Bill Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Gary and Gunga I spend a whole lot of time in taxi offices right across the UK and if one in a thousand ask for a lady driver then I'd be surprised. Imagine this. I've just had the best idea since sliced bread. It's called "Black Pizza" which is pizza with black pudding instead of pepperoni. Sounds brilliant to me because I love black pudding and I know a lot of other people agree with me. I'm going to be delivering these fresh delights not just locally but right across the Warrington area. I'm so confident that this is going to change the way people think of pizza I've registered the trade name, set up a brill web site and now I'm selling franchises across the UK. Want a ?bite? of the action? [ 14.12.2006, 11:31: Message edited by: Bill ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Black pudding pizza sounds good to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Chaos Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Bill I wasn't making any comments about business plans, other than the fact is that women obviously do feel safer when driven by a female driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Bill - I'm that one in a thousand then! As I've said in previous posts, depending on where I am and what time it is, if I can't use a Pink ladies Taxi or get a female driver it'll decide for me whether I go or not as I am that cautious of getting in a taxi with male drivers from the other firms in Warrington, although nothing others would deem as too serious has ever happened, due to personal reasons and low tolerance of silliness, I've found some drivers behaviour totally unacceptable and inappropriate and this has frightened me in the past. May I point out before any one leaps on me that I do NOT make blanket assumptions about men in general, most of you are lovely. [ 14.12.2006, 13:31: Message edited by: Tilly ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmless loony Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 I don't use taxis in Warrington but I used them a lot when I lived in Scotland (due to the lack of public transport) and I and other female students always requested female drivers......in a small university town where 65% of the student population is female, the taxi firms soon realised that the demand was high. So one of the firms recruited lots of women to work for them and hey presto they now have the massive share of the taxi market in the Fife area. Pink Ladies had the makings of a successful business, but to me it sounds like the business plan wasn't thought out properly. Expansion was far too rapid and they just were not stable enough for it. Whoever they took their business advice from obviously did a bad job. As for the local taxi firms trying to rip Pink Ladies apart - what a poor show! Supply and demand are the basic economic principles - if Pink Ladies is not safe, suitable or good enough then they will lose customers, however, if they are gaining customers then it signals that there is a change in demand in the market - the other taxi firms can either change their business plans or can engage in dirty business tactics to push someone out of the market. It looks to me like they chose to take the easy option and engage in the latter - rather shameful actually! I'm with Tilly and others on this one - I would not get into a taxi with a male who is unknown to me because I simply do not feel comfortable with the idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Tilly Gunga and Sadako. Your all right, there?s a demand for this sort of service just like there is for my black pudding service. I was really using this example in replying to Gary?s question as to why the other companies don?t do this sort of thing. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 So in a nutshell most taxi companies think it is not worth providing safe and secure transport for women only passengers Black pudding pizzas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Gary Sadly the answer to your question ?in a nutshell? is no. Quite a lot of firms do have women drivers that can be requested but all of these lady drivers want to earn the same as the blokes and so don?t turn down regular work. The problem comes when someone rings up requesting a woman driver picks them up from say Winwick. The lady driver has to leave her local work for the blokes and drive all the way to Winwick to pickup, a journey for which she doesn?t get paid. This is called dead mileage and the ratio between paid mileage and dead mileage can make all the difference between running at a profit or a loss. Understandably women drivers don?t like having to do this kind of work. Consider this. Company A have 100 cars out working while company B have just 6. Wherever you need picking up from, the chances are that company A will have a car in your area while company B will need to send one to you. It?s easy to see that a driver from company B is going to make less money because of all the running about. Now join companies A & B together, paint the six cars pink and tell them they can only pickup single women and nothing changes. Unless the company is prepared to compensate drivers for dead mileage on ?specified? driver requests and allow them to do regular work when there?s no women only jobs then it?s never going to work. It?s a numbers game Gary and just like my black pudding analogy, the numbers dictate that the idea is flawed. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 So in your opinion a project like Pink Ladies was doomed to fail from the out set? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 No I wouldn't say that and even now there are still ways that it could be made to work. The trouble is that they seem more concerned in with gattering public support rather addressing the real issues. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bazj Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 I agree with some of the issues raised here but surely if you do cut off 50% of your potential trade by just serving women it is doomed to failure or at least is doomed to be a very small company serving a niche market. Look at it another way, if a company comes into an area like Pink Ladies did and then started taking the female customers off the established taxi firms; especially as the established taxi firms have to pay so much more for their licenses, MOT's, Insurance etc. it is only natural that the established companies are going to start complaining and looking at ways to get back the business. If it is by means of pointing out the irregularities in the way the Pink Ladies operate then so be it they will say. Surely if the the Pink Ladies thought that this was such a good idea, they would have at least took some decent advice on a legal basis before operating? A good idea but a few flaws in the design. Baz [ 14.12.2006, 20:21: Message edited by: Bazunitec ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 Been trying to follow all this and I'm now completely confused as to the current state of PL's. Am I right in thinking that the firm is split into seperate companies and it's only the one that deals with the franchise side that's gone bust (so to speak, oops Could do with knowing though :confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asperity Posted December 14, 2006 Report Share Posted December 14, 2006 The part of Pink Taxis I don't get is why it has been set up for women passengers only when women with male companions should be in no danger from a male taxi driver, and there are many female taxi drivers. So surely there is room for manouevre here, given that any driver is within his/her rights to refuse to carry anyone THEY feel to be a threat? Common sense sent to the back room again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 Baz It?s not just a case of cutting off 50% of the trade. Fifty percent of people might well be women but the majority of these have either husbands or boy friends, which dramatically reduces the percentages probably to something like 10% of the population. Remove single mothers with male children and this goes down further. Next factor in that less than 10% of people use a taxi on a regular basis and you?re down to something like 1% Finally of all those left, what percentage would actually choose to take the trouble to register for an account? So given what I said earlier about dead mileage and this being a numbers game, the prospects for success are not looking too good for a start up company. As for who?s gone bust my guess would be that it?s the parent company Pink Ladies Ltd with it?s franchising problems. The pink cars we see still running are probably being run as a separate entity and don?t necessarily need to be registered at companies? house. Unfortunately setting high moral ideals doesn?t always go hand in hand with running a business at a profit and the company needs to take note of this and adapt accordingly if it?s to survive. I don?t like to see anyone struggling and I would like to help if at all possible. My doors always open to those involved and any advice I can give is free (just like my coffee). Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
observer Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 So; has it gone bust or not?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted December 15, 2006 Report Share Posted December 15, 2006 Here's a thought - some women drivers aren't safe from male passengers either. Thats possibly one of the reasons why they only take males 12 and under. One of my reasons for prefering female drivers and there are many, is when else would you be in such proximity to a man on your own that you dont know from Adam with no means of escape should the need arise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tara Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Gary message form my dad. Gary abba as a number of women drivers on there books. but they are happy to take every one not only women, but if they had to wait for just women to call for a cab they would get no work. there is not a lot of people whom what that in this town only a small number. yes it is a good idea my dad says, but not in Warrington plus they should work within the law as it stands now. as you know there are court case pending where a number of the pink lady franchise firms have gone bust. But again would you get into a car in which the council have no power to check that every thing is safe and above board? My self and my friends have never used them or ever will. as they used scare tactics to start up by saying your safe with us. it now look like you not. And that all other taxi firms are not safe. who would you travel with one who can be stopped and checked that every thing is fine and above the law for the public or one that not its always up to the public at the end of the day. [ 18.12.2006, 17:17: Message edited by: Tara ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 I get into a car everyday as do others that the council don't check. Those checks like an MOT last for as long as it takes to drive out of the testing station. ALL the piece of paper does is lets you tax and insure the vehicle. It doesn't mean it is still roadworthy a week later. If I was a female, the answer would be that I would prefer to be with a female driver for personal safety reasons. Let's face it, a lot of taxi drivers are scruffy, don't look after their cars, and even smoke, yet have signs up saying No-Smoking. By the way Tara, has he got his new vehicle yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Chaos Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 My wife has also never had to phone up Pink Ladies to ask where her cab is either, unlike the vast majority of cab firms who really care little if the cab is on time. How many times has anyone heard the blatant lie "it's just around the corner"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dizzy Posted December 18, 2006 Report Share Posted December 18, 2006 Originally posted by observer: So; has it gone bust or not?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Kennedy Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 If they are still operating then the answer is no, however as I understand it they are in administration, from which they might either be reorganised and continue in business in one form or another or the administrators decide there is no future for the business and it is put into liquidation. Time will tell as they say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tilly Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Why oh why is everyone going on and on about them - they're brill, still on the road and long may they continue to be so! Why are so many who aren't even taxi drivers or female so haven't even been in one of their cabs or experienced the service, huming and ahhing and examining and making statements, offering opinions etc? I am absolutely baffled. Let them get on with it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Chaos Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Tilly Well said! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Curran Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 I still hear nothing but praise for pink ladies from people in the community so good luck to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter T Posted December 19, 2006 Report Share Posted December 19, 2006 Whilst all seems normal, I believe they are paddling like hell beneath the surface. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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