WHICH COMES FIRST: THE NAME OR THE NUMBER? WHY NOT BOTH SAY 49ERS OF LUTON
PHTM readers will know that the main asset, and the best advert, for a private hire company (and a good many taxi com- panies these days as well) is the phone number. In the case of A1 Leagrave 49ers of Luton, they turned their phone number into a catchy name - and a very progres- sive, forward thinking business.
The company opened its doors in 1985; the current management headed by Mohammed Saqlain took over the existing company in 1995. At that time the firm was called Diamond Cars, the fleet comprised of five vehicles, and the phone number was uninspiring.
So the new manage- ment decided that a drastic change was in order.
They got in
touch with BT and asked if they could locate a “gold num- ber” to use; BT duly obliged - for no extra charge - coming up with 494949. Thus the 49ers was born, mean- ing that customers would not have to bother with two differ- ent things to remember, the compa- ny name and the phone number, as they are one and the same.
Since that time the fleet has expanded dramatically: from the initial five it grew to 30, and then with the advent of their com- puterised dispatch and booking system it has grown to its cur- rent size of 130 vehicles. They cover the Luton and Dunsta-
ble areas, and sur- rounding villages of around a 20-mile radius, to the tune of some 17,000+ book- ings per week on average. Of course within that transport hub are Luton Airport and Luton Thames- Link railway stations. 49ers pride them- selves in being first or best in several fields locally: they are among the few trans- port providers in Luton who offer a 24/7 service; their tar- iff is fixed across the fleet without extras; theirs is the only Luton firm in which the majority of their vehicles have onboard CCTV cam- eras (more about that presently); and they are one of the first taxi operators in Bedford- shire to operate computerised dis- patch - in fact, the first to offer a direct SMS taxi booking service, Text-a-Taxi.
‘TAXIS WITH TECHNOLOGY’
The above phrase forms part of the 49ers logo, for good reason: the company has enjoyed the benefits of their tailor-made Cab- master computerised dispatch and booking system from Com- mand Software Services for over ten years now.
Being
innovators in their field generally, the 49ers of course would wish to keep on top of the lat- est developments in technology.
This they have done totally within their Cabmaster system, which now incorpo-
rates the above men- tioned Text-a-Taxi, callback, GPS track- ing, satnavs and PDAs in the vehicles, inter- net booking, management reports and invoicing, the works. According to Mohammed Saqlain, their Cabmaster sys- tem has made all the difference to the size and efficiency of the company.
“Using the Cabmaster booking and dispatch system has played a major role in our suc- cess story,” he says, “as it allows us to be at the forefront of tech- nology with all the facilities they offer.
It
certainly ‘does what it says on the tin’, and for accurate booking, scheduling and priori-
SECURITY ALL ROUND
As mentioned, one of the 49ers’ firsts is their installation of in- car CCTV cameras across the fleet. You know the script: images are taken at regular intervals dur- ing a journey and recorded to file by computer, which are only accessible by the council and the police. This provides a high level of security for 49ers’ drivers and passengers alike, and the company deems it well worth the expen- diture.
As for their relation- ship with their licensing authority, no problems there: 49ers have a very healthy
relationship with Luton Borough Council, and find them to be “extremely helpful whenever a situation arises”. Along with Bedfordshire Police, the council gave full backing to the in-car CCTV camera installa- tion for their fleet. As Mohammed Saqlain says, “We pride our- selves on providing a prompt, reliable and friendly service. This is reflected in the number of regular users who have stayed with this company for many
tising it is second to none.”
Whilst the largest vol- ume of their bookings is for private cus- tomers, 49ers Taxi and Private Hire cater for corporate accounts as well, including local schools, county coun- cils, local solicitors, BBC TV and Anglia Television. So their Cabmaster system also oversees their contract invoicing and fleet management. Of course the human element comes into the equation as well; according to Mohammed Saqlain, there are seven tele- phonists/controllers who manage the office, along with the occasional part time telephonist. Liz Day oversees the day to day running of the office.
PAGE 56 A
49ERS TAXIS/ PRIVATE HIRE
Address:
193-197 Marsh Road, Leagrave, Luton LU3 2QQ
Telephone: 01582 494949 Website address:
www.494949.co.uk Year firm started: 1995 Number of vehicles: 130 Types of vehicle:
Private hire and hackney carriages: Saloon/hatchbacks, estates, minibus, black cabs
Licensing Authority: Luton Borough Council Cost of -
Operator licence: £360 Driver’s badge: £250 Vehicle licence/test: £263 Radio rent fee: Standard fares:
years.”
The original 49ers were midwestern pio- neers with the strength of body and spirit to brave the elements and explore for gold in the California and Nevada mines in the nineteenth century. Let’s just say that today’s 49ers of Luton enjoy a few more crea- ture comforts, but they nonetheless have dis- played a similar pioneering and enter- prising spirit in a very competitive market place.
£60 per week
Fixed: £3.50/first 1.5 miles; £1.15 per mile thereafter
Booking system: Computerised - Cabmaster Phone system: Nortel Bcm 50 Radio system:
N/A (PDA incorporated Mobile) PHTM AUGUST 2009
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