Not really sure what the point of this article is. There's a hint of advertorial, but not in the conventional sense.
And it covers a lot of bases, and goes on a bit, but it's mainly about a fare 'hike', and there are no figures mentioned at all with regard to how much fares have gone up
So I'm guessing he's put his 'taxi' fares up quite substantially, thus doesn't want to mention any figures, but maybe thinks this is a good way to prepare customers for the 'hike'
Stokesley is in North Yorkshire, and seems to come under Hambleton District Council. But seems to be one of those private hire offices in a small town that's running E-class Mercs as a minimum, and is trying to do bog standard 'taxi' work and an 'executive' service using the same cars and drivers.
Stokesley population less than 5,000, according to Wikipedia
https://www.stokesleytaxis.co.uk/
And the 'fairs' misspelling puts in an appearance at one point
'We can only swallow so much': Taxi boss on why fares are rising and hitting customers in pocket
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/tees ... h-22879908
Soaring fuel costs, Brexit and red tape are squeezing taxi firms and their drivers - and it's hitting passengers in the pocket
Image: Terry Blackburn photographer/GazetteLive
A taxi firm has been forced to hike fares as soaring costs squeeze the industry and its drivers even further.
Stokesley Taxis says customers "don't like" being hit in the pockets, but the firm has no choice.
It's not the only one facing a financial hit as covid, driver shortages and even Brexit continue to bite.
"Life isn't easy" for taxi firms and their drivers at the minute, says manager Jeff Cohen.
"Every single taxi firm will agree that profit margins in taxi-ing are very small because of all the outgoings," he says.
"Fuel is up to about £1.52, something like that.
"But other prices aren't going down.
"We go through about 1,000 litres of fuel a week.
"Another 10p on the litre means it's an extra £100 a week.
"Over the year, that's £4,000.
"We are a rural taxi firm, so we have to employ people.
"We can only swallow so much without increasing prices.
"Customers get fed up because we appear expensive, but the cost of motoring and servicing is also going up.
"Vehicles need frequent oil changes but the price of oil has also gone up, parts are more expensive.
"Everything is more expensive.
"You put the prices up and customers don't like it.
"But if you're working at a loss, you won't last very long.
"It's a vicious circle, they put the living wage up but everything else goes up as well.
"Nobody is better off.
Even getting staff is difficult because of all the checks drivers have to go through.
"I agree that you shouldn't just have anyone driving because the customers must feel safe in the car.
"With all the courses they have to do it's about two-and-a-half months and £400 to get someone badged up.
"Not many people are willing to wait that long to get a badge.
"It's extremely difficult finding staff.
"You can go have an interview at a shop and start within a few days.
"They recently added a disability training course.
"I agree staff should know how to look after customers that are disabled.
"But we've got a situation with one driver where the first course available is April 16.
"He isn't allowed to drive until he's done the course.
"Waiting a month doing nothing because you can't get dispensation, he's just finding it very difficult.
"I'm sure a lot of firms are the same."
Image: Terry Blackburn photographer/GazetteLive
'We need a balance'
Many staff left during covid, Jeff adds.
"When lockdown came, people thought 'do I really need the work?'
"We have an older generation of drivers, which I feel is good.
"But they think 'I quite like this retirement'.
"They put their notice in - and suddenly we were short of drivers.
"It only takes one or two to be off and you're crippled.
"We had five off with covid at one point."
The firm has had to increase fairs "here and there" and try to reclaim money where it can.
"If people keep us waiting 10 minutes, we didn't use to charge any extra," says Jeff.
"Now we do, because everything is pre-booked and we have to book jobs fairly tightly together.
"If you're late for the next job, people think Stokesley Taxis is unreliable. We don't like being late for customers."
"We need a balance without upsetting people.
"If I didn't work for a taxi firm, I wouldn't understand why fares had gone up either.
Furlough was a lifesaver for the company, Jeff adds.
"If it wasn't for that, we would be in a much worse position now.
"This is the after-effects hitting us now."
There's hope on the horizon as work is "slowly" starting to come back to pre-pandemic levels.
"There's always a New Year lull but just before Christmas, the corporate work we had was cancelled because of covid.
"They are now starting to re-book.
"We are starting to get busier, which is good."
