ABSTRACT
Taxi ranks and take-aways are rather less imposing, less impressive and less significant sites than the mills once were on the post-industrial landscape of the former mill towns of the North West. This chapter presents a general history of entry into the taxi driving market by Mirpuris and Pakistanis in Oldham which illustrates the endemic racism within the industry and the way in which this was circumvented by the Mirpuri and Pakistani drivers. Taxi driving is broadly divided into two business areas, Black or Hackney Cabs and private hire. Taxi ranks are normally set up as limited companies with assets ranging from between fifty to one hundred thousand pounds. A comparison between the life of a taxi driver and that of a mill worker must inevitably begin with a consideration of financial changes. The growing pressure of competition leads to an individualisation among equals i.e. precisely in areas of interaction and conduct which are characterized by a shared background.
