Glasgow’s biggest taxi firm on life after coronavirus: ‘We will come out of this leaner, but wiser’https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... me-leaner/Glasgow Taxis chairman Dougie McPherson describes his immediate reaction to the outbreak of coronavirus as “a huge amount of uncertainty”, with concepts like furloughing completely new to the business.
Between 70pc and 80pc of full-time staff at the business have now been furloughed, although many of the self-employed taxi drivers are continuing to work.
As Glasgow’s biggest taxi provider, the firm has the second biggest fleet of Hackney carriages outside London, meaning that the appropriate partitioning between a taxi driver and passengers is already in place.
“It was important to continue the business we have,” Mr McPherson says. “We have contractual agreements and have taken the government’s advice. We’ve advised our drivers on a strict sanitisation process between hires for the taxis and we’re advising them on how to keep themselves safe.”
The unknown timescale of the pandemic remains a “significant concern” for the business, he adds, but it is trying to do its bit for the local community.
A new initiative now offers free taxis for more than 300 NHS workers, which is being financially supported by a GoFundMe page, while Glasgow Taxis drivers are also delivering prescriptions and parcels for those in need locally.
“These are all the measures we’re trying to take to keep our footprint firmly in Glasgow,” McPherson says, “We’re very much an institution, and like everyone else we’re suffering from the open-ended nature of this incident.
“Furloughing staff is exactly the right thing to do. We’re really proud of our corporate social responsibility footprint and we always look for opportunities to help the community – we are Glasgow’s taxi company.
“I’m confident that we’ve put in financial management and we will come through this. Definitely leaner, probably wiser, but with the confidence that we can build back to where we were before.”
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