Mark Bursa

Uber’s biggest rival Lyft has made a third UK acquisition in the past 10 months with the £40.7 million takeover of taxi app Gett. The move means the majority of London’s black cabs are now signed up to a Lyft-owned app – either Gett or Freenow, which Lyft bought last July. Gett adds a different client base to Freenow, as it has a stronger corporate and public sector organisation user base. The takeover will nearly double the number of rides on the Lyft platform in London.

Autocab has moved quickly to replace departing CEO Safa Alkateb, who is leaving the dispatch systems provider in June after 14 years to explore a new, unspecified challenge. Experienced former Uber executive Frans Hiemstra (pictured) will take over as CEO. Hiemstra brings a decade of experience of working across international markets in taxi, fleet and private hire businesses with Uber.

Veezu has acquired Luton-based Go Cars, the largest private hire operator in Bedfordshire. The move adds 600 cars to the Veezu fleet and gives Veezu access to Luton and surrounding commuter towns including Dunstable. The Go Cars deal also includes subsidiary Spearhead Cars, based at Leagrave to the north of Luton. The move is as part of Veezu’s plan to build national private hire capacity outside London.