Monday 19th August
We hope you are enjoying our new look website - designed for any screen size. We have added in some more features we hope you enjoy, including a little about our history and the make-up of the company.
We currently have a new smartphone app for customers - the smartHail app - for more details, check out the Book page.
Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd has operated in Invercargill for over 70 years. In that time, there have been many shareholders come and go. Some shareholders have left and returned up to three times. We are currently compiling information on the history of Blue Star Taxis in Invercargill and hope to publish a small book in the future. This is just an overview of that history.
The name Blue Star has been around since the 1930s and this was just one of many Taxi Companies that operated around Invercargill and the surrounding areas. Some of the other taxis were (this is just a few):
The last three members from City Taxis came to Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd in 1964 and used the cab numbers from 49 to 51. When Red Band joined Blue Star Taxis, Blue Star Taxis already had 31 shareholders. With these other companies joining this gave Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd 50 shareholders, which has stayed around this number up until the present time. Some of the last of the Taxi Companies to join Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd were:
744 was Blue Star Taxis' first phone number when the company registered in 1940, until the automatic exchange issued the number 6079 (This later became 86079 then 218 6079, which is still in use today alongside the 217 7777 number, which was added more recently as it is easier to remember). The 744 was previously a rank number, i.e. phone box on the rank, and appeared in some phone books at Dee Street as well as at other times Esk Street, the Railway Station and the Post Office Square.
Blue Star Taxis also had a phone and stand on the site now occupied by the Kelvin Hotel for a number of years. The first motor taxi was operated by Robert Murie in 1902.
Blue Star Taxis (not Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd) was formed in the early 1930's by a Jack Pagan who had five Cabs and a Mr. Bert Boberg with two Cabs. By 1940 Mr. Pagan had sold one licence each to Messrs. Ernie Beckham, Vic Challis and Gordon Mason. It was then decided to try and recruit new members and form a Company.
The original five owner drivers were successful in recruiting three members from Central Taxis and two members from Lorneville Taxis. This then made ten owner drivers with thirteen licences (licences referred to are per taxi) as Mr Pagan held two licences and the two owners of Lorneville Taxis held three licences. The ten owner/drivers then formed a registered company and a solicitor named Mr Ken Roy was engaged to draw up the Articles of Association.
Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd was then formed in August 1940 and became the first registered Taxi Company in Invercargill. The Shareholders when the Company was formed were:
The share capital of the company was £97.10s (97 pound(s) 10 shillings) and each share was worth £7.10s. Today each Shareholder owns a parcel of 40 Shares and a Contract (in place of the former licensing system) per taxi.
During World War 2, other single taxi cab owners commenced business in Invercargill and when the war ended in 1945 returning ex-servicemen formed Kiwi Taxis, Red Band and City Taxis, Red Band and City Taxis were owned by Stan Vickery. Red Diamond joined Singer Taxis and when they were sold to Stan Vickery, this gave Red Band Taxis 18 cars. Stan Vickery then sold most of his fleet to owner drivers.
In the early 50s North Invercargill Taxis, Waikiwi Taxis and Kew Taxis joined Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd. In 1952 nine Kiwi Taxis and three City Taxis owners amalgamated with Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd and in 1958 half of Red Band Taxis and City Taxis members also joined with the Company.
Some of the Red Band Taxis members and the others formed Central Taxis which eventually joined Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd, along with Singer Taxis and City Taxis in 1959 giving Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd a total of 50 owner/drivers. Checker Taxis and Whippet Taxis originally formed City Taxis and the last 3 City Taxis cars joined Blue Star around 1964, cab Numbers 49, 50 and 51.
Up until the late 1990s we had 50 shareholders who were only allowed to hold one contract (licence) each. Things have since changed and we have some shareholders who own several taxis (owing a parcel of shares and contract for each), but still have 50 taxis in the fleet, made up of 5 wheelchairs vans, 3 vans that seat up to10 passengers, and 42 cars.
Blue Star Taxis (Invercargill) Ltd first operated from a small shop in the old Railway Hotel for which the Company paid 7s.6d per week rent. In 1943 the office moved to the lower part of Esk Street half way between Dee St. and Leven Street to a building owned by Albert Cundall a butcher and paid £2 a week in rent.
In 1960 when requiring larger premises the company had two properties to choose from - one on the corner of Tweed and Liddell Streets and the other was the Kandy Corner Milk Bar on the corner of Tay and Jed Streets where we operate from today. Our operations took place from the rear of the Kandy Corner Milk Bar in a garage until the company members of the day decided to build a new depot in 1970 which we still occupy.
In late 2010 the shareholders decided that the Company premises were in need of an upgrade and the refurbished and extended building was officially reopened in February 2012 (actually in use late 2011). During the upgrade, the business was run from the board room, upstairs in the Kandy Corner Milk Bar premises, now operating as the Munchin Junction.
In the early days there was no such thing as a radio telephone. The public made contact by hailing a cab. Later a telephone was installed on a pole at the corner of Tay and Dee Streets which was known as the Bank Corner. If a customer telephoned and there were no cabs on the stand, bad luck - no taxi. If there were cabs on the stand there was a mad rush to answer it.
Around 1950, R/T's were installed in our cabs, with Blue Star Taxis and Red Band operating on the same channel and in 1997 we changed to an FM System. In the early days all jobs where written on paper and when dispatched the operator crossed the job of and wrote down beside the job the Cab number that carried out the work. For pre-booked work this was all written into a diary.
Since early 2000 all job details have been stored in a computer. Caller ID is recognised by the computer programme and is used to bring up the addresses associated with that number. Since 2017 the jobs are given out by the computer so when using the SmartHail App this puts the job directly into the computer which then sends your booking to the next available taxi.
Our address is: 158 Tay Street, Invercargill, Southland.
For general enquires, you can email bluestartaxis@xtra.co.nz 9am-2pm weekdays