"Founded in 1923, HK & Kowloon Taxicab Co Ltd was the first taxicab company in Hong Kong, although it only lasted for 4 years.
The mastermind behind the firm was Arthur Henry Rowe, an auto dealer who was the distributor of Buick cars and GMC trucks in Southern China. Before the firm arrived on the scene, the primary mode of transportation for individuals in HK was rickshaws. The idea was very popular and Rowe as managing director managed to attract an impressive list of investors from business elites across different ethnic groups in HK as shown by the composition of the firm’s board.
Henry Birkett, the well-known stock broker with the firm Moxon & Taylor and one time chairman of the HK Stock Exchange was chairman of the board which comprised of prominent Parsee merchant M. Nemazee, Chinese business leader and Legislative Councilor Chau Siu-ki (周少歧.1863-1925, father of Sir Tsun-Nin Chau), HSBC comprador Chan Lim-pak (see profile), Russo-Asiatic Bank comprador Sum Pak-ming (岑伯銘) and Jewish broker Fred M. Ellis.
80 Citroen cars were imported and services commenced on both HK island and the Kowloon peninsula on June 1923 charging 40 cents per mile. The firm’s HK garage was located at 23 and 25 Des Voeux Road (the current site of Euro Trade Centre and On Lok Yuen building) in Central and its Kowloon garage was located in Salisbury Road near the KCR terminus while the firm also maintained an office at the newly built Asiatic Building in Central (later Shell House and now Central Tower).
While the idea was great, HK & Kowloon Taxicab had several things going against it – namely the high cost of automobiles, the rising cost of petroleum, the Canton HK strike of 1925 and competition which began in 1926. The typhoon of August 1927 which brought down the firm’s garage on Salisbury Road did not help matter. About 20 cars and half a dozen motor cycles were in the garage at the time of the disaster and extensive damage was caused. Unable to recover, the firm was liquidated in 1928 (investors managed to receive 58 cents per share; shares had face value of 10 dollars) and became a footnote in the history of transportation in HK."
Source: Article by York Lo "Other Notable Taxicab Companies in Hong Kong before 1967" from the The Industrial History of Hong Kong Group website
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