When anything new is created, there has to be a reason and the founding of the Streamline Association Brighton was no exception.

About 1908 motorised taxicabs appeared on the streets of Brighton. It is thought that the Provincial Taxi Cab Co. were about the first, operating  from a large garage where the Sergeant York Casino now stands. The cars used were mostly Siddley's and Wolseley's, both English made vehicles.
 
Another company soon followed formed by Peter Carmichael, named the Prudential Garage, operating from King Street. The pattern was set and others  soon set up in the taxi business.

This kind of taxi world continued until the outbreak of the First World War. During the war years 1914-1918 many of these taxis were commandeered by  the army for war work, by having their bodies removed from the chassis and truck bodies fitted.

The ensuing years did not help the taxi trade and the Prudential Cab Co. ceased trading. After the cessation of hostilities many men returned with  money in their pockets but no jobs to go to.

Some of these men put their savings into the buying of second-hand cars and became taxi drivers. Brighton Corporation in their wisdom and to help the  employment situation agreed to licence evryone and everything. This continued until the years 1919 to the late 21's, by this time gratuities were  running low and a slump hit the town. 

The Founding of the Streamline Association

About the end of 1935, a private hire firm with about 24 pale blue brand new Austin 12/4s hit the town. They called themselves 'Britax'. This was the  last straw for the Brighton cabbie and for the Hove taxis who soon became affected.On the one hand there were 100 individual cabmen who were disorganised in the business sense, not caring too much about the service they offered and not caring about the occasional overcharge, providing they weren't caught.

Then all of a sudden they were faced with this fleet of brand new cars with smartly dressed drivers, getting out of their seats to open doors for  passengers and smiling at the same time, giving nearly a 24 hour service plus taking most of the most lucrative side of the business - the wedding  orders. Added to this, Britax tariff was only 8 pence per mile for 4 passengers, no extras and the charge did not commence until the car reached the  door.

Although their base was Cavendish Street, it did not take long before they operated within the Hove area. Amongst the affected drivers was a Mr Gordon Moody, who when on a job to Eastbourne, saw a small firm of taxis called Streamline. On returning to Brighton he spoke to other drivers about how they could increase their client base. They had to lower their hire charges and to do this they had to get rid of the nondescript cars they had been running for years.

Instead they would be replaced by a standard type of car, up-to-date and economic.
With the help of other drivers a meeting was arranged for 20th August 1936. Arising from this meeting, the Streamline Association was formed. After  negotiation with Adlington Garage in Hove, thirty three 14 H.P Morris cars were supplied by a garage in Bexhill. These cars were on lease for  £2.10.0d per week for a period of 2 years.Together with office premises at 92 North Street, Streamline was formed.

The first ranks that had a direct line to the Streamline office, were Oriental Place, Regency Square and East Street. Streamline Brighton and  Streamline Hove were due to start operating on the same day but due to a licensing misunderstanding, the arrival of Streamline Brighton was delayed  nearly three weeks until 4th November 1936.

Operations Commence

On the 7th October 1937 the first application was made to the Southern Railway Company for granting Streamline the monopoly to hire in Brighton  Station. Streamline grew numerically and the business leaped ahead but they had many problems. One of the biggest problems that faced the Committee  in the early months of 1938 was office accommodation. On 25th March Streamline moved into 20 Middle Street. There was room for telephone operators  and a separate room for the manager. The cost, a frightening £60 per annum plus a further £10 for the use of a petrol pump.

In April, The Streamline Supply Company was formed by members of the Streamline Association for the sole purpose of providing and obtaining better  trading terms for the repair and running costs of members' taxicabs.

The War Years

On 3rd September 1939, war was declared on Germany. The first setback for Streamline was the introduction of petrol rationing with the allowance a  meagre ration of 20 gallons per car per month. Even after negotiations, only a further 50 gallons per car was awarded. Over the following few months  over 40 journeymen drivers had either joined or been called up for service.

The wartime conditions brought with it many complaints from local authorities and the public over the lack of taxis operating. With petrol rationing,  residents preferred to use a taxi rather than use their own ration. To overcome these problems an early morning and late night detail was formed. The  morning details started at 6.15am and the night detail signed off at 3am but with such a shortage of petrol and manpower it created a shortage of  taxis during the day. By the middle of 1941 an operator worked a good 50 hours, never receiving more than 5 shillings a week - Today's value, 25p.

At the Second Annual General Meeting on 2nd September 1938, it was reported that there were now 73 taxis in the Association making it one of the  biggest fleets on the South Coast with incoming telephone calls in excess of 124,000 for the first year of operation. By the end of the year  negotiations between Streamline and Moores of Brighton were completed for the delivery of a number of Standard Flying 14's. The cost of the car  complete with cream bonnet and number plates were approximately £268.

On 31st August 1948 a coach party consisting of Owners, Drivers and the Hackney Carriage Inspector visited the Standard Motor Works in Coventry to  inspect the new Vanguard that nearly everyone in Brighton was waiting for. The cost of the coach trip was 25 shillings per head. By May 1949, the first 10 Vanguards were ready for collection, complete with a cream bonnet.

1960's: By the end of 1963 there were 90 taxis in the Streamline Association Brighton. In January 1964 an Extra Ordinary Meeting was called to discuss  bringing back Radio Telecommunication into the Streamline Association. After a long and lengthy meeting the results were disclosed: 36 for radio and  35 against. The motion needed a two-thirds majority to alter the ruling, so once again radio telecommunications were lost to Streamline.

At the end of September 1945 one could say a chapter in the life of Brighton Streamline Association closed when they moved from 20 Middle Street to  open up at 5 Clifton Hill. The property was purchased by Streamline Supply Co. whose shareholders were all members of the association.

On 31st August 1948 a coach party consisting of Owners, Drivers and the Hackney Carriage Inspector visited the Standard Motor Works in Coventry to  inspect the new Vanguard that nearly everyone in Brighton was waiting for. The cost of the coach trip was 25 shillings per head.
By May 1949, the first 10 Vanguards were ready for collection, complete with a cream bonnet.

One of the first car washing machines to open in the area was at the King Alfred, Hove. A special rate of 7 shillings & 6 pence per taxi was  negotiated with the proprietors of this completely new innovation.
Normally the price for large cars was 12 shillings & 6 pence to 8 shillings & 6 pence for small cars.

Following on from the meeting discussing the return of radio telecommunications, a lot of discontent had spread through the Association. After  previously being the first taxis on the South Coast to have such methods of communication, other circuits had fitted the units to their cabs. In  August 1964, the Committee saw fit to send out a postal ballot to all members on the subject. The ballot being 57 votes for and 18 against. After  nearly 15 years, telecommunication was back in Streamline.

At the 30th AGM - for the first time in the life of Streamline with the exception of the days of petrol rationing journeymen were allowed to work in  the Association on a part-time basis.Negotiations were made with the GPO in January 1967 to install a new switchboard, more suitable for the needs of the 1967 than the late 1930's. It  was finally installed in August of the same year.

Employment of mixed staff in the telephone room, preferably disabled men. The plague of every Committee or Board has always been the implementation of rules regarding dress and towards the end of 1971 the Board drew to the  attention of all owners and journeymen that a collar & tie must be worn at all times, black or brown footwear, if hats were worn it had to be of the  chauffeur-type. Roll collar or high-neck pullovers were not to be worn.

On 1st February 1972 the Board called for an Extra Ordinary General Meeting to discuss, amongst other items, the employment of part-time drivers. By 54 votes for to 17 against the proposal to allow part-time drivers into the Company was carried.

The knowledge test that was currently in operation only covered Brighton and as a large proportion of work extended into Hove, Portslade and  Peacehaven it became necessary for the Board to insist that all Streamline taxis carried on the car an up-to-date map. This saved the operator's time  conveying such information.

The second AGM on 23 November 1972 had only a couple of items worth recording.

That coloured cars with cream bonnets be introduced in the near future met with the approval of a majority of the members present That independent plate owners be allowed (for a fee) to ply for hire in Brighton Station.  At a later date the Board fixed the fee at £2 per calendar month, to be paid in advance.

Another first in Streamline history was that in the week ending 18th December 1972 the number of telephone calls executed was 10,163

The 1st May 1973 saw the "shirt sleeve" come into operation, only this time with a slight difference, any colour shirt could be worn.
 
As 1973 drew to a close, power cuts were an every day occurrence and generators had to be used in order that the radio-transmitter was kept in  operation. As one reaches advancing years and is allowed the privilege of looking back, the saying that there is nothing new in the cab game seems to become truer and truer, for in May 1974 a story circulated throughout the trade - that there was to be a minibus service started in Brighton & Hove, to run on a circular route from Whitehawk to the centre of Brighton and from Clarendon Villas, Hove into Brighton.

The Streamline and Brighton Corporation Transport both lodged objections. After a long delay the minibus service never started as proposed, but a coach service for the purpose of taking staff to and from work in the outlying factories did and progressed until one of the people sponsoring the scheme obtained a private hire plate and then his own Hackney Carriage plate.

With two-way radio becoming the order of the day, telephone extensions to taxi ranks were fast becoming superfluous. In March 1976 the GPO were  instructed to discontinue the telephone on the Norfolk Road rank.
In May 1976, the matter of allowing the FX4 (London type taxicab) to operate in Streamline came to a head. A petition was presented to the Board,  signed by the required number of members to call for an Extra Ordinary General Meeting. It was held on 4th May and by a paper ballot the motion was  lost by 39 votes for not changing the rule with only 11 votes to change.

It was about this time that the Streamline Supply Company Ltd became the local agent for the FX4 via a supplier in London. To become the agent the  Streamline Supply Company had to purchase some £1000 worth of spare parts. It could have been the start of big business and many things could have  been different if the vote had gone the other way but as it was the agency covered Worthing to Seaford and as far north as Haywards Heath so the  outlay took longer to get back than it should have done.

At the 8th AGM a proposal to allow any colour car within the Streamline, with the exception of white, was agreed overwhelmingly. A further proposal  to allow London-type cabs was again defeated.

1989 to the present day

Computer location was introduced into Brighton Streamline to allow the cars to plot their position in the town, and enable the Radio Operators to  dispatch work quicker.  At the same time Hove Streamline were undertaking the same operations.

In 1994 a Computer booking system was introduced to speed up the taking of telephone calls from customers, and in 1995 data dispatch to all mobiles  was introduced on two frequency radios. This made the cars quiet, with the only voice being driver queries. Autobook was also introduced at the same  time to allow frequent customers to book direct to the computer. These jobs are often dispatched without the operator even seeing them. Plans were now  in hand to instal Global Positioning System into all 170 taxis and Private Hire Vehicles during the next year
 
How does one bring to a close over 60 years of a life that has seen so many changes in the administration of an occupation that has given happiness  and a decent livelihood to so many people.
Remember what Streamline did for Brighton - it gave Brighton the first modern organised taxi service - the first taxi service to have a complete  telephone service - the first to be equipped with radio telecommunication, infact Streamline had radio in their taxis long before the local Police  used it as an every day occurrence.

No one can deny that Streamline has been an asset to Brighton - we were known all over England as the town with the clean black & cream bonnet cars  with equally smart uniformed drivers.

 A new venture now begins with the merger of Brighton Streamline & Hove Streamline that creates the biggest taxi Association in the south-east. Read  about the merger here

In August 1941, with the motor industry were turning their output of private cars to wartime vehicles. This caused problems for the Committee to  enforce the ruling that members must change their cars every two years, added to this the fact that every taxi had to be the same make. From this  date it was agreed that the following vehicles were accepted: Standard's, Morris's, Wolseley's, Singer's, Austin's, all being of 12-16 H.P.

From the beginning of April 1975 all journeymen drivers became self-employed personnel and by law had to pay a National Insurance stamp, the cost of  which was £2.41.

It might be hard to believe now but in April 1975, the taxi trade came very near to dispensing with petrol as the main means of fuel and changing  over to liquid petroleum gas, sold by the Calor Gas Company. The facts as given to the Board at the time were as follows: