Radio Taxis Group news

London 2012: Training begins for volunteers.

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Wembley Arena to host first session

Thousands of recruits will descend on London to commence their training as Games Maker volunteers.

About 70,000 people have been selected to help both visitors and competitors in London and around the UK during the Olympics and Paralympics .

The ten thousand of them coming to Wembley this weekend will be the first to find out their duties.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (Locog) are still interviewing for the roles with selection going on until April

Former World Champion rower and Olympic medallist Sarah Winckless will join Locog chief executive Paul Deighton and athletics legend Lord Coe at the launch of the event.

Locog is calling it the biggest volunteer campaign since World War II with Games Makers charged with "making London 2012 happen".

Volunteer Gillian Douglas said "The phrase Locog uses a lot is that the Games Makers will be the friendly faces of the Games and if we can be that wherever we are in the country, whatever time of day and night we can, it creates a good impression of the people of our country."

Training will be split into three sessions. The first is the orientation event where volunteers will get an insight into the history of the Games, sports and venues.

The next step is role-specific sessions where people will learn all they need to carry out their allotted tasks.

Finally, at the venue-specific training session people will go to the venue they will be stationed at, learn about emergency procedures and meet other volunteers they will be working with.

Other cities hosting training events include Manchester, Glasgow, and Newcastle..

More than 200,000 people applied to be Games Makers, with 100,000 being interviewed.

The Olympics take place between July 27th and August 12th with the Paralympics starting on August 29th and ending on September 9th.

Upbeat figures for US jobless

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

243,000 new US jobs in January

A higher than expected number of jobs were created in the USA last month.

The near quarter of a million new jobs is the highest total for nine months and exceeds the 150,000 predicted by analysts.

Unemployment dropped to 8.3% which is the lowest since 2009.

Share prices rose after news of the job growth and the Dow Jones hitting its highest point since May 2008.

The Nasdaq index showed it's best score since December 2000.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index rose to it's highest level since July last year and Germany's Dax and France's Cac 40 were also up.

It is not all good news however, with a report from the US Congressional Budget Office, forecast that unemployment would climb to nearly 9% in the last three months of this year and peak at 9.2% early next year.

The job growth has been widespread, with large gains in business services, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing.

There were nearly 11,000 jobs in the retail industry and engineering and accountancy also showed growth.

Factories added 50,000 workers, much more than expected and a one-year high.

Lindsey Piegza, economist at FTN Financial, said: "It was a better-than-expected report, the strongest report that we've seen in quite some time".

The figures add to a range of data pointing to a gradual US economic recovery.

On Friday, the US Institute for Supply Management said its services index rose to 56.8 last month and it's new orders index was up nearly five percent from December.

Unemployment and the economy has been the dominant issue in election year and although President Obama will be pleased at the news he is likely to have more jobless voters than any other post-war president.

Herbert Hoover lost the 1932 election in the middle of the Great Depression when joblessness stood at 23.6% while Franklin Roosevelt faced joblessness rates of 16.9% and 14.6% in two of his elections while in the White House and won both.

Boost for UK economy: Aon moves HQ to London

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

One of the world's largest insurance companies, AON is moving its corporate headquarters to London in a relocation which is likely to yield tens of millions of pounds in tax revenues for the UK Treasury.

Aon, which is the main sponsor of the Manchester United football club, has declared that the move would bring it closer to the London insurance market and it would also give the Insurance giant a greater access to emerging markets.

Manchester United has the largest following across the globe of any sports team in the world.

AON have also expressed that they believe the move will bring it closer to the London insurance market, which AON has described as "one of the key international hubs of insurance and risk brokerage".

Aon has a market capitalisation of £9.7bn and is a specialist in insurance broking and in employee benefits.

Britain kisses goodbye to mouth to mouth

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

British Heart Foundation: "Ignore kiss of life"

The British Heart Foundation is urging people to forget "mouth-to-mouth" and to concentrate on chest compressions when performing CPR.

A new advertising campaign featuring Vinnie Jones is promoting the use of "hands only" resuscitation.

It is a response to polling by the BHF which found many people were worried about giving the kiss of life with over half those questioned admitting they were put off because they lacked knowledge.

Four in 10 people were worried about being sued if they did something wrong, even though the BHF argues no such case has ever succeeded in Britain

Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse from the BHF said "The kiss of life can be daunting for untrained bystanders who want to help when someone has collapsed with a cardiac arrest."

The advert has as its soundtrack Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees which has been suggested as a tune for would be life savers to hum to get the tempo of chest compressions. Others have suggested this may lead to the compressions being too shallow.

Vinnie Jones, now an actor after a successful football career, said "Hands only CPR should give have-a-go heroes the confidence to step in when somebody is in cardiac arrest."

Around thirty thousand people have a cardiac arrest each year in the UK and half of those are witnessed.

"In most of these cases no one acts and people panic," said Ms Mason "If it was us, we would all want our loved ones and ourselves to be saved, wouldn't we?"

For more information please go to http://www.bhf.org.uk/heart-health/life-saving-skills/hands-only-cpr.aspx

Radio Taxis and Action for Kids - Lord Mayors Show - CIty of London Nov 2011

Sat, 17 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Radio Taxis and Action for Kids

Lord Mayors Show - CIty of London Nov 2011

TfL and the Mayor of London says do not use an illegal mini cab - click to view

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Be safe be sure only use a licensed taxi

phone Radio Taxis 020 7272 0272 or book online

91.2% of Radio Taxis drivers will work during the Olympics

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Londons best taxi company, Radio Taxis will be working in the Summer of 2012

Amid claims and counter claims about the London taxi industry and further to reports that taxi drivers will not be working during London's 2012 Summer Olympics, Radio Taxis decided to poll its 2,500 strong taxi fleet.

Around 27% of the fleet responded to the (online) survey (a poll of more than 100 is usually sufficient for a meaningful conclusion) and of the 675 drivers who responded 91.2% said they would work and only 8.8% said they would not.

This flies in the face of reports in the media about "grumpy cab drivers" who "won't work because of being excluded from the ORN lanes."

Radio Taxis Chairman and CEO Geoffrey Riesel said, "I am very proud of my drivers. Radio drivers have always been the most committed in the industry."

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-24020726-90-per-cent-of-cabbies-will-work-during-the-olympics.do

London taxidriver publishes book of passengers favourite quotes and sayings

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The Evening Standard reported on a cab driver who asked passengers for their favourite quotes and proverbs, and with them has published a book with 400 of the best.

The book, "Black Cab Wisdom'' written by Mark Solomon, is undergoing a 10,000-copy reprint after the first 5,000 sold out.

Solomon said he started writing down passengers' favourite quotes on scrap paper but then he started leaving a clipboard in the back of the cab. Solomon has been driving for 12 years. "Cab driving itself has restored my faith in London,'' he said.

"There are so many good people out there. They may have done a 12-hour demanding day but they're still prepared to give me the time of day."

Fourth year in succession: Survey - London Taxis are best in the world - Hotels.com

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0000

London's famous and iconic black cabs have been voted yet again the world's best taxis.

Almost 5,000 world-wide visitors and tourists from around 23 countries were surveyed by Hotels.com, with London's taxis along with their knowledgeable drivers coming out ahead of everyone including New York's yellow cabs.

London was top in five of the seven categories voted on, including safety, friendliness, cleanliness, quality of driving and knowledge of the area.

Although Bangkok's cabs offered the best value for money, in the survey, at the same time their drivers were also voted as being the very worst in the world.

Radio Taxis Group declared 4th out of seven most environmental transport companies in the world

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Click the link below to see the article online

http://mashable.com/2011/06/06/ecofriendly-company-transportation/#147694-Radio-Taxis-Carbon-Neutral-Cars