Who are we:  Way back in 1936, when Brighton & Hove were two separate towns, two groups of hackney-carriage owner drivers decided to set up their own respective  non-profit making Associations and purely run for the benefit of each member. These were to be known as Hove Streamline Taxis 6226 and Brighton Streamline Taxi 7282. In fact on this basis the name of Streamline for the use of a taxi service was adopted by many such like Associations all over the UK and were modeled on the principles adopted by the two Brighton & Hove taxi Associations

The red Vauxhal Carlton pictured to the right is a typical example of a Hove Streamline Livered taxi from 1983. And the taxi on the left is the in the Brighton & Hove Hackney Carriage livery.

Although being in separate towns the distinction of a Streamline taxi was the white coloured bonnet on a dark coloured vehicle.  This was to become the company identification for many years until the introduction of a standard livery for Brighton & Hove hackney-carriages in (1998).

The formation of the two separate groups were modest at the time with less than ten members each but gradually over the years the fleet sizes grew. Read about the concise history of Brighton Streamline Taxis here

Both fleets grew over the years in the respective boroughs, modernising as they grew but keeping the principle of being as a membership cooperative. A committee of annually elected members ran the company (mostly unpaid).

Over the years a few attempts were made to bring the two Associations together but possibly failed because the Associations were licensed by different authorities as Brighton & Hove were completely separate towns with different fare structures. By around 1995 Brighton had adopted the livery of white with aquamarine boot and bonnet (as shown left). This meant that Brighton Streamline lost their distinctive white bonnet trade mark. A similar thing also happened in Hove with the council adopting the livery of a plain white car and maroon door signs with the Hove crest.

However, in 1997 Brighton & Hove became a city and unitary authority . This meant that the Hackney Carriages & Private-Hire vehicles were then licensed under one department. The Hove Hackney Carriage fleet then changed to the Brighton aquamarine livery.

A twelve month period of transition then took place and the existing Brighton fleet had a "B" in the rear window and the old Hove fleet displaying an "H". The transition rules were that both "B" and "H" taxis could ply for hire in the Brighton & Hove City streets.

However, "B" taxis were not allowed to sit on a Hove rank. But, if the rank was clear of any "H" taxis a "B" taxi could pick-up anyone who was waiting at the rank and vice-versa for the "H" taxis.

After the transition period the "B" and "H" stickers were removed and "rank rule" was removed. Finally, the Brighton & Hove Hackney Carriage fleet was equal.

With both Associations now under one authority there was now no reason not to unite the two. However, it took quit a few years for the first round of talks to start. In fact three years passed before talks initially started (2000), but at the time nothing came of this. It took a different group of Committee members (perhaps an evolution?) to start serious negotiations in 2006.

With the determination of both boards to unite the two Associations, both memberships finally gave the support for their boards to get down to business. Many meetings then took place discussing the differences between the two involving  accountants and solicitors from both parties. In fact a further eighteen months or so followed.

Finally, on October 31, Brighton Streamline Taxis 747474 and Hove Streamline Taxis 202020 will merge to become  Brighton & Hove Streamline Taxis Ltd 747474-202020, starting with a fleet of over 360 vehicles and over 700 drivers....and it only took seventy-two years!