Professional Driver Magazine July 2021

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Industry anger as PHV cars are set to be hit by Heathrow’s £5 charge from October Mark Bursa Heathrow Airport is planning to introduce a new £5 drop-off charge for all vehicles – including taxis and private hire vehicles – from this October. The move – another blow to the beleaguered travel sector – will apply to any vehicles entering any of the terminals. The airport says the charge is designed to “improve air quality and reduce congestion”, though the airport’s management admits it is a way of clawing back some of the estimated £5 million a day that the airport has been losing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Indeed, the annual revenue from the charge could be as much as £100m, which could almost double the airport’s annual parking revenue, which amounted to £126m in 2018. Taxi associations have argued against the move. Dave Lawrie of the National Private Hire and Taxi Association said: “With the Covid situation, I think our industry should be exempt.” He said the charge would be passed

on to customers, putting up the cost of travel. The charge is in line with other airports, including Gatwick and Manchester. Gatwick introduced a £5 charge at both its terminals earlier this year. Manchester Airport introduced a charge in 2018 and has since increased its prices from £3 to £5 for five minutes, with ten minutes costing £6 and more than ten minutes a whopping £25. The Heathrow drop-off charge must

be paid online or over the phone, with ANPR cameras being used to enforce the charge and fines for those who do not comply. A free drop-off option will remain at long-term car parks, where passengers will have to take a free bus transfer to the terminal. There will be no exemptions for zero-emissions vehicles. Indeed, the only exemptions will be for Blue Badge holders and emergency vehicles. In a statement, the airport said: “We have always said that we would

Take Me moves into West Country with £1.8m acquisition of Plymouth’s Tower Cabs Ambitious taxi group Take Me has added another company to its growing portfolio, with the acquisition of Plymouth-based Tower Cabs. The £1.8 million deal has been funded by Take Me managing director David Hunter and fellow director John Gardner. It is not part of the ongoing funding agreement with MBH Corporation, which has bankrolled much of the Take Me expansion over the past few months. Tower Cabs was established in the 1980s by Peter Bresland (pictured right, with Take Me’s John Gardner), and currently has around 160 cars. Describing the deal as “an exciting new development in the Tower Cabs’ story”, Bresland said: “To enable us to move forward and face the

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challenges of the post-Covid world, we are joining forces with the Take Me group of companies.” In a letter to staff, Bresland continued: “The group offers driver incentives, including cheaper insurance and car replacement finance. This collaboration

consider introducing a form of road user charging and several other approaches to improve air quality and reduce congestion at Heathrow. This charge forms part of our updated Surface Access strategy and sustainable travel plans.” It continued: “We updated these plans after reviews were conducted of all airport projects in light of the collapse in passenger numbers experienced at Heathrow due to the impacts of the pandemic and the subsequent loss of £5million a day.” The airport had earlier proposed a £15 fee for drop-offs under its nowdefunct Heathrow Vehicle Access Charge (HVAC) plan, which included a Heathrow Ultra-Low Emissions Zone (HULEZ) from 2022. Heathrow said: “This move will not impact passenger pick-up, which should continue via the car parks, as picking up passengers is not permitted on the terminal forecourts. More details on the scheme, registering your vehicle, and making payments will be published in due course.”

will enable us to reach new heights and take Tower Cabs to a new level while reestablishing our position as the premier cab company in Plymouth. There will be lots of exciting developments in the next few months and we want you all to be part of the journey.” 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, and TC Cars.” He added: “It is exciting times at Take Me as we keep adding brilliant local 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, wellestablished taxi operators. It seems to be a great combination, and we are already working on adding to the network over the summer.”

JULY 2021

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Professional Driver Magazine July 2021

Published on Jul 30, 2021

Professional Driver Magazine

Professional Driver was established in 2009. It provides national coverage across the whole UK for a broad range of businesses, from independent one-car chauffeurs through local taxi firms to large, regional private hire fleets and the emerging tech-driven ride-hailing operators. We work closely with leading players, including industry trade bodies, trades unions, leading operators and suppliers to provide a unified voice for the business. Our readership represents a significant tranche of the UK population. In 2019, there were in excess of 300,000 cars in service as hire-or-reward vehicles in the UK, and including support staff, our readers represent the interests of almost 500,000 people – almost 1% of the UK population. Professional Driver is a controlled-circulation B2B online magazine with a monthly frequency (10 issues a year) and a circulation of 18,000. We also have a fully functional website, updated on a daily basis, with news, features and road tests.