ASHER MOSES: ‘We need to future-proof the industry if we want to continue growing…’

Image credit: Sherbet

Hello and welcome to my first TaxiPoint column. I hope you’ll park up and join me here every month, where I’ll be exploring what’s happening in our trade, shining a light on the good news and celebrating all the positives that come from being proud black taxi drivers.

I’ve seen a lot of change in our industry over more than three decades, having passed The Knowledge way back in 1989. The last few years have been beyond tough, but I am confident that we’re now out the other side - and in a position to lead and succeed.

However, this year will still be critical for us with the continued cost of living crisis and worries about the recession. Taxi demand in the UK is currently buoyant but certainly here in London, the number of licensed drivers is still down 20% compared to pre-pandemic levels. It’s also proving hard to attract new drivers into the business, with high vehicle and operating costs adding another barrier on top of the expense and commitment of The Knowledge.

The fact remains we need to future-proof the industry if we want to continue growing and ensure the customers keep coming.

As we start 2023, the first step towards that is to keep pushing for our industry to be appreciated for what it is, an innovative and constantly developing sector - we’re a UK institution after all. We also need to keep pushing for more black-taxi friendly infrastructure as a fundamental part of British life. And on my part, I want to use this column to help our industry better understand our overall value and unique selling points.

The second step is we must all embrace new tech if we’re going to continue connecting to customers who seek our services and are happy to pay the right fee.

And finally, we need to keep abreast of all the latest facts and information so that you are in the best place to plan your business amidst rising interest rates and economic instability, which is something I also intend to help with in this column. I hope you’ll join me for the ride...