front express car park which costs £2 for up to 30 minutes.”
But Mr Murphy claims the distance to the free car park will still be a major obstacle for elderly customers or families with heavy cases - and finding they’re not being dropped outside the doors of the airport could put many off making a booking.
“I think it’s appalling that we’ve only been given nine days’ notice that Voyager has been scrapped - and just before the summer season starts,” said Mr Murphy. “I’ve just invested a lot of money in marketing which says we have access to the drop-off and pick-up points close to the terminal and that we don’t charge extra - and then this happens.
“As we also have contracts with concessions inside the terminal, our drivers sometimes make three or four runs to the airport to pick up or drop off staff every day. If we had to pay £2 every time, this could cost us up to £130,000 a year.”
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