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Take Me brings together Plymouth rivals Taxifirst and Tower Cabs Mark Bursa Take Me Group has made a second acquisition in Plymouth, adding local operator Taxifirst and its owner David Trace to the group. Taxifirst joins former rival Tower Cabs in Plymouth, which was added to the growing Take Me portfolio in July 2021. David Trace has been running Taxifirst for more than 30 years and has built his fleet of vehicles up to more than 160. He has overseen a dramatic change in automation and systems within the business since starting, and the company’s dispatch is now more than 80% automated using the Autocab system. David Trace said: “It has been an emotional journey here in Plymouth but let me reassure all my team and customers that it is very much business as usual for us all here at Taxifirst. We are all looking forward to the benefits of being part of a larger group and using their resources to offer a better service to our customers and to ensure our drivers have the latest technology and systems to help them.” Take Me is a national group of taxi companies, with sites in Brighton, Birmingham, Leicester, Liverpool, Crewe, London, Farnborough and Cambridgeshire. Take Me Managing Director David Hunter said: “The company has more acquisitions in the pipeline to be announced in the near future, following the additions already this year to the group of ADT Taxis, Steve’s Taxis, VGT Taxis, Westside Taxis, Intercity Private Hire, Tower Cabs and TC Cars. He added “It is exciting times at Take Me as we keep expanding and adding brilliant local
Uber adds Mansfield and Stockton operators to Local Cab network Mark Bursa Uber has extended its Local Cab service into two further UK towns. Mansfield and Stocktonon-Tees are the latest places where passengers can book a trip with a local taxi company via the Uber app. Anyone opening the Uber app in Mansfield will be presented with the Local Cab option, which connects them with local taxi firm ACE-ABC Taxis. Uber said its app was opened more 6,500 times per month on average in the
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TAKE US: [top row, from left] Tony Harris , David Hunter and John Gardener of Take Me Group. [bottom row, from left] David Trace of Taxifirst and Peter Bresland of Tower Cabs.
businesses to our network fleet. Together we can bring our skills and infrastructure from being a national brand but build on the local expertise of these amazing well established taxi operators.” Trace said “The group offers driver incentives, including cheaper insurance, car replacement, finance. This collaboration will enable us to reach new heights and take Taxifirst to a new level while re-establishing our position as one of the finest in Plymouth. There will be lots of exciting developments taking place in the next few months
and we want you all to be part of the journey.” One of the first initiatives that Take Me will be helping Taxifirst with is to develop a taxi academy in Plymouth, which will train the next generation of taxi drivers. The taxi academy is open to anybody aged 21+ with a driver’s license and the team will help people of all ages retrain and get them Taxi Driver’s licences and a vehicle, as well as offering them plenty of work from the Taxifirst and Towercabs workload.
town. And in Stockton local taxi firm Skyline Taxis is the Local Cab partner. Uber, claims almost 7,000 monthly app hits in the town. The Local Cab service is a result of Uber’s acquisition of dispatch systems provider Autocab in August 2020. In order to extend the use of its app beyond the 40 UK towns and cities in which it currently operates, Uber is looking to work with local operators, and it is accessing these via Autocab’s iGo network, which has the potential to connect passengers with 80,000 private hire and taxi drivers in the UK. Roger Krishan, managing director of ACE-
ABC Taxis, said: “For anyone visiting Mansfield that already uses the Uber app, Local Cab will make it easy for them to book a ride with a local operator.” And Tahir Mahmood, managing director of Skyline Taxis, said: “This provides another way for customers to book with us.” Ash Kebriti, UK General Manager, Uber, said: “The Local Cab pilot has proved to be a success for local operators, riders and local economies. Local operators have seen increased demand for trips and are now actively recruiting new drivers, which is having a positive impact on the local economy.”
NOVEMBER 2021
