Mytaxi is putting €600,000 into strengthening its Cork foothold
The plan includes incentives to bring in and retain drivers in the city and county.
MYTAXI IS PUMPING €600,000 into expanding its business in Cork as it tries to bolster its position around the country and attract more drivers.
The investment includes a driver office in Cork city where drivers can liaise with Mytaxi staff – three staff will man the office – and take breaks from driving. It operates a similar office in Dublin.
Irish general manager Alan Fox said the driver office will be a “physical touch-point between us and our driver fleet in the county”.
The taxi app firm added that it will be running a major advertising push at Cork’s Kent Station – a busy location for taxi pick ups and drop offs – to try to reach new potential drivers.
There are currently 700 taxi drivers in Cork using Mytaxi. As part of the new investment, Mytaxi will be spending €100,000 on incentives to attract and retain drivers on the app.
The winter and Christmas period is particularly busy, the company said, and it needs more drivers to meet this demand.
The incentive bonus will include sign-on and referral bonuses and access to free learning tools for the small public service vehicles test that taxi drivers must complete.
“(This) is just one part of our push to boost our driver numbers and meet the Cork public and business community’s growing demand for innovative mobility services across the county,” Fox said.
Losses
The Daimler-owned company said it has carried more than 3.9 million customers in Ireland in the second quarter of this year.
It has seen an increase in sales in the country but its latest accounts for 2016 showed that it had made losses of nearly €4 million in that period. These losses occurred around the time the company was carrying out its merger with Hailo.
Mytaxi told Fora at the time that the losses stemmed from an “inter-company loan”.
