A leading eco-friendly electric taxi company based in central London is driving forward with its ambitious growth plans and opening a new local community hub, after securing a £1.6m asset refinance deal.

Sherbet Electric Taxi Company, which is committed to reducing London’s carbon footprint, is now aiming to treble the size of its business in the next 12 months through a range of mergers and acquisitions, after receiving the asset finance facility from Reward Funding.

The injection of working capital has helped the firm navigate the opening of its new flagship headquarters in Camden earlier this year and further expand its 450-strong fleet of electric taxis.

With Reward providing asset-secured funding to help businesses thrive, Sherbet is also utilising the finance to transform part of its new headquarters into a café and community hub that will launch in January.

In addition to being open 24/7 for the licensed taxi community to improve the support infrastructure for drivers, the café will also welcome anyone locally who may be feeling vulnerable or simply needing access to a safe place.

Sherbet is owned by experienced business leader Asher Moses, who has dedicated over 20 years to driving innovation across London’s iconic black taxis. He first became a licensed hackney carriage driver in 1989 and went on to acquire small fleets of vehicles to begin the journey towards establishing Sherbet as a market leader.

Asher also spearheaded the first credit and debit card payments for the London taxi trade in the early 1990s and played a key role in the commercialisation of taxi vehicle advertising.

He is now fully committed to driving the green agenda and supporting Transport for London’s strategy to tackle pollution across the capital.

Asher Moses commented: “Our growth plans have really accelerated in the last 12 months due to growing corporate demand for greener transport solutions, the expansion of our electric vehicle fleet and the opening of our new headquarters.

"We’ve also decommissioned 250 diesel powered vehicles to completely decarbonise our entire fleet and invested greatly in supporting Transport for London and its target to eliminate emissions across the capital.

“As more companies turn to us to help reduce their carbon footprint and meet their ESG targets, we needed an agile finance solution from Reward to ensure we continue to seize this market opportunity and don’t stand still as a business.

"We’re now looking forward to opening the new community hub in the new year and aiming to treble in size through a range of strategic mergers and acquisitions that stay true to our overall values and vision.”

The deal between Sherbet Electric Taxi Company and Reward Funding was brokered by Chris Brown, MD of Ethos Asset Finance.

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Argyll and Bute Council is considering increasing taxi fares despite a low response rate from operators during a recent consultation.

Only eight out of 101 taxi operators across the region responded to the council's consultation on potential fare increases, which ran from October 24 to December 2.

Seven of the eight respondents requested an increase to the highest possible tariff, while one preferred to maintain current fares.

The council's planning, protective services and licensing committee will now review the current fare scales and consider proposals for new rates.

The committee will also determine a date for the proposed changes to come into effect, with 22 April being recommended.

Current fares in Argyll and Bute: tariff one (7am-10pm) is £3.45 for the first 860 yards, with an additional 23p, for every 176 yards. Tariff two (10pm-7am) is £4.14 with an additional 23p per 150 yards, and tariff three (public holidays) is £483 with an additional 23p per 120 yards.

The committee will further discuss the matter at its meeting on Wednesday, 18 December, before a final decision is made on 19 March.

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An unlicensed private hire driver operating in the Great Massingham area has been ordered to pay over £2,000 following an undercover investigation by West Norfolk Council after receiving a tip-off.

Kevin Turner was caught transporting undercover council officers on two separate occasions after they booked journeys with him.

Trips included travel from West Acre to Great Massingham and from Great Massingham to King's Lynn.

During a subsequent interview, Turner admitted to operating as a private hire driver without a licence, operating an unlicensed vehicle, and failing to properly insure his vehicle.

On 9 October, King's Lynn Magistrates' Court found Turner guilty in his absence of all charges.

He was fined £1,100 and ordered to pay an additional £990 in costs and surcharges. Turner also received eight penalty points on his driving licence.

Jim Moriarty, the borough council's cabinet member for licensing, stated: "This case highlights the importance of proper licensing for all taxi drivers to ensure the safety of the public.

"We will continue to investigate reports of unlicensed taxi operations and take appropriate action against offenders."

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Crawley Borough Council is exploring legal options over Uber drivers operating from Gatwick Airport without the proper local licences.

Taxi drivers licensed by the council, who operate within the borough including the airport, gathered outside the town hall on Wednesday evening, 11 December, to voice their frustrations and demand that more be done to enforce the borough’s licensing laws.

They claim that Uber cars registered in London are taking a significant portion of airport business, impacting their livelihoods.

Don Barnes, a local driver for Airport Cars and Unite branch secretary, stated that the issue has been ongoing since 2020, with a formal complaint filed with the council's licensing team in March of this year.

Cabinet member for public protection, Yasmin Khan, confirmed that an investigation was launched in June and is currently underway. The council is now seeking legal advice to determine the appropriate course of action.

While officials claim to have provided updates to Unite, Mr. Barnes refuted this claim.

The drivers conducted themselves well during the meeting – even though their mood may not have been helped by one councillor showing up to the town hall in an Uber.

One driver compared the situation at the airport as like "the wild west" and questioned the levels of health and safety being observed.

To applause from his colleagues, the driver said: “We’re all being let down – massively let down.”

Cllr Khan acknowledged the drivers' concerns and promised to follow up with the investigating officers.

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On 16 December 2024, the Government issued the English Devolution White Paper, announcing reforms which will have a significant impact on every council and community and setting out an Enhanced Devolution Framework.

This is what it says about our industry.

Taxi and Private Hire Vehicles:

• Taxis and private hire vehicles are an important part of our transport networks and some of the most vulnerable groups in our society rely on them.

• We recognise there are concerns about out-of-area working by private hire vehicles and are exploring how best to address these concerns.

• As part of this, we will consult on whether to make all Local Transport Authorities (including Strategic Authorities) responsible for taxi and private hire vehicle licensing.

• Administering taxi and private hire vehicle licensing across this larger footprint would increase the consistency of standards and enable more effective use of enforcement powers across a whole functional economic area.

• Greater economies of scale should also enable authorities to improve the efficiency of licensing, reducing the incentives for people to license out of their usual working area.

• This would be a significant change for the sector, and we will work with stakeholders to understand possible impacts before taking a final decision.

• In London, taxi and private hire vehicle licensing is already the responsibility of the Mayor and Transport for London.

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