5 minute read
First identify the problems, then work out the solutions
As our industry freewheels along to heaven knows where, one can only stand and observe the gaps that are increasingly visible and growing in every area.
No strategy and no policies equals no direction so no one should be surprised if the vacuum is filled by well-meaning and not-so-well-meaning groups that can see the gap and decide to do something about it.
While trade meetings and to an extent the trade press lament the latest changes, and much nonsense is spouted about whether to judicially review or not, organised forces make the most of the situation.
We have an industry that turns over £12.5 billion per annum, employs directly and indirectly close to 500,000 people and yet we are prepared to take whatever is dished up to us.
The 'too difficult' pile
While people squabble and whinge about cross-border, signage, worker status, CCTV and the 101 other things that are periodically pulled out of the ‘too difficult to resolve’ pile, decisions are being made even if the decision is to do nothing.
The old chant of we need a new cab act is perpetually kicked down the lane…why? Well, who is going to pick that one up if we don’t even know what we want?
I’m told that one of the trade associations now is even against zero-rated VAT. Talk about out of touch. If anyone thinks adding VAT to fares will increase their business, they need to change their medication – it won’t!
We can all try to kid ourselves that our little old business is not affected by legislation, regulation, and economics but it is.
Businesses used to get sold for a song….the value of the phone number (eg 777 7777) but all that is now a distant memory and 4x, 5x and even 6x EBITDA is not unheard of.
So what? Well that means your business has a value but that value, as they say on the adverts, can go up or down. The general health of the industry is important to the value of your business. If the industry is a mess, then the value of your bit of it is compromised, and vice versa.
If we don’t know what we want I am not sure how anyone can help us achieve it. We don’t have the fora, the systems or processes to facilitate an agreed position.
Whinge-fests
Instead, we have whinge-fests where a few characters parody their local licensing officer, tell us what is wrong, how they would not have done it that way and how ridiculous it all is.
Meanwhile policymakers, regulators, think tanks and various influencers do what they think best, or in some cases do something (because doing something is better than doing nothing) whether it helps or not.
Bland slogans are adopted. “We must have national standards”, or the classic “it just needs common sense” in the hope that somehow by magic or osmosis a solution will be identified, refined and implemented. Yeah, right.
Maybe national standards are the answer but forgive me, what was the question? What problem are we trying to solve and why? The Deregulation Act was the answer back in the day. Now half the industry regard it as a curse.
Courage required
Maybe if the ‘decision’ had been subject to a little more scrutiny there may have been some consensus on it but there wasn’t so there isn’t.
Reaching some form of consensus, which is the best one can normally hope for, is hard. It requires some tough conversations, some ground-shifting and some courage. Once reached and a plan can be developed, the real work begins. That work in our current structure requires convincing others of our case and getting to a point where those that need to actually take action.
Spleen-venting
Spleen-venting at meetings, ridiculing poorly briefed policy-makers or regulators, regurgitating war stories and claiming to be the font of all wisdom won’t cut it!
This industry is a long way from finished but it is also a long way from where it could be. Why is our goal not some form of self-determination? We know this world, we should know what is needed, our assets are valuable and vulnerable so why don’t we care enough to represent our interests properly?
Why isn’t representation seen as a normal business expense a bit like electricity or rent? What aren’t we prepared to invest time in trying to work out what we want and need? Presumably most people watch their weight, don’t smoke or smoke as little as possible, and ensure the brakes on their car work. So why don’t they look after their business?
Technical Debt
IT specialists talk about “technical debt”. After x number of changes, the system’s code needs restructuring so no more changes are made until the system is technical debt-free.
Well, this industry is analogous to a system that has had a lifetime of changes and is drowning in technical debt.
Isn’t it time to stop, decide what kind of structure we need in this industry and actually get it in place so we can power ahead once again? The alternative is like any indebted system: slow, clunky, ineffective with increasingly frequent outages and running below par.
