"Job on approach": The Manchester black cab driver who has become an online sensation
From comforting tearful passengers to sharing laughs with locals and tourists alike, Manchester cabbie Mike Daniels has turned his daily journeys into an online sensation, delighting tens of thousands of followers with the ups and downs of city life. James Holt reports.
From the seat of his traditional black cab, Mike Daniels has seen it all over the past 38 years. The cabby, a born-and-bred Mancunian who first began driving his punters in the late 1980s, has had quite the colourful experience on Manchester's streets, from having a blade held to his throat to makeshift counselling sessions with tearful passengers during the darkest moments of their life.
Hailing from Stockport, the 62-year-old has more recently become an internet sensation. Every day he documents his pick-ups and drop-offs in and around the city, the heart-warming exchanges with passengers from all walks of life, from local commuters to tourists, and even sneak peeks into what is in his lunch box, made lovingly by his mysterious and unnamed wife 'Mrs D'.
Operating under the username Miles With Mike, now boasting almost 70,000 followers on Instagram, the cab driver said 'nobody is more surprised than me' over his booming social media success. Simple day to day interactions that are second nature have now become his bread and butter, along with his famous tagline "job on approach", always delivered with a smirk.
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He comically documents his days navigating Manchester's streets, from 'outrageous' interactions with rude and ignorant passengers, journeys with those who have had too much to drink, to touching conversations with those simply on their way to work.
Popular recent videos included a tense exchange with a police officer who told him he was 'breaking the UK law' and could face having his vehicle seized for not wearing a seatbelt - despite licensed taxi drivers being exempt from wearing seatbelts while actively working.
He shared another video regarding drop-off and pick-up prices at Manchester Airport, now with over 38,000 likes, and another clip showing him taking a man with dementia to a police station and refusing to take money from him after he became lost.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Mike said: "Believe me, nobody is more surprised than me that I've become this internet sensation at the age of 62. It's people really just watching how my day unfolds. The strapline 'job on approach' just came about by accident and it stuck, and people love it.
"My wife, who I call Mrs D, never wanted to be on social media. She is very private and completely the opposite to me and has now become this mythical creature. But people were really interested in what she had made me for lunch every day. Lots of people who follow me love the lunch box sneaky peek, and if I don't do it, I get complaints.
"I am completely unscripted and make it up as I go along, and that's what people find so entertaining. I try to pick out interactions with people throughout the week, those who have an interesting story.
"My brother-in-law and friend of mine, who's an ex-cab driver, said he can't stop watching and that the page is addictive. So many people have said that to me. They watch me in the morning while they are having their coffee or breakfast.
"I have some followers who say by the time they wake up, I'm already hours into my shift and they have to catch up. It's absolutely incredible. Other taxi drivers who do the same job as me tell me they can't wait to watch and see what kind of day I've had."
Mike started out driving a black cab on the streets of Manchester in 1988. With a growing family and mortgage, he started out as a young man working night shifts to bring in the extra cash.
But the antisocial hours and picking up drunk punters, drug dealers and prostitutes from taxi ranks in the early hours took its toll over the years. In one incident, Mike was robbed and had a knife held to his throat as he was forced to hand cash over.
Another friend and fellow cab driver was left permanently disfigured following a vicious attack with a bottle after being targeted and robbed on a cul-de-sac in Moss Side.
He said: "It was really hard with a young family. But there were times in the 90s you could earn a lot of money each week on nights. I was always really interested in being self-employed so it seemed like a natural thing to do.
"But you deal with drugs, drug dealers, prostitutes, all members of society. It's hard out there. When I was younger the money was very good, in the 1980s and 90s, and I could deal with all that hassle then. I may have worked 65 hours in a week but you could earn a lot more then than now. It was a tough place and a tough gig."
After almost 20 years self-employed in the job, Mike gave it up in 2005 and began selling taxi insurance to drivers, building a taxi brokerage business. He later sold the business after the Covid-19 pandemic, and decided to go back to doing what he knew best.
But he said after 18 years away from the job, there had been some big changes. Manchester was largely skyscrapers and a hive of rapid development. Familiar roads had become pedestrianised, and the city was a hotspot with tourists from around the world.
He also had to resit a Manchester skills and knowledge test for taxi and private hire drivers, that required a seven-week college course and comes with a high fail rate.
"I bought the black cab three years ago and decided to come back," he said. "It's what I knew best. There I was, sitting in the taxi ranks and watching the world go by, and I realised that in those 18 years, Manchester had changed beyond belief. All of a sudden, people were pulling suitcases up Portland Street and roads I used to drive on didn't exist anymore."
Mike told of how he first began posting on social media after his daughter fought a battle with cancer. He documented his efforts in training for the Manchester half marathon, despite being 'unfit all my adult life' - a feat he accomplished to raise thousands for Cancer Research UK.
"Miles with Mike really was a running channel to start with," he explained. "I was challenged to raise funds to celebrate 10 years of my daughter being in remission from cancer.
"She had a very difficult few years and it was touch and go, but she did survive. I agreed to run the half marathon from being unfit for my whole adult life. The only running I'd done was chasing the odd person who didn't pay the taxi fare."
Mike went on to document his training for the London Marathon, where he again raised thousands for the Mind charity, with the experience also helping him reignite his love for swimming. With the social media profiles focussing on his life, he then naturally began documenting his days sitting at the steering wheel.
With Mike now working in the day and the job being relatively low paid, also due in part to competition from private hire apps like Uber and Bolt, he has expanded his business to offer bespoke tours of the city from the comfort of his cab. He is one of only two black cab tour providers in the whole of Manchester.
Mancunian born and bred, and with over three decades on the roads, there's very little he doesn't know about the history of the city, and says the most interesting tours are actually with fellow locals and expats who are visiting.
"I'm not anti-Uber," he said. "I recognise they have a place in the market and have taken away the difficulty of getting a ride in certain areas. If I was to try and get a black cab where I live, I'd grow a beard waiting for one.
"These services offer fixed fares before journey's start, and that's where we struggle. The black cab trade is in decline, we are already seeing it, and people also pay with cards now, which they didn't 18 years ago.
"There were days when people would come out of a club at 2am, walk to the nearest taxi rank in the rain and wait for 20 minutes getting soaking wet. It's changed so much now. People want to know how much it's going to cost before getting in, and it's the not knowing that puts people off and has affected us as an industry.
"I have been Uber-proofing myself with these tours. In my downtime I put together what I call the 'soon to be famous taxi tour'. I trialled it with my friends, family, neighbours to work out what did and didn't work and started to sell those commercially about 18 months ago. Every tour I do makes it better for the next group, and everyone just loves them."
Tours typically visit highlights like Castlefield, Manchester Cathedral, the Town Hall and John Rylands Library, as well as the chance to indulge in fascinating history about the longstanding Liverpool and Manchester rivalry and Peterloo Massacre. Lasting around two hours, they can be booked online here.
Mike said: "I rarely go on a set route, because the tour is all about the customers. Last week I had one with three ladies from the fire service and we did the heritage tour, but they were interested in seeing old fire stations in Salford, Gorton and London Road.
"People learn about why around a third of Manchester's population is of Irish descent. We cover the true rivalry between Manchester and Liverpool, visiting the Ship Canal and River Irwell. There are plenty of opportunities for people to get out and take pictures, because I have lots of private car parking spaces in Manchester - they are called taxi ranks.
"Expats come and can see how Manchester has changed since they've been away. I get enthusiastic people who want to visit places they used to work and I take them down memory lane. For tourists, it gives them a snapshot of the city and an idea of the people and it's history and good places to visit while they are here.
"The best tours are actually with Mancunians. It's people who have lived here all their lives and learn so much they didn't know. And we just have a laugh along the way."
Despite 'never being rich' as a taxi driver, Mike said simply he 'loves the job'. Daily updates can be found on his Instagram page @mileswithmike.
"The black cab really is a confessional. Some people want to pour it out all on a stranger, and a cab driver and a friendly face means people often talk to us. But its a pleasure meeting and speaking to all these people and no day is the same.
"You'll never be rich driving a cab, but I just love the job. All my followers love it too. My motivation is that I love what I'm doing. I'm the sort of person that thrives off this feedback and people telling me that it is uplifting.
"But it's a two way thing. I get a lot of comments telling me what my videos do for them, but they do the same for me too."
