Taxi Driver Online

Chris O'Neal says jobs saved as liquidators called in to major North Wales taxi firm

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... d-24931856

It has gone into a 'creditors voluntary liquidation' after it was 'battered by Covid' but new venture Premier Group North Wales will employ 45 drivers


Image: Premier Group/North Wales Live

A cab firm boss says driver jobs and taxi operations have been secured despite a venture having to be put into liquidation. Premier in Bangor are one of the biggest taxi firms in north west Wales.

But after being "battered" by Covid and hit by recent legislation changes over self employed drivers following the Uber case Premier Cars Bangor Ltd has been put into a Creditors voluntary liquidation. However Premier Group North Wales has been formed to continue the Premier name - with 45 staff employed covering parts of Gwynedd and Anglesey.

Boss Chris O'Neal said it had been a difficult period but that they were treating it as a "learning curve". He said that they had come back stronger with a "vision" of being the leading taxi firm in the area.

He said no driver jobs were lost and the new venture has invested in 19 electric and hybrid vehicles as they look to the future. Mr O'Neal said they were in talks with HMRC over previous liabilities from Premier Cars Bangor Ltd.

According to Companies House the venture has liabilities of nearly £294,000. This includes £180K to HMRC, £45K to Lloyds bank and £31K to Nest Pension. He said he expected payments to be made to reduce the liabilities in the winding up of the business.

Mr O'Neal, a former Gwynedd councillor, said they had been badly impacted by Covid which removed a huge chunk of its normal income as lockdowns closed schools and slashed the numbers travelling. There had also been implications to changes to self employment rules following a Supreme Court ruling on a case brought by Uber drivers over employment rights.

He said a vast majority of the 45 staff were now fully employed by the firm.

He added: "We have been battered by Covid and it has been difficult."

Mr O'Neal said: "This has not happened overnight. We have taken a lot of professional advice over this.

"We have not made a single person redundant and we are now using this to move forward with investment in new vehicles and now have the largest electric and hybrid fleet in the area. We now need to make sure Gwynedd and Anglesey councils make sure the infrastructure is in place to support them."

Some cynicism about this chap in the comments, and came across this via Google. In fact those with a good memory might recall it being posted on here about six years ago:


Cabbie-choking councillor Chris O'Neal resigns Gwynedd seat

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... l-11344790

Cllr Chris O'Neal was convicted of assault after gripping a taxi driver by the throat at his firm's offices in Bethesda

A Gwynedd councillor has resigned his seat after he admitted choking a taxi driver who worked for him in a row over wages .

Christopher James O’Neal, an independent councillor representing the Marchog ward in Bangor on Gwynedd Council, “grabbed” driver David John Williams from behind and began choking him in a row over wages.

Mr O’Neal, 38, of The Stables, Tan y Marian, Bangor, pleaded guilty to assaulting Mr Williams at his Premier Cabs premises on Bethesda High Street on January 14 in a scuffle which was recorded on Mr William’s mobile phone.

Magistrates in Caernarfon on Friday heard that Mr O’Neal had “lost it” and started shouting and threatening the taxi driver.

He threw a controller on the floor before he grabbing Mr Williams “from behind” and started “choking” him.

Michael Strain, for Mr O’Neal, said he felt “betrayed” and “let down” by Mr Williams but he did not dispute that he’d lost his temper.

Mr Strain said O’Neal’s wife had recently given birth to twin girls and it had been a very difficult pregnancy with one still having to attend Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool. O’Neal, who previously ran a security firm, had also lost his Hackney carriage licence.

O’Neal was ordered to serve 200 hours unpaid work and pay Mr Williams £150 compensation and £210 court costs.

In an email to Gwynedd Council monitoring officer and head of legal services Iwan Evans, Mr O’Neal said he will be officially resigning from 23.59pm on May 20.

In the email, Mr O’Neal said: “As you will be aware recently I have pleaded guilty to an offence of common assault and believe that this only occurred due to the stress I have been placed under recently, and the main part of that stress being caused by Gwynedd County Council.

He said: “Over my time in council this authority has done nothing at all to support me in my pledge to assist my constituents.”

He claimed he has raised “numerous complaints” with officers which had been “blatantly ignored” or the council failed to act.

He added: “I believe the public have a right to know about my pain and suffering in my time as a Councillor and all will be revealed very soon.”

A Gwynedd Council spokesperson said: “We can confirm that the Council has received correspondence form Cllr Christopher O’Neal in relation to his resignation. We will be responding in accordance with the formal requirements. We do not propose to comment on the wider issues and allegations but have invited the submission of a formal complaint which will provide for an appropriate right to reply and respond.”

In mitigation, Mr Strain said O’Neal’s wife had recently given birth to twin girls and it had been a very difficult pregnancy with one still having to attend Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, Liverpool. O’Neal, who previously ran a security firm, had also lost his Hackney carriage licence.

O’Neal was handed a community order to serve 200 hours unpaid work and to pay Mr Williams £150 compensation. He was also ordered to pay £210 court costs.

Sentencing him, bench chairman Alistair Langdon said that O’Neal’s behaviour had been “totally inappropriate” but “out of character”.

He added that that they were pleased that he had accepted he’d “lost control”.

Also found this. To be fair, he was found not guilty on the blackmail charge, so he can't be all bad

But he certainly sounds like the 'banger from Bangor


'I'll put a rope around your neck': Gwynedd councillor banned over threat

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... ur-7424168

A hearing in Caernarfon also found councillor Chris O’Neal broke code of conduct by filming a traffic warden while he questioned her over town parking issues


County councillor cleared of £7,500 blackmail attempt on sex offender hotel owner

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wale ... l-10399322

Gwynedd councillor Christopher James O'Neal has spoken of his relief at the not guilty verdict at Mold Crown Court

Someone in the comments also a tad cynical about how the company managed to accumulate the liabilities it had, and the usual stuff about phoenix companies rising from the ashes, blah, blah.

Anyway, ignoring all that, it's not clear precisely how or why the Uber judgement affected his operation.

But, if it did, I wonder why it impacted this business, and not zillions of others in the trade?


Moreover, this makes it sound like the drivers were all taken on as PAYE employees, which wasn't necessary to comply with the Uber judgement - drivers with 'worker' status are still self-employed

That does not make sense. By definition a "worker" is not self employed otherwise they would not be classed as a "worker" but would be just self employed.

_________________
Grandad,

As regards employment law and rights, there are three broad categories in terms of status:

• Employees

• Workers

• Self-employed

I think your [Grandad's] drivers are employees. Uber drivers have been deemed by the courts to be workers. The vast majority of drivers in the trade are self-employed.

But as far as taxation and HMRC are concerned, there are only two categories. First, employees on PAYE. Second, self-employed. But that includes those with 'worker' status as well as those traditionally categorized as self-employed.

The Financial Times article at the weekend about the tax stuff said this (and 'independent contractors' just means the same as self-employed):

I think at some point in the next 18 months HMRC are going to be asked to improve the tax take to compensate for government policies. Lizzie wants to spend big and tax small

the biggest measure they could take would be a radical overhaul of the self employment rules

after all the self employed have gone from under 1 million 30 odd years ago to over 5 million now so that could potentially bring in several billion in additional tax and National insurance especially the latter simply by removing the split purse and pseudo self employed from ours and other similarly set up trades and making businesses employ their staff rather than sub contract them.

Once the money gets tight the rules will become tougher

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Reading the actual article I found the comments section interesting.

Either some people have got the right hump with the fella, or the fella isn't all that he is trying to portray.

_________________
IDFIMH

I think judging from the string of articles about him the chap is purely motivated out of self interest so wonder people dislike him

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

He's back, but this is basically advertorial.

And no mention of how he's dealt with the employment status issue, which supposedly bankrupted one of his previous ventures


Well-known Gwynedd cab boss launching taxi operation in Llandudno

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... s-26553327

Chris O’Neal is behind the Premier taxi name in Bangor


Image: North Wales Live

A well-known cab firm boss is launching a new taxi operation in Llandudno. Chris O’Neal is behind the Premier taxi name in Bangor - one of the biggest cab firms in north west Wales.

His previous operation, Premier Cars Bangor Ltd, went into liquidation last summer after being “battered” by Covid and hit by legislation changes over self employed drivers. It left liabilities of nearly £294,000.

But he formed Premier Group North Wales and says that this had proved a success as the economy emerged from the pandemic. Now he will launch an offshoot of the Premier brand from Council Street West in Llandudno - which he says will mean the brands will now cover from Llangefni to Colwyn Bay.

He says he plans to modernise the offer in Llandudno with digital booking points at hotels and hospitality venues so people can book them on an app.

He said: "We have just received our operators licence and we will look to be in operation within three to four weeks. We will be bringing up to date phone tech with most bookings done on the app. We will be approaching all the hotels in the coming weeks to see if they will take a taxi booker for reception.

"Our aim is to have a taxi with people within seven minutes and we will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We have also thought about the safety side so when someone books they get a text with the driver's badge, a picture of them and contact details so it is safe for customers. They know exactly who is picking them up. For our drivers we have a panic button that then links to the app and records what is happening, and also means we can call the police if required."

He said they will have 10 vehicles within three months and he hopes to increase this to 35 within a year. He also said that he wants 70% of their vehicles to be hybrid or electric but he added driver recruitment was challenging in the sector.

He added: "Back in the pandemic Covid battered us, we struggled and went through the mill with it. But we changed systems and started again and we are flying now.

"At the moment we cover up to just before Llanfairfechan - this will extend where Premier operates - we'll be going right from Llangefni to Colwyn Bay."

Talk about leaving yourself a hostage to fortune.

_________________
IDFIMH

yes all the drivers will have been practising that famous North Wales excuse " sorry mate got stuck behind a caravan" also popular in Cornwall and Cumbria I believe

_________________
lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Nothing particularly noteworthy here in the great scheme of things, but of course there's a bit of history with this lot, and with one individual in particular

And rereading the launch advertorial article above, looks like they were trying to bridge the gap between a traditional taxi office and app-based 'ride-hailing'. But looks like it didn't work out...


Taxi firm Premier Cars 'withdraws services' from Llandudno

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north- ... s-30937447

The Premier taxi brand - run by Chris O’Neal - is one of the biggest cab firms in north west Wales

A well-known cab firm has "withdrawn services" with "immediate effect" from the Llandudno area. The Premier taxi brand - run by Chris O’Neal - is one of the biggest cab firms in north west Wales.

His previous operation, Premier Cars Bangor Ltd, went into liquidation in 2022 after being “battered” by Covid - leaving liabilities of nearly £294,000. But he formed Premier Group North Wales and restarted in the Gwynedd area again.

In 2023 he launched an offshoot of the Premier brand from Council Street West in Llandudno - covering the resort and surrounding area. He said it would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

But this week the brand announced it was leaving Llandudno. They said: "We regret to inform you that, with immediate effect, we have withdrawn our services from the Llandudno area."

They blamed delays getting new drivers licensed, a shortage of night time work, and "internal challenges".

They added: "On behalf of the company, I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. However, I am pleased to inform you that we have received interest from several parties regarding the business and we anticipate finalising a deal/transition within the next 7-10 days."

The company said pre-booked services will be honoured and contractual commitments will continue to be fulfilled. They added: "We sincerely appreciate your support and loyalty during our time serving your community and we wish you all the best for the future."

LLandudno is a resort beloved of coach companies and pensioners why would there be much night time work ?

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Well maybe not so much nighttime work as in other locations. But it's all to do with proportion - there will no doubt be a degree of night work, but maybe not so much as in other similar sized towns, so there might just be less cars out at night.

But it looks like there are several factors involved in the firm's withdrawal. And maybe it's more to do with the downturn in the night work since lockdown and cost of living crisis, etc.

I mean, I wonder who on here keeps making that precise point?