JANUARY 2009
PRIVATE HIRE AND TAXI MONTHLY ‘N’ APART FROM THAT... NOVEMBER
£1,950 CAB RIDE FROM PORTSMOUTH TO MUNICH BEER FESTIVAL
Globetrotting cabbie Mick Hogan landed a bumper £1,950 pay day when he bagged a 740-mile fare from the UK to the Munich Beer festival.
Shocked Mick was sit- ting at a rank when a man in his 30s called Dave jumped in the back of his taxi.
Dave told Mick, 54, he had to get to the beer festival as he had missed a flight for his pal’s stag night. Dad-of-three Mick told the desperate reveller he would need to pay £1,700 for the trip from Portsmouth, and a fur- ther £250 for the Channel Tunnel and a hotel for the night. Mick told the Daily Star: “He was obviously in a hurry and told me he had to get to Munich straight away.
“I thought he was having a laugh to start off with or it was one of my cabbie mates doing a wind-up on me.
me in a hotel.
“He said he would and just showed me his wal- let with notes in it, so off we went.”
Mick went to his home in Portsmouth where he picked up some spare clothes and toiletries for his trip.
“My ears couldn’t believe what they were hearing but Dave was serious.” Mick looked up the mileage on his sat-nav in his hackney cab and told him the price.
Dave told him he had tried to book another flight but there were none available on the day to get to the Okto- berfest.
Mick, who has been a cabbie for four years, said: “I told him he’d have to pay for the Chan- nel Tunnel and a night for
NOVEMBER SOFT-CENTRED BELFAST TAXI DRIVERS
The sweet and smooth side of the famous west Belfast black taxi drivers has led to two leading chocolateers designing a chocolate with them in mind. The Falls Road Mint Crisp, which carries an image of the iconic black ‘hack’ on the wrapper and a photo on the back, is now on sale.
The chocolate has been created by broth- ers Pat and John Dyer who set up the City
Centres chocolate company 18 months ago in Andersonstown. The pair have also cre- ated a Shankhill Road Orange Crisp bar as well as a special Christ- mas Greetings Honeycomb edition. The chocolate bars fol- low on from the success of the sibling’s first product, the City Centres box of choco- lates which had sweets named after famous landmarks In Belfast. Pat Dyer, managing
director of City Cen- tres, told the Irish News: “The symbol of Falls Road is the taxi, and the Falls Road and Shankill Road bars are selling exceptionally well. “People are buying them to send them away and as stocking fillers.” The West Belfast Taxi Association (WBTA) also gave their seal of approval to the product after sampling the mint crisp. Driver Brian Sand described the chocolate as “beauti- ful” and “delightful”. “I will have to get some of this,” he said. Stephen Long, WBTA manager,
said he
Stephen Long of the WBTA enjoying his chocolate. Photograph courtesy of The Irish News
intended to stock the bars at the King Street taxi depot. “For tourists coming to west Belfast it is a sou- venir they can take back with them. We will stock this product not just for our passengers but for the many tourists.” For more information go to
www.citycentres.com
We’ve all seen advertise- ments on the sides of cabs, but it’s Manchester cabbies and their famous gift-of-the-gab who’ve become the star of the show. Warburtons, Britain’s family baker, has turned local cabbies into driving, talking advertisements in its lat-
est campaign to convert the nation into Warbur- tons bread lovers. Last month, hundreds of loaves descended on Manchester as taxi driv- ers prepared to head out onto the streets to spread the word on bread. All were donning “I’m a Warburtons con-
DECEMBER ALL HAIL TO CABBIE COMEDY SUCCESS
The creator of a new comedy show about cabbies believes the pilot episode is sure to be hailed a success. Mill Hill actor Billy Penny, 47, has written, funded and directed the 15- minute showcase Cabbies, filmed at Busby’s cafe, in Watford Way, Mill Hill, in October. The cast includes Ewan Macintosh from The Office, Lee Mac- Donald, who played Zamo in Grange Hill, and former EastEnders actor Mark Monero, as well as Mr Penny him- self.
‘It’s so funny, and there
is nothing like it at the moment,” said Mr Penny, whose own credits include Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married and Operation Good Guys. “I spoke to Ricky Gervais about it and he said I have to run with it. “I am very excited and optimistic and hope I’ll be able to get the com- mission for it.”
The sitcom focuses on the relationship between a group of taxi drivers who congregate at the cafe and Mr Penny said he drew on personal experiences to write the script.
As a 24-year-old he
passed the Knowledge and was a cabbie for eight years before taking up acting.
“I used to visit a cafe near Kings Cross as a cabbie and it was very vibrant, full of life, with lots of characters,” he told the Hendon Times. Mr Penny now hopes to secure sponsorship to cover the £1,800 cost of the shoot and the production, with the aim of generating inter- est from television companies. “I have worked on it for three and a half years. If I don’t get funding for this I’ll be gutted,” he said.
He said: “It felt surreal and a bit weird as we set off but it was certainly better and more prof- itable than being sat on the rank all day.”
The cabbie went from France through the bor- der to Belgium, then on to Luxembourg before arriving in Munich 17 hours after he set off. Mick dropped Dave off in the city centre and drove to find a hotel for the night before head- ing home the next day. He added: “It’s not something I’d want to do every day but it certainly beats taking a few pen- sioners out to the shops.”
NOVEMBER
SWEET 180 MILE FARE FOR SCARBOROUGH CABBIE
A Scarborough toddler’s birthday cake was deliv- ered just In time - after going on a 180-mile round trip. Three-year-old David Chisholm had picked out the pirate-themed cake from Marks and Spencer in Westborough.
But instead of being ready for collection at the Scarborough store it was accidently delivered to a West Yorkshire branch on October 15th. Although store staff spent time tracking down the cake by contacting 14 stores, and arranging a taxi to collect It from Wakefield, Marks and Spencer could not reveal whom the cake was for. They saved the day by sending Scarborough
But now, following an Evening News appeal, the boy’s mother has come forward.
taxi driver James Bow- man, of Atlas Private Hire, to bring back the £42 cake - at a cost of £85 in return fare. The cake was safely lodged in the vehicle, and was the only pas- senger. The taxi driver took it to the store and did not know the identity of the birthday boy.
NOVEMBER
MANCHESTER TAXI DRIVERS BECOME AMBASSADORS FOR WARBURTONS
vert” t-shirts and dishing out free loaves of bread to passengers.
The new take on live advertising was also rolled out across four other key cities in Britain including Glasgow,
Newcastle,
Cardiff and London. Jane Sutton, spokes per- son for the company, says: “Chatty taxi drivers were recently voted in the top ten most lovable fea- tures of Britain so they’re the perfect fit for us as we convert the nation into Warburtons bread lovers! We know how taxi drivers love to chat and we’re confident they’ll make fantastic ambassadors for our brand.”
David’s mum Margaret, 31, of Hovingham Drive, praised M&S staff for their actions - and for paying the £85 taxi fare. She told the Scarbor- ough Evening News: “They were very good - they said they’d do their best and they did. “We ordered the cake a fortnight ago as David had set his heart on it. He loves pirates so he was really delighted with it. I‘m so glad it arrived in time for his party.”
David celebrated his birthday with family and friends at Playzone soft play centre in Columbus Ravine.
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