Northgate Vehicle Hire - 30 years of business success

Northgate Vehicle Hire is the UK and Ireland operating subsidiary of Northgate plc, which is Europe's leading commercial vehicle hire business.

The company, which now runs a fleet of more than 62,000 vehicles from 62 locations across the UK and the Republic of Ireland and also operates in Spain, can trace its roots back to the launch of a self drive hire business in Darlington in 1981.

Thirty years on and Northgate has expanded to become a FTSE listed business with annual revenues of almost £750 million (April 2010).

Additionally, with more than 12,000 vehicles displaying the Northgate Vehicle Hire name in the UK - the remainder carry the livery of clients - the company operates the third largest liveried van fleet in the UK (after the Royal Mail and BT Openreach) with plans to brand over 30,000 vehicles by the end of 2011.

Over the years, Northgate has shaped and defined the rental market through the provision of a range of services that include:

• Norflex, the UK's first truly national, flexible contract-free rental solution
• A wholly-owned, 56-strong workshop infrastructure that undertakes the service, maintenance and repair of vehicles and is the UK's only in-house network provision in rental
• Vehicle Monitoring, the company's own in-vehicle telematics systems to help organisations improve the management efficiency of vehicles.

However, in recent years Northgate has become much more than a vehicle hire company as it has transformed itself into a one-stop shop fleet solutions provider with a complete range of services for businesses from sole traders to multi-nationals. For example:

• Fleet Technique is the only non-contract based fleet management service available in the UK
• Fleet Dynamix is the most proactive and intuitive fleet management software available within the marketplace
• A nationwide network of 11 Van Monster and Trade Vans Direct outlets provide used vehicle solutions to a wide range of customers, particularly small businesses.

As a result, Northgate provides a wide range of services to more than 7,000 customers across the UK and Ireland.

The customer base is diverse, ranging from blue chip corporations including some of the country's best-known names such as Royal Mail, Tesco.com and B&Q to local authorities, small and medium sized enterprises and owner operators.

In addition to the rental fleet, Northgate directly fleet manages 15,000 vehicles and hosts over 100,000 vehicles on its fleet management portal. That service is augmented by a network with an additional 3,000 workshops and service outlets via its premier network. Additionally, 356 technicians operate within Northgate's direct service network including 56 mobile technicians.

Why Northgate is a successful business

Northgate's 2,000+ employees whether located at its Darlington head office, in one of the national network of centres or one of our workshops are the public face of the business.

That's why we invest in our employees to provide them with the training and communication skills to support the needs and requirements of all of our customers.

Northgate's values are:

• Professional
• Teamwork
• Can do attitude

The company's approach is simple - to ensure the very best service levels available within the market place through the delivery of:

• Vehicles
• A wholly owned infrastructure of workshops and technical centres
• Highly trained staff with knowledge and experience to support
• Innovative systems

Additionally, Northgate is continually striving to improve its range of products and services, and regularly challenges its business model to further improve the delivery of operational and financial benefits through the fleet life cycle to its partners.

Recognition for business success

Business success and leadership can be measured in many different ways. One of them is through recognition, which can come in many different forms and for Northgate that includes:

• Ford, Britain's biggest selling vehicle manufacturer, selecting the company as its first partner for its Ford Masters Apprenticeship Programme (mechanical and bodyshop)
• Winning prestigious Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents' Gold Awards for three consecutive years (2009, 2010 and 2011)
• Being the only daily rental company to achieve 'business champion' status in the Driving for Better Business campaign, which is managed by RoadSafe
• More than 700 employees achieving a British Safety Council Level One standard in health and safety with senior managers attending the three-day Level Two course
• The company being the first daily rental organisation in the UK to licence its workshop mechanics through the Society of Operation Engineers (IRTEC) Licensing Scheme.
Northgate is a business success story which is reflected throughout the company.

You can find more information about Northgate and their services here.

If you are interested in hearing about future Northgate opportunities, please send us your CV via e-mail to fleet@dwc.co.uk reference: Northgate