Addison Lee eye up boardroom shake up after banks take control of firm

Minicab operator Addison Lee are set for a boardroom shake up with former boss Liam Griffin to return, according to City AM sources.

The private hire firm thwarted the threat of administration last month when the company’s eight banks took control of the ailing company.

Liam Griffin, son of founder John Griffin, resigned as CEO at Addison Lee in 2015. Liam Griffin does however still hold the position of vice-chairman at the British firm and is now seen as the person to head up the firm again.

Addison Lee was sold to private equity firm Carlyle back in 2013 for £300m and operates the second largest private hire service in London after Uber. The firm’s 5,000 cars are said to complete about 25,000 jobs a day, bringing it about 10% of the £3billion London taxi and private hire market.

At the start of 2019 Addison Lee announced it would invest in 1,200 Volkswagen Sharans to create a fleet that is compliant with Transport for London’s new Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), which came into force on 8 April 2019.

In May 2019, the London based private hire firm reported losses for 2018 totalling £39m. That comes after losses in 2017 of £20.8m, as they desperately attempt to compete with ride-sharing giants Uber.