Controversial ride-on-demand taxi service Uber set to launch in Liverpool Firm poised to launch city branch after job ad placed for general manager Controversial ride-on-demand taxi app Uber is advertising for a general manager to launch a new branch in Liverpool.
The US-based firm revolutionised the market in London since its launch in July 2012. Since then, it has expanded into Manchester and Leeds, making Liverpool the fourth city in the UK to be identified by the company as a suitable site for its operations. It already has a presence in 45 countries and more than 200 cities worldwide.
Uber is different from other black cab and private hire taxi services in that it works by customers downloading an app and entering their credit card information.
Read more: Liverpool cab drivers meet over Delta taxi war
To order a ride, customers simply open the app and press a button. Using GPS, the nearest available Uber driver will then be dispatched to the location. No cash is exchanged.
But the service has also attracted controversy and been the subject of protests by established taxi firms, who accuse Uber of unfair business practices and compromising passenger safety.
Only last weekend, authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, banned Uber after a driver allegedly raped a female passenger.
The 26-year-old woman used the smartphone app to book a taxi home on Friday but says she was taken to a secluded area and raped.
In an advert for the position of general manager for Liverpool, the company says: “We are looking for a fearless, brilliant manager to run the Liverpool market.
“As the general manager of Liverpool you’re responsible for the development and growth of our business in one of the major cities in the country.
“You are forward-thinking and flexible as we play with how to run our business out of an existing market.”
The news is a further blow for Liverpool’s cabbies, who are already reeling from the announcement by Sefton-based taxi giant Delta that it is to take advantage of a relaxation in regulations that will allow them to open up an office in the city centre.
The Liverpool Taxi Alliance - which represents the city’s black cab and private hire drivers - tweeted a link to the Uber job advertisement, saying: “Be worried! be very worried guys!”
source:
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/con ... er-8256339
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