Local Cars will not put its private-hire booking prices up over Christmas or into the new year. Kaz Shehzad, a director of Local Cars Ltd, told the Telegraph and Argus the decision was made with the drivers. He said customers had already been asking whether fares would rise because of fuel and other costs, and that the drivers did not want that extra put on them.
He said the drivers may have to work a bit more to carry the cost. He also said that even £1 on a fare can come to £100 a month for some customers. That is his illustration. The firm has not published a fare table, or a date when the hold ends.
Shehzad said the firm did raise prices when fuel went up after Covid, and that loyal customers had stayed with it. The paper calls him the owner. At Companies House he is Khurram Shehzad, a director of Local Cars Ltd since 1 April 2022. Maqsood Zaman is also a director. The company, number 11899416, was incorporated on 22 March 2019. Its registered office is 161b Brownroyd Hill Road, Bradford, BD6 1RU.
The size of the firm
He told the paper the firm bought 13 companies last August, and that a further deal last month brought in about 100 drivers in the Shipley and Bingley area. He said that took Local Cars to a thousand drivers in Bradford.
On 30 September the firm announced that deal as the takeover of Bingley Taxis. That announcement says the 100 drivers take Local Cars past 1,000 vehicles, and the same post also says more than 1,000 drivers. The booking site still describes a fleet of over 400 vehicles.
What stays as it is
These are the firm’s own booking prices. Bradford Council sets the maximum hackney carriage fare, and a private-hire price is agreed when the car is booked. The council’s published fare card already has a higher hackney tariff over Christmas and New Year. This decision does not change that card.