Fact Service December 2020

Issue 49

Taxi industry on verge of collapse, union warns

The UK’s taxi and minicab industry is at the point of collapse if it doesn’t receive aid, general union the GMB has warned.

The union has written to the chancellor asking him for a meeting and telling him how demand has plummeted during the pandemic, with many operators reporting an 80% drop in bookings month upon month. Huge numbers of drivers have left the industry, while the serious financial hardship suffered by others has led to a sharp rise in mental health issues, the GMB said.

Mick Rix, GMB national officer, said: “There is no light at the end of the tunnel for drivers and operators who desperately need urgent government assistance to save their livelihoods and this great industry.”

https://www.gmb.org.uk/news/taxi-and-minicab-industry-verge-collapse