Wearing his other hat as a Board member of the GoSkills council, Dial-a-Cab Chairman Brian Rice recently accepted an invitation to take an early look at Heathrow's new Terminal 5 along with Peter Huntington, the GoSkills Chief Executive. Brian told Call Sign: "GoSkills thought I'd be a good representative to view the new terminal 5 because of my obvious links with licensed taxi drivers, a trade that work there regularly."

No one else from the taxi trade was invited - although Steve Wright, Chairman of the Private Hire Car Association and a GoSkills Stakeholder also accepted the invitation. Brian went on to say that the official opening is scheduled for March 2008, with current estimates claiming the new terminal will be able to handle around 30million passengers a year and size-wise, could hold 50 theoretical full-sized football pitches! It has a length of 400 metres, width of 200 metres and a plunged depth of 20 metres into the ground. The completed building will take up four floors!

Brian added: "It looks as though the whole of British Airways - currently using terminals 1 and 4 - will be moving operations to T5. There will be a rank for 12 taxis with a buffer rank for a further 18 taxis, which will be fed from the feeder park via CCTV. When terminal Five is completed, next on the agenda will be another development known as Heathrow East, which will take the place of the current terminal Two and Queens Building." The trip lasted around 4.5 hours and Brian described it as very interesting.

The DaC Chairman was invited to join the Board of GoSkills in 2006. The organisation is the recognised authority for businesses working in the UK passenger transport sector. Its aim is to develop the skills and status of passenger transport including taxis, buses, trains, aviation and others. GoSkills, in consultation with other operators, acts as a conduit advising on how the skills issues affecting industries can best be tackled by the sector. An employer-led government-backed organisation, GoSkills assists employers and operators in improving their business performance through people and skills. Its team of business advisers work across the UK and provides advice on recruitment and retention, employee development plans, developing individual skills, identifying specific training solutions and access to funding for them.

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