There are various, significant differences between hackney cabs and private hire cabs. Notably, private hire cabs aren’t allowed to pick people up without prior booking whereas hackney cabs can essentially drive around looking for passengers. Hackney drivers are essentially self employed and there are rigorous tests involved if you want to become a black cab driver. Many minicab drivers are also self employed. Depending on your local authority you’ll need a taxi license, even when setting up a minicab firm. There are also lots of other rules and regulations pertaining to being a taxi driver which varies from local authority to local authority.
There are several advantages to becoming a self employed private hire taxi driver. As a self employed individual there is a high level of self control and you’re able to set your own hours of work. When working with a minicab firm there are more constraints on your activity, however still a relatively high level of control as compared to other jobs.
Taxi services are always in demand and so even when the job market is in a slump you’ll still have work. In fact, being a taxi driver is so resistant to the whims of the economy that more and more people are turning to the profession. Many train to become a hackney driver in the first instance obtaining their hackney license, which will equip them with lots of knowledge and experience if they wish to, for example, set up a minicab firm in the future.
