Independent, June 30, 1994
BOB DOUGHTY speaks on behalf and from the point of view of a bike courier.
He is a former courier, now runs City Bikes, a courier company near BlackfriarsBridge, and is honorary secretary of the Despatch Association, a sort oftrade association (though it was set up originally to negotiate for radiofrequencies with theDepartment of Trade and Industry) and the closest theindustry has to an official body.
From this position Mr Doughty is amply qualified to discuss changesin the persona of the average professional biker: 'I'm afraid so; theyhave,' he replies, forlorn, when asked if couriers have metamorphosed intorespectable individuals.
'They all have mortgages and children, and I suppose that's the definitionof respectability.'
The whole image is changing. Couriers are expected to remember thatthey are seen as representing a company, not riding in the TT, and operatingin a business milieu.
Mr Doughty's early experience differed. 'When I started, in 1978-9, itwas something people thought they'd do for a few days or months and 'getsome road together, man'. Now it's much more regarded as a long-term thing.'
The desire not to be mashed on the road, which tends to come with age,may have made the stereotypical image of the courier - mad, bad and dangerous,with an inability to stay under speed limits and a fondness for the wrongside of the road - outdated.After all, more than one captain of industryhas drunk copiously of exhaust fumes and lived to tell the tale. RichardGabriel, who founded the pounds 53m franchise delivery service, Interlink,which was sold for pounds 50.1m in 1991, was once amotorbike courier (anda milkman).
But as the rough-boy pioneers have grown older and more mature, so hasthe industry. Companies concerned about their image have begun to makenoises if they did not like the attitude of the individual often seen astheir representative and sometimes theonly point of personal contact withtheir customers.
'Behaviour has changed, because it's a service industry,' says Mr Doughty.'Appearance has improved up to a point, although they're basically outdoorworkers in all weathers and it's very difficult to impose too much becausethey are self-employed.'
Expecting a courier not to look as though he has been personally greasedand oiled and to deal with clients and customers in a statesmanlike mannerhas to be balanced against this insistence that they retain self-employedstatus. If they are notguaranteed a wage and other perks of being employed- sick pay, holidays, pensions - why should they behave like company ambassadors?Surely the companies who use them (and pay them in proportion to work done)more than share the responsibility if theythen ride like lunatics? Couriercompanies challenge any such suggestion.
Jeremy Stuttaford, of Greater London Hire (another former courier), saysresponsible companies stress that taking risks is counter- productive.'I can speak from personal experience. I could earn perfectly good moneyby going in a sensible fashion, notwhistling down the outside of trafficat some ridiculous speed. If you do that you miss your turning, get inthe wrong lane, literally come to grief - you don' t get there.'
The biker's heyday was about five years ago, when they could earn pounds500 a week, Mr Stuttaford says. But the recession whittled down the numbersand now companies which take on couriers can be more choosy. GLH insiststhat the 30 to 40 couriers ituses daily wear company bibs, and will notentertain learners. Its managing director, John Scott, is chairman of theDespatch Association and is in favour of a system of licensing or registration.Mr Stuttaford, who spent 18 months as a courier as a wayout of a more conventionaljob, says his abiding memory is of the cold. 'It's a lovely job in summer;quite fun to do. Come the winter, though, it's a bit more miserable.'
Rising insurance premiums may have also altered the profile of the motorbikecourier. Mr Doughty says that per mile, they probably have fewer accidentsthan most motorcyclists, and their well- used machines are less of a theftrisk: 'The insurancecompanies' policy was not to issue insurance to anyonebelow a certain age because they were having so much theft loss. It wasessentially a bit of a knee-jerk reaction. Insurance companies will clobberanyone they can get away with clobbering.'
Mark Smith, managing director of Securicor Pony Express, a same-day deliveryoperation, says his company expects bike couriers to do their bit towards'total quality management' and image- building. 'Five years ago the industrywas plagued by motorcyclecouriers who wanted to make a fast buck beforemoving on. Customer care was almost unheard of, and the thought of beinga company ambassador was considered a joke. Standards were low on all fronts.Couriers couldn't care less about their appearance,many prided themselveson being rebellious. Status amongst other couriers was earned by havingthe longest hair, dirtiest leathers and riding like there was no tomorrow.'
Uniforms, logoed bikes and standards of appearance have pulled in contractsfrom banks and finance companies, Mr Smith says. 'Years on, many of thelarger companies have pulled themselves together and recognised the damagea bad bike can give his company's image.'
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