Many years ago a North Tyneside Councillor Stated that “The selling of Hackney Carriage Licences was an Abhorrent Practice” the Councillor I am referring to was unemployed but made a nice living from his Council expenses, I know this as I had a drink with him on more than one occasion and he was always very generous. We all get by in different ways.
Every now and again this subject resurfaces and has once more in the column of ‘Mouth of the Tyne’ page 33 June edition of ‘upfront magazine’, a popular U.K. Taxi publication.
In his column Mouth is very eloquent and does not appear to be knocking the practice of trade in Taxi Plates. Nevertheless the Mouth has once more put the subject in the spotlight.
Owning a Licensed Hackney Carriage is a business enterprise, it can be lucrative if, like any other business it is marketed and run properly. This is a business that is required to be Licensed, like many other businesses e.g. Pubs, Clubs, off licences, Kebab shops and even Private Hire & Taxi Companies. All of these can be bought and sold without Comment.
From a business point of view, when calculating a fair price for a Hackney Carriage Licence it would be sensible to look at the yearly gross turnover, double it and add some. The purchase of any business is with a view to the long term prospects of that business. I don’t know what the yearly turnover is for a Newcastle Hack but for the purposes of illustration let’s say £20,000 Gross, Ten years £200,000 maybe more allowing for the changes in the economy over a ten year period. Less, of course operating costs which every business has. Between £35,000 & £50,000 would seem like a very fare price for a business that could give that kind of return over the long term.
In much the same way a large, thriving Taxi & Private Hire Company could command a sale price of in excess of £2,000,000.
Not bad for the price of a Private Hire Operators Licence, Maybe it shouldn’t be sold; maybe it should be returned to the Council for them to sell. Of Course a Large taxi company is more than an operator’s licence. Its bricks & mortar, cars & drivers and everything else that went into the building and maintaining of the business…all of which are useless without the operators licence.
Two large Taxi operators recently paid, allegedly, £16,000 per year, up front for five years to operate from the Tyne Commission Quay (Scandinavian Ferry terminal) at North Shields. Having worked there myself for a number of years, prior to the Taxi Rank being removed to make way for the aforementioned operators, I cannot see how that figure was arrived at. These two operators main source of revenue will be from drivers rents, which they would get anyway, I can’t see any added revenue worth paying for, even less so now that it has just been announced that the Norway Link is to be cancelled. In my view The Norwegian ferry was the only one that had enough passengers to make the Taxi Rank viable. There’s that word again ‘Viable’ was it viable to pay large amounts of money to operate from a part time ferry terminal? Anyway it’s none of my business just as the value put on a Hackney Licence is nobody’s business other than the prospective seller and buyer.
The reasons for opposing further issues of plates are obvious; when you invest large sums in a business you want it to remain viable. Post offices change hands for very large amounts and they are being closed down left, right & centre due to them not being viable. Any business will make cuts when it feels a drop in revenue; our trade must be one of the only industries which have an increase in workforce during a decrease in profitability. If we didn’t shout loud in opposition to new licence issues we would be failing to run our business correctly. The Mouth would have people believe we were talking nonsense, His words “The usual Plangent Pleading by the existing Hackney drivers” Well, if I need to ‘Plangently Plead’ to keep my business viable I will.
For his eloquence the Mouth does not seem to have any input of value. He seems to always be antagonistic or is it just me? Am I too sensitive? Or is he just trying to start lively debate. He has the platform with his column but never seems to say anything constructive or helpful. I suspect he’s a bit of a trouble maker, hiding behind a veil of respectability. Well I have never met the Gentleman so who am I to Judge.
If anyone who has read ‘Mouth of the Tyne’ Column in upfront magazine would like to comment, Do it here, wherever you are from. But keep it nice.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
i read the mouth of the tyne`s article aswell in the upfront mag regarding ,tha value of hack plates, he is allso fighting on another front on landfill issues THats The land fill sight that backs on to a certain rich office propieters house Hmmn` may i suggest he offers his own mouth for the use of the landfill,and leave us to try and scratch what living we can after years of him trying to decimate the hackney carriage trade..
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade
The reasons for opposing further issues of plates are obvious.
The views expressed in this site do not necessarily reflect the views of TooManyTaxis or the general U.K. Hackney Carriage Trade