Taxi Driver Online

Barclays funds Addison Lee drive to take advantage of Olympics


Minicab group Addison Lee is gearing up for an expansion in readiness for the Olympics after securing a £12m boost.

The firm, founded by the colourful entrepreneur John Griffin, has just landed a £6m revolving credit facility and £6m asset finance line from Barclays – part of the bank's strategy to show that it is a willing lender to viable businesses.

Although Mr Griffin hasn't been entirely enthusiastic about the Olympics – he wants permission to use bus lanes the same as London's black taxis – he says the firm will be "big players" during the games.

The finance deal comes days after Addison Lee revealed that company turnover for last year rose by a fifth to £127.5m.

Mr Griffin was paid £3.6m for his efforts, the largest payout of £12.6m shared by the top four executives.

The London-based company is hoping to expand outside the M25. It is presently the largest minicab company in London, operating 3,500 premium minicabs across the capital.

Addison Lee says the finance line provided by Barclays will assist the company in expanding its fleet of vehicles through the acquisition of the car service operations of Lewis Day.

Matthew Barbrook, head of finance at Addison Lee, said: "Barclays' in-depth knowledge of the sector and understanding of our financial needs meant we were able to secure a funding package that was right for our business and will assist us in achieving our strategic ambitions."

Jackie Gillan, relationship director within Barclays' transport & logistics team, said: "Our strong relationship with Addison Lee, which spans more than 15 years, ensured we were best placed to understand the company's needs and provide the finance they needed in order to achieve their growth plans."

The taxi sector has seen a number of new entrants in the last year with the growth of social media. Hailo, founded by three London cab drivers, matches up passengers and licensed taxi drivers via a smartphone application. It is backed by one of Spotify's original backers and the investment vehicle of Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/busin ... 85032.html

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

So they are lending money to people who have already got more than enough.

That should get the country out of recession, shouldn't it?

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IDFIMH

Shame after those donations to a political party PH were dropped from the equality bill.....barclays could have helped the chap buy vehicles that would cater adequately for the wheelchair bound.

CC

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Isn't one of the criteria for borrowing from a bank these days, the fact that you don't actually need the money.

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Grandad,

They like the safe bet tbh, helping those that have greeded their way up take more of the pot.


Can nobody see that youth is feral now because it knows there's nothing to shoot for anymore, nobody cares about them (and I don't mean benefit wise) I mean they need self worth installing into them, if you get born to an unemployed mum and dad living in a highrise flat where everyone destroys everything what chance do you have, the human is programmed to copy itself, so if it sees dad smashing mums head in, it will in turn think it's ok to do this when it's an adult, and now the whole model is multiplying out of control because the more kids mum has the bigger the bounty, believe me they are trapped in a vicious circle, none of them chose that life, but they sure are going to live it, 1 in 1000 may escape if the wheel of fortune spins right for them, the rest it's a mindless non existance for 70 years.

good old doom why paint a rosy picture when you can paint it black ! No seriously though this is something the FSB gas been campaigning hard for to get finance available for new and existing SMALL businesses which is not how I would describe AL but unfortunately they can afford the best accountants to make their books look great and so the banks will fall over themselves to lend to a perceived low risk business

Still if they are sticking their necks out theres always the chance of falling flat on their faces and giving us all a laugh

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

I've a nick to live up to edders, besides when you tell covering lies the liar's become even more plentyful.

And thx for basically repeating what I said anyway, wanna sit on my shoulder?

Trust me you don't want my weight sitting on your shoulder !!!!!

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

What happens when the Post Olympic Slump sets in....Heaps Drivers and Vehicles will be surplus to requirement and they'll still have the Money they borrowed to repay..

I think this loan facility has more to do with ALs plans for expansion outside the M25 than anything that they may get from the Olympics. love them or loathe them, they do spend a lot of money on new vehicles.

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Grandad,

I think grandad is right the money is for the business to go National after the law commission/government fixes the legislation to enable them to do that banks aren't daft they will know that the olympics is a short term boom if it's a boom at all

I'm sure Delta cars will be announcing a similar large financing package within a year or two !

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

There is that.

Just not wheelchair accessible vehicles

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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

AL, the Tesco of the cab firms, soon enough it will be AL national and all those that thought themselves indestructable will get swallowed up, I suppose it's cab evolution in a way, and if anyone can't see the way the human race is going they must be blind.

Earth 2167

One supermarket
One cab firm
One bank
One type of car
One religion
One boss
One language

Billions of slaves

Perhaps it's to ease cash flow, I mean why use your money when you can use somebody elses

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Note to self: Just because it pops into my head does NOT mean it should come out of my mouth!!