A taxi displays an advertisement for electronic hailing application Hailo as it travels along Lower Thames Street during the morning rush hour in London, U.K

Having established near national coverage and a clear lead on rival Uber in the taxi app wars, Hailo has turned its focus to corporate business.

The rapidly-growing cab order business has secured one of the country's biggest corporate taxi accounts and rolled out new services aimed at corporate clients. It has also secured a top hire from a rival car-sharing company to lead the initiative.

Hailo, founded by London cabbies and managed in Ireland by Sunday Independent Thirty under 30 star Tim Arnold, is weaker in the corporate market than it is in the consumer/personal taxi market, where it is the dominant player.

It plans to grow its corporate business tenfold in the next year.

The taxi app recently won AIB as a client, one of the country's biggest corporate taxi accounts.

It has rolled out new functions that make it easy for companies to process staff taxi orders. Niall Carson, previously head of business development at car-sharing company Gocar, has been hired as Hailo's head of sales to grow its corporate accounts.

The push will pose further challenges to Ireland's traditional telephone-oriented taxi firms, for whom corporate accounts are a key source of business.

Taxi apps, which allow users to order cabs via their smartphone without the need for phonecalls, have revolutionised the cabbing industry across the world.

Hailo has been linked with a further round of fundraising to finance its continuing growth and expansion into new territories.

"All companies in the early or growth stages of their life cycle, like we are, are always open to opportunities to raise funds to grow and deliver the best possible service for our customers," the company said last week.

In other news, Hailo has published a study that shows the impact of proposed traffic changes to one of the country's busiest thoroughfares, College Green in Dublin city centre.

The proposals by Dublin City Council and the National Transport Authority intend to restrict private cars and taxis from the area, leaving it serviced entirely by Luas, buses, cyclists and pedestrians on a 24/7 basis.

This will have significant impact on taxi passengers and local businesses, Hailo's research found.

About a fifth of all business originating between the Grand Canal and the Liffey passes through that area, according to data gathered by its app.

Sunday Indo Business