TWO of the city’s biggest cab firms have joined forces to compete against the threat of the ‘Taxi App’.

Royal Cars and 001 Taxis, who have been competing for more than 20 years, both feared job cuts would be inevitable if a series of national taxi apps expanded into Oxford.

It comes as Gett, a global app launched in six UK cities, announced its intentions to come to the city.

The company – which has taxis across three continents in 24 cities including New York City, London, Tel Aviv and Moscow – works exclusively with Licensed Hackney Carriages.

001 Taxis director Mark Green said the firms had teamed up to survive.

He said: “We have been competing for more than 20 years and we are a family run business. There’s lots of pride here.

“But we are working in partnership now, we have had to join forces – we need to survive.”

Both firms have about 700 members of staff each – including drivers and telephonists – and collectively last week they took 46,000 bookings.

Taxi apps allow people to order a cab from their phone without speaking to an operator.

The companies often offer discounts for customers and incentives for drivers to join.

CEO of Gett UK, Remo Gerber, said his company only worked with licensed taxi drivers.

He added: “For taxi drivers, we offer an additional source of income allowing drivers to work for Gett as well as existing taxi companies and for passengers, we are offering more choice in the marketplace.”

001 Taxis and Royal Cars said they were not phased with the launch of Gett but admitted there was industry-wide concern over the emergence of global apps such as Uber and Halo.

Mr Green said: “If the local population do all start using these apps then we might have to look to lay off staff, particularly those who answer the telephones.”

The 001 Taxis boss said his telephonists answered enough questions “to make your head spin” and offered a great local service that an app may not.

Manager of Royal Cars, Ozayr Khan said: “We are a local business and we are here for local people and strive to help Oxford have a taxi service that is safe and secure.

“Ultimately, in the future, if these apps are successful then in order for us to compete, jobs may be at risk.

Mr Khan hoped the local expertise of his staff would keep his customers coming back.

He said: “It’s taken us 20 years to get to where we are, our staff know most of our customers by name. I think they will be loyal to us.”

Hackney Cab driver Colin Dobson, 48, who works in Abingdon, said the city’s size might not make the new Gett app viable.

He said: “Oxford is quite small compared to Liverpool, Manchester, and London. There just might not be the level of business to make it viable.”