London car rental firm Ideal Car Hire has built its reputation providing car hire to London residents and tourists, but the firm has now decided to capitalise on strong demand for rental vans in the capital by launching its own van hire service.

Vans are available to hire at Ideal’s Stoke Newington and Kings Cross branches, and the company has decided to launch with three types of van:

• Compact van (e.g. Nissan NV200)
• Medium van (e.g. Ford Transit SWB)
• Long wheelbase van (e.g. Nissan NV400)

Ideal Car Hire also offers long-term rental deals on its cars and vans (a topic I recently looked at here), through its 28 day+ service, which only requires 28 days’ commitment and includes 2,000 miles per month, free delivery and collection, breakdown cover and monthly billing. Extras such as sat nav hire, child seats, additional insurance and roof racks are also available for most vehicles, regardless of hire length.

Ideal’s decision to offer van indicates that it wants to broaden its customer base and reduce its dependency on the tourist market, which is a key part of its car business. Although the firm only has two branches, it does offer a delivery and collection service within the M25, that’s free for hires over 7 days and costs just £10 each way for shorter hires.