REFLECTIONS OF AN
SHAVEN FIELDS, DARKENING EVENINGS AND A BUMPY RIDE AHEAD
Article by Dr Michael S. Galvin Mobility Services Limited
mobilityserviceslimited.com
Well, the kids are back to school, in the words of the hymn ‘the harvest is safely gathered in’ as evidenced by the shaved fields, the evenings are rapidly getting darker, there are the first Christmas goodies in stores and I guess we could be forgiven for thinking that there is a hue of normality in the air as we turn to face what should be the busiest quarter of the year......if only that were true!
Instead as an industry we sit here looking at a farcical VAT situation that is unlikely to be resolved for many months, a budget that appears to be likely to cut spending by the middle classes, aka our customers, and worker status continues to hang over the industry like the sword of Damocles. Even the decision to kill off the fuel payments for pensioners means £3 billion less comes into the economy and whatever our share of that might have been, it is now gone.
Please believe me when I say that I’m not making a political point here, just alerting the industry to the factors adversely affecting it, which are many and varied, including those instigated by politicians.
TIME TO PLAN
This is the time of year when we should all be looking at next year, what will we do post Christmas and running into the New Year. Hopefully the following words will assist you to develop your plan and ensure you roll into 2025 clear about what needs to be done to survive and possibly thrive.
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So where are we? It is generally acknowledged that booking volumes continue their gentle decline and multi-apping places operators in a position where few can actually be certain of their own supply levels. Passengers are mystified as to why bookings are initially accepted and then subsequently refused by drivers.
The industry has moved from being generally reliable to a situation not dissimilar to the Wild West. It used to be a surprise if a cab was late, now its a surprise if one turns up. OK, I’ll concede, a slight exaggeration but let’s not kid ourselves, that service is nowhere near where it was. This is not something that encourages anyone to use a cab as reliability should be a given.
The long shadow of New Statutory Guidance and New Best Practice Guidance is feeding through into new regulations as licensing authorities get to grips with it. The regulatory bar is being elevated ever higher.
Then there is the side show of worker status, CCTV, national standards, cross border hiring, transition to electric vehicles and calls for additional types of licensing to accommodate companies which specialise in specific contracts. This is a long, long way from normality.
LOOKING BACK/LOOKING FORWARD
The period after Covid (late 2021/ early 2022) was the last time that siren voices were calling for more drivers. Since then, the focus has shifted to when the market will return to growth and phasing in gentle price increases to maintain income as volumes continually but gently decline. Whilst inflation was elevated that strategy had legs, given inflation has now reduced and as taxes increase fare rises may be less sustainable. So what about costs?
OCTOBER 2024 PHTM
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