Hailo launches taxi app in Leeds

Hailo, which operates in 17 cities worldwide, today launched its first service in Yorkshire.

Leeds is the fourth UK city to be rolled out by the company, which was founded in London in 2011.

Today (October 23) saw its service also launch in Liverpool, in addition to its existing London and Manchester businesses.

It comes days after The Yorkshire Post revealed controversial car hire firm Uber had applied for a private hire operator licence from Leeds City Council.

Uber has previously faced backlash from taxi firms and regulators, with London cab drivers staging a protest earlier this year.

Hailo’s service allows licensed Hackney carriage drivers to join and accept bookings and payments via smartphones.

The app’s Pay with Hailo feature enables passengers to pay via their smartphone regardless of how they booked their journey.

Hailo is targeting business customers by making it easier to switch between personal and company cards on the account.

Hailo confirmed its Leeds service at the launch of its FutureCities report, which found one in seven people in the UK say they book all their transport via their phone.

Tom Barr, chief executive of Hailo, said: “We have created a great service and delivered millions of people to their destination.”

Earlier this year, Hailo applied for a private hire licence from Transport for London, which was criticised by taxi drivers.