DONNA SHORT: REFLECTIONS OF
Yes, I’m still here, due to Covid-related setbacks, but all being well I’m finally going at the end of the month with my hus- band Ray and our beloved dogs to be with our family in sunny California. Whilst the move is an exciting prospect, at the same time I shall miss you all.
TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE
I feel compelled to reflect back over the 30 years I’ve been involved in the industry – both through the NPHTA and with PHTM. As you know, these are two separate organisations, but we have worked side by side during all the ups and downs experienced by members and readers alike. We have always endeavoured to bring you the most accurate and up to date information and assistance from both sources. That will con- tinue into the future, that’s a promise.
One of the most effective ways of working for and on behalf of the industry has been the now-famous national Private Hire and Taxi Exhibition - the PHTMExpo. These events started back in 1992; many of you will remember our original venue, the exhibition centre at Donington Park in Derbyshire. That first year we had to block off a good bit of the exhibition centre, which is the size of an overgrown football pitch. In subsequent years our Expo soon filled the entire venue! – and what a site/sight that was. The way in which subsequent Expos changed – for the better in all cases – includes our now-famous Seminars and other topical features.
PHTM has staged Expos in so many locations over the years: Donington, Sandown Park, Telford, the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, Event City in Manchester, and latterly the MK Arena in Milton Keynes. They’ve always been a resounding success, as visitors and exhibitors alike will attest. As a member of the ‘behind the scenes’ team, I’ve always thoroughly enjoyed taking part at these Expos… the buzz is terrific, and the oppor- tunity of seeing old friends and new members can’t be beat.
Unfortunately we had to postpone the 2020 Expo in June, due to Covid… we’re hoping to be able to hold the next Expo in Milton Keynes later in the year. The PHTMExpo still is the best opportunity to see everything and everybody connected with the industry under one roof, and all the team at PHTM and the NPHTA are really looking forward to meeting up with you all – as soon as possible.
FROM FLEDGLING ASSOCIATION TO A MAJOR INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDER
When the late, sadly missed Bryan Roland first started the National Private Hire Association from scratch all those years ago, it was initially for private hire firms and drivers only. But we soon realised that our membership was gaining more and more hackney carriage licence holders and local taxi associations, as they benefited equally from our guidance and assistance.
That’s why today we are known as the National Private Hire 42
and Taxi Association. And now we can say that our member- ship spans the entire industry: private hire drivers, private hire operators, chauffeur companies, hackney carriage drivers, and local affiliated associations from both sides of the trade.
Think on: in our early days there was no internet to spread the word; no social media for networking. The best we could muster up was a rather up-market fax machine, which was on the go all the time as it was the only way to speed up correspondence more quickly than first-class post.
Of course our primary outlet for communication has always been PHTM – which started life over 30 years ago as Private Hire Monthly, a 24-page paper, and evolved into the UK’s major national trade publication both in print and online. PHTM continues to publish the Taxi League Tables, which were first compiled by Bryan Roland in 1999 to provide a national bench- mark of HC fares in every district.
The dramatic changes within the industry also encompassed the operating procedures within operator bases. When we first started the Association, bookings were mostly dealt with by pen and paper, dockets, bits of paper stuck on bulletin boards or clipboards, and transmitted to drivers via their radio. The scope of size of the company was often constrained by the strength of the radio signal in their area.
The evolution into computerised booking and dispatch systems can hardly be called gradual; it was almost an overnight transformation with thousands of firms, and the performance of those firms took them into another strato- sphere. What a difference! And of course today’s I.T. advance- ments make the early computerised systems look like something off the Ark. Head in the cloud? You bet!
In those days – as it is now – our Association’s prime motive was to raise standards in the trade, both actual and as perceived by the public. And the only way to do that is by “spreading the word”; by maintaining communication with Government departments, local licensing authorities and fellow industry stakeholders; and by unifying the trade with a common voice to get things done.
I think that has been one of the major accomplishments during the past three decades: that the “them and us” culture which pervaded the industry in the early days, preventing ‘rival’ stake- holder groups from even speaking with each other, has now broken down… and we are all not only talking, but working to- gether to
try to get recognition and support for
#theforgottenindustry. You can’t put a price on that. It’s the only way we can hope for anything to be done.
This is an appropriate point to dish out a few more heartfelt thank-yous. The NPHTA has had a core of stalwart, steady members who have been supportive of this organisation since the very beginning, or not long after… that kind of support has enabled this association to “keep its doors open” (figuratively
JANUARY 2021
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