Driving conversations: Gett CEO Matteo de Renzi meets Cabbie Reuben Davis

And what about minimum fare, fixed fares, meter premiums? Would commission possibly come down to 10%?

Would it be another driver's office? When there's a premium, it puts a big smile on my face.

Well, being a cab driver, I've been a cab driver a long time now. The flexibility of this job, you know, when you can go to work, when you can stop, you've got no governor. I've been a cab driver 41 years, so it's a long time. And I love the job, I really do love the job. And obviously through the app now, it's a different way of working.

Gett is great because you can look at jobs, future jobs, pick out jobs a week in advance, book them. So when you get up in the morning or come out to work in the afternoon, hopefully you've got a job not far from where you live that brings you into town. Then you do your work throughout the day with an app job or a street job, and then you can maybe book a future job going home. Also, with Gett, I've got all the corporate stuff, so you know you're definitely going to get paid. And what's great is you get paid every day. You do your work, the next day the money goes into the bank. So I don't have to queue up and go to the bank anymore. I haven't been to the bank since COVID. It's great.

Corporate work is great because it takes the pressure off the meter. When the customer is a corporate job, you've got to get there as quick as you can, but you can only drive 20 miles an hour now. But they're not paying for it, so you go outside the office, wait maybe 10 or 15 minutes with your meter on, so you're getting paid for sitting there. You're picking up generally nice people, and it can be some great jobs. The cabs are great now, the electric cabs are so comfortable, and we can use the bus lanes. That's the reason why so many customers, particularly corporate, choose you and us. It's a direct consequence of speed, safety, privacy. Ultimately, you have your own limousine if you want. We've got the shield at the back. If you want me to be quiet, you only have to say, and I won't talk to you.

No, I think meter is always best. Drivers don't want to go fixed fare because of traffic. Also, to put a premium on the job, if you're in the city or wherever, it takes you quite a while to get to the customer. There might be people on the street, so why would the driver drive past the person on the street? You give Gett 20%, unless there's a premium. A premium gives you encouragement. The customer's happy, they're going to get a cab, and you're happy because you're going to get extra money. The winners of premium enjoy it. It puts a big smile on my face.

And what about minimum fare? Because you do a job, it might only be going around the corner. Before, I used to get 10 pounds, and now you're only going to get five pounds, and you take 20% off of that. A lot of drivers, if you're near, you wouldn't really run for a job if you're not going to get your minimum fare.

Oh yeah, I agree with that. I mean, it doesn't... I do the job, so I'm quite happy that when you get a few premiums, it's an added bonus, and it can't direct you your commission.

Another thing I would like to ask you is, when we do a private job, it's very hard if something goes wrong to get in touch with the office. You have to email or text, and when you're driving, you can't really touch your phone. So it would be nice if before we had someone at the end of the phone. I know we have our own corporate stuff, but we haven't got that on private jobs.

Yeah, I think so. I think so. If drivers need that, I think so. Drivers need to sometimes chat. Drivers need that.

Oh, I've had some over the years. 41 years of driving a taxi, I've picked up many celebrities: George Best, Bobby Moore in the football world, Paul Gascoigne. Nice. I've picked up Bruce Willis. Oh wow. Frank Bruno. And years ago, I always used to work around Wimbledon, and a lot of the players used to stay in the West End. I mean, now they have chauffeurs, but I've picked up John McEnroe, Mats Wilander. Too many to mention.

Yeah, well we've got the best taxis in the world. You have the best taxis in the world, the best drivers, the best cars. Although best vehicle, sorry. Although clearly incredibly expensive. Yes, but it's a service that I haven't seen anywhere else in the world. No, no rules. It's truly unique, and it has been unique for how many hundred years.

Yeah, exactly. And I trust that with the right support, the right technology, the right investment, and the right people on all sides, it's something that would be unique for many, many years. 42 years ago, when I'd done the Knowledge, I was told by a cab driver, 'What are you doing the Knowledge for? The game's finished.' And that was 42 years ago when people said the game was finished. Even 10 years ago, when many other solutions came into town, the fact that 2022 has been one of the busiest years for the taxi trade tells us that is not the case.

No, well, people still got to get about.