December 2008 - NORTHGATE NAMED BRITAIN'S BEST VAN RENTAL COMPANY
Northgate Vehicle Hire, Britain's largest light commercial vehicle company, has been named Van Rental Company of the Year in the inaugural Fleet Van Awards.
Gareth Jones, UK sales director, Northgate Vehicle Hire (centre), receives the Van Rental Company of the Year of the Award from Martyn Moore, editor-in-chief, Fleet Van. Looking on is awards compere, TV presenter Penny Mallory.
Darlington-based Northgate Vehicle Hire, which runs a UK-wide fleet of 68,500 vehicles - 80% of which are LCVs - has 'raised the benchmark for the spot rental industry', according to the judging panel, which was drawn from a wide cross-section of industry experts.
The Van Rental Company of the Year Award was one of 21 awards presented to LCV fleet suppliers, fleet managers and vehicle manufacturers at a Fleet Van gala dinner at the National Motorcycle Museum, Birmingham, on Tuesday, December 2. Fleet Van is a sister title to Fleet News, the industry weekly for the UK company car and van market.
In announcing the winner, Trevor Gehlcken, editor of Fleet Van and a member of the judging panel, said: "Northgate impressed with its range of fleet-focused case studies and its wide range of ancillary services designed to enhance the core rental product.
"These include the enhanced training of its mobile technicians and the production of a range of detailed guidance and advice for customers. Northgate has raised the benchmark for the spot rental industry."
However, as the judges said, the company is much more than simply a vehicle hire business with its flexible, non-contract rental offering, NORFLEX, at its core.
The judges also singled out Northgate's approach to minimising vehicle downtime through the service, maintenance and repair (SMR) of vans through its own network of workshops. The company's technicians are licensed through the Society of Operation Engineers IRTEC Licensing Scheme. Northgate was the first daily rental company in the UK to license its mechanics.
Northgate's SMR capability is further boosted by GPS Body Repairs Limited, its wholly-owned body repair workshop business that means a significant number of body repair work is completed in-house, thereby reducing both downtime and wholelife cost to customers.
Northgate UK sales director Gareth Jones, who collected the Van Rental Company of the Year Award on behalf of the company, said: "Many of the services we have launched are based around the feedback we receive from customers and our capabilities to deliver fleet solutions.
"Introducing new services and improving existing customer service is core to the continuing success of Northgate. We are delighted that our initiatives have been recognised by Fleet Van. But we will not rest on our laurels and plan to deliver further efficiencies to customers at a time when the economic turmoil makes cost management a major business priority."
