Category Archives: Van Hire News

News and special offers from other UK van hire and rental companies.

Europcar Signs Exclusive Five-Year Car & Van Hire Deal With ExCeL London

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europcar_logo_new-2013Europcar has secured an exclusive five-year deal to be the official mobility partner of ExCeL London, Europe’s premier venue, which has recently hosted high-profile events including the Olympics, Paralympics and the G20 summit.

The first partnership of its kind to create a mobility centre within an exhibition and conference venue, the new contract begins on 1st January 2014. Ken McCall, Managing Director of Europcar UK and David Pegler, CEO of ExCeL London will mark the launch of the strategic alliance at ExCeL on Monday 4th November at 11am.

Europcar will deliver a transport solution for the whole site, helping to differentiate ExCeL from other exhibition spaces by offering visitors, exhibitors and staff access to a wide range of car and van hire services, including valet parking, a chauffeur-drive service from Prestige at Europcar and airport shuttle buses. In addition, exhibitors and suppliers will be able to hire vans from Europcar’s nationwide network for their trip to ExCeL, benefiting from one-way rentals, as well as delivery and collection, at competitive rates.

A highly visible Travel Hub on ExCeL’s main boulevard will provide visitors and exhibitors with access to Europcar’s global network while as the sole vehicle rental provider for the venue, Europcar will have unique promotional opportunities on the site, as a sponsor partner for major events.

“With over 5 million visitors in 2012, across its 100,000 sqm site, ExCel is London’s biggest venue and as Europe’s largest rental provider, Europcar is the perfect partner,” says Ken McCall, Managing Director, Europcar UK Group ahead of the photocall.  “We are looking forward to working closely with ExCeL to deliver a comprehensive transport and mobility solution, across the entire campus, delivering a premium service for attendees, staff and exhibitors, as well as local residents.

David Pegler, CEO of ExCeL London comments:

“Over the next five years, ExCeL will benefit from Europcar’s network of over 250 locations across the UK and fleet of over 45,000 cars and commercial vehicles, which will help to boost the experience for exhibitors and visitors.  This innovative and unique collaboration is a first for the UK, never before have we seen a mobility centre within an exhibition and convention centre. We strive to offer service excellence and our partnership with Europcar is another example of how we continue to invest in the industry and look at ways we can add value and differentiate ourselves, putting the needs of our customers at the heart of everything we do.”

Jolly Good Vehicle Rentals Expands With Wiltshire Branch In Chippenham

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Jolly Good Van hire logoWrexham-based independent car and van hire firm Jolly Good Vehicle Rentals (formerly known as Jolly Good Van Hire) has continued its franchise-based expansion by opening a new branch in Chippenham, to serve the south-west of England.

The Chippenham branch is the company’s sixth, following its foundation seven years ago — the company also has branches in Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Ely, Colwyn Bay and Deeside.

Jolly Good started out as a van hire business but has expanded to offer cars and campervans over the last few years, hence its recent change of name. On the van side of things, the firm offers small, medium, large and luton vans, as well as crew cab panel vans and 8/9 seat minibuses, such as the VW Caravelle.

Jolly Good also specialises in European van hire (the firm’s details are on our European van hire page) and offers a nationwide vehicle delivery service.

Police Return Hire Van Full Of Cannabis To Glasgow Rental Firm

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Marijuana plants

John McKinnon’s hire van was full of marijuana plants that had been confiscated in a police raid — but police had forgotten to remove the plants before returning the van.

Scottish police recently hired a van for a drugs raid in the Glasgow area. Following the raid, the van was returned to the hire company — with a substantial amount of cannabis still in the back.

To make matters worse, the hire company concerned didn’t check inside the van before hiring out again, to unsuspecting father-of-two John McKinnon, who then drove it from Coatbridge back to Glasgow, before he opened up the back and realised that he had a problem.

According to the Daily Record, the van had been hired by Lanarkshire police for used by plain-clothes officers.

The hire van’s unfortunate driver told the paper:

“there was a strong smell of cannabis in the cabin, but it was only when I got back to the office and opened up the back that I realised what was in it.”

I guess the moral of the story is that some van hire companies don’t check their vehicles very carefully when they are off-hired — plus you never know who has hired a vehicle before you, nor what they might have used it for.

A spokeswoman for Police Scotland said that “enquiries are at an early stage to establish the circumstances and it would be inappropriate to comment further”.

Ideal Car Hire Launches London Van Hire Service

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vanrental.co.uk vanLondon 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.

Could Van Hire Companies Cut Insurance Costs With Accident Cameras?

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Smart Witness accident camera

The Smart Witness accident camera is compact and discreet and is unlikely to be noticed by anyone outside the vehicle.

If you mention an in-cab camera to most drivers, their first reaction will probably be that they don’t want to be spied on and that having such a camera is a sign they aren’t trusted.

The truth, however, may be the complete opposite. One of the biggest problems with insurance claims is the “he said, she said” type of argument that often results when there are no independent witnesses to a collision.

Having video footage can immediately establish the truth of what happened, reducing insurance claims and protecting innocent drivers from unfair accusations.

This recent story is a great example:

Shocking video footage captures the moment a motorcyclist veers across a winding country lane and is involved in a terrifying collision with a truck. The video shows the bike being smashed to smithereens after driving into the HGV.

Miraculously, the biker escaped with just a broken shoulder after narrowly avoiding being crushed.

The police were called and the HGV driver was allegedly accused of speeding, dangerous driving and poor lane discipline.

His truck was fitted with a Smart Witness Vehicle Accident Camera which proved that the HGV was NOT to blame for the collision.

The video proved that he was travelling at just 27mph at the point of collision and driving safely on the correct side of the road.

As soon as the police viewed the footage, the motorcyclist’s complaint was dismissed and a messy and expensive insurance battle was avoided.

Reading this made me wonder whether van hire companies could also benefit from fitting devices such as the Smart Witness camera to their fleets.

In the event of an accident, rather than being forced to lodge an insurance claim against the other driver using a second-hand and possibly unclear description of events from the driver of the rental van, hire firms would be able to view footage of the accident and provide this to police — and if necessary the other driver’s insurance company — to provide a simple and rapid resolution of the claim.

Top of the range in-vehicle camera models such as Smart Witness’ SVC100GPS accident camera provide video, GPS speed and location data, and a shock sensor for impact measurement. This enables police accident investigators to rapidly work out what happened, and who was at fault. The Smart Witness unit costs £239, but cheaper cameras without GPS are also available from other manufacturers, which would cut the cost of a fleet-wide installation and would still provide the unique benefit offered by video footage.

Installation requirements are minimal and although there would be a risk that the device would be stolen or interfered with by rental customers, I reckon that by avoiding just a handful of insurance claims each year, a system like this could easily pay for itself for hire companies.

In the meantime, in case you are unlucky enough to have an accident in a hire van, why not check out our accident and breakdown guide?

Northgate Vehicle Hire Reports First Signs Of Growth

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Northgate Vehicle Hire’s parent firm Northgate plc reported what may be the first signs of its recovery today. In the firm’s most recent quarterly update, Northgate said that UK vehicles on hire had increased by 1,600 to 44,700, compared to 43,100 during the same period last year. This reverses a long-running trend that has seen the company reduce its fleet size in order to maintain stable utilisation and profitability as it has battled to reduce its debt pile.

Of the 1,600 additional vehicles on hire, 500 vehicles were based at new sites opened by the company, while the remainder were at existing sites, providing an encouraging indication of both organic growth and successful expansion.

The majority of Northgate’s business is with fleets and business customers — its vehicles don’t appear in our van hire price comparison results — and although Northgate’s vehicle hire business does serve retail customers directly, it’s not as well known as the major car rental brands, like Europcar.

Stable utilisation

The Darlington-based firm said that vehicle utilisation had averaged 88% during the last quarter, compared to 89% during the same period last year, but that utilisation returned to 89% in August, despite a modest increase in fleet size from 49,900 at 30 April 2013 to 50,600 currently. Underlying hire revenue per rented vehicle also edged higher, rising by 1% compared to the same period last year.

As you might expect, Northgate reported that used van sale prices remained strong during the last quarter, and were in-line with last  year’s prices.

Spanish growth

We’ve become conditioned to some modest signs of growth in the UK, but it was even more surprising to see that Northgate reported a similar set of results from recession-bound Spain. Although some of the gains were seasonal, Northgate said that utilisation rose to 92% in the period to 18 September 2013, compared to 90% for the same period last year. Northgate’s Spanish fleet also grew, from 35,100 at the end of April to its current level of 36,100.

Northgate plc operates the Norflex, Northgate Vehicle Hire and Van Monster businesses in the UK.

Heading Off To University? It’s Time To Hire A Van

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Student hat and degree scrollAll across the UK, the university term is about to start (or it’s just started), and parents and students are arriving in droves, often with surprising amounts of ‘stuff’ — electronics, furniture and clothing, mostly, plus a few books…

The only problem is that when you come to pack all that stuff into your car, you may find it simply doesn’t fit — or that your pristine new car is going to end up looking like a battle-scarred taxi inside, by the time you’ve rammed everything in.

The solution, of course, is van hire. This is an especially busy time of year for van hire companies, who face a surge in demand from students and their parents every autumn, as the university crunch strikes, and parents realise that a car simply isn’t the answer.

Although demand is high and I would have recommended booking earlier, my sources tell me that there is still availability for hire vans in most UK locations for the next fortnight, during which most universities kick off the new year.

Luckily, our unique, transparent van hire price comparison engine allows you to compare prices from most major UK van hire companies with just a few clicks. If you need a last-minute rental van, here are a few pointers to get you started:

Thrifty Opens Worcester Car & Van Hire Branch

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Thrifty Car & Van Rental logoThrifty Car and Van Rental is continuing its steady expansion in the UK and has opened a new branch in Worcester, on Prescott Drive.

The new branch offers a range of cars and vans for hire and also offers its FlexiFleet service for business customers, which I recently wrote about in my feature on long-term van hire.

Worcester branch manager Amanda Field is keen to emphasise her team’s customer service credentials and the central location of the new branch:

“Our customer service team are very friendly and professional, so you can expect a warm welcome and excellent service on every visit.”

Prescott Drive is situated just to the north of Worcester, directly off the Cotswold Way (B4639) and close to the A449, the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and the districts of Blackpole and Wall Meadow.

You can find full details of the new branch, including a map, on our Thrifty Worcester branch page.

The full address and contact details for Thrifty’s new branch are:

Prescott Drive
Worcester
WR4 9NE

Tel: 01905 675114

Email: thrifty.worcester@thrifty.co.uk

You can find a full list of Thrifty UK van rental branches on our Thrifty branch page.

Vehicle Hire Software Firm Prohire Celebrates 500 UK Locations

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If you operate a small or medium-sized car and van hire company, you are likely to need a computer system to manage bookings, invoicing, rental agreements and customer records, as well as back office functions like reporting.

The cost of developing a bespoke system to suit your requirements will almost certainly be prohibitive, and this is where Prohire comes in.

Founded in 1996, Prohire specialises in providing a complete vehicle hire software solution. The firm recently celebrated the addition of the 500th rental location to use its software, when Wrexham-based Jolly Good Van Hire opened its newest branch, in Colwyn Bay.

Commenting on the Prohire service, Mark Hughes, managing director of Jolly Good, said:

“Prohire have been our rental software partner from day one. The quality management information the software provides gives excellent controls within our business”

As well as all of the back office functionality that car and van hire companies require, Prohire also provides a web interface for its customers, that allows vehicle hire firms to take online bookings without the considerable expense and complexity of developing their own booking engines.

Prohire is based on the Kent Science Park, near Sittingbourne,  and is also used by smaller, independent companies with as little as one branch, such as vanrental.co.uk advertiser Seymour Self Drive Hire & Storage, which is based in nearby Larkfield (near Maidstone).

Long-Term Van Hire: Monthly Rental & Other Tips

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vanrental.co.uk vanMany van hire customers only need a van occasionally for a few days — that’s why they choose to rent, not own a van.

However, there is another group of users who need — or choose — to hire a van for a month or more. Hiring offers a number of advantages over buying a van, not least that the hirer usually has no maintenance costs, and can hand the van back and stop paying for it whenever they no longer need it.

The good news is that long-term van hire is an attractive business for van hire companies, too, and many companies now offer this service.

In this article, I’m going to take a closer look at the long-term hire options provided by the major companies listed on vanrental.co.uk, to see how they compare, and whether there are any significant differences.

Europcar

Europcar’s Month+ service is available for hires of more than 28 days. There’s no requirement to hire a van for complete months — as long as you want it for more than 28 days, you can keep it for as long as you want. The terms and conditions of the service are broadly similar to standard daily rental and Month+ can be booked directly through Europcar’s website using its standard booking engine.

A simple, flexible choice.

National

Long-term van hire can be booked through National’s standard website booking system. There’s no mention on the firm’s website of any special deals for long-term hire, but the sample quotes I tried came out exactly the same as those I got with Europcar — perhaps unsurprisingly, as they are the same company in the UK.

Sixt

Sixt offers a long-term van hire service called Flexi Rent, but it appears to be available only to business customers, and Sixt says that deals are typically for 52 weeks, although it doesn’t specify whether this is a minimum requirement.

Sixt’s online booking system only allows you to book van rentals up to 28 days — anything longer than this and you need to get in touch with the firm directly at a branch or by phone.

Hertz

Hertz offers a van rental plan aimed specifically at long-term hire customers. Named the Hertz 28+ Plan, it includes a minimum of 2,000 inclusive miles per month and includes servicing and roadside assistance. You don’t have to pay upfront and there are no early return penalties after the first 28 days.

As an added bonus, the 28+ Plan includes complimentary Gold membership of the Hertz #1 Club, so you can bypass branch queues when collecting and dropping-off vehicles. Free delivery and collection is also included, as are a free monthly valet and up to 5,000 Nectar bonus points. Visit www.hertz28.co.uk for full details — this service isn’t available through Hertz’s standard website booking engine.

Thrifty

Thrifty also has a dedicated plan aimed at long-term car and van rental customers. This service is available online and enables you to specify van type or monthly budget, term (minimum 1 month/28 days) and monthly mileage, before providing you with a quote for each 28-day period.

The rates I saw looked pretty competitive to me, but do note that hirers have to provide their own comprehensive insurance. Hirers wanting rates including insurance can book at Thrifty’s standard daily rates, which are considerably higher. Click here for full details.

Argus Car Hire

As a broker, Argus offers the best rates available from individual hire companies’ daily rental services. It offers a good choice for long-term van hire bookings, but you should be able to find better prices by using a dedicated long-term hire service, such as those offered by Thrifty, Europcar and Hertz.

Conclusions

Hertz, Europcar, Thrifty and Sixt stand out as offering dedicated long-term hire services aimed at business customers needing hire vans for more than a month. It’s worth noting that many smaller, independent hire firms offer this service too, and that the biggest savings are for customers who can provide their own insurance — as with the Thrifty long-term van hire programme.

Although some of these companies do allow you to book long-term van hire online, this is probably a case where it is worth ringing round different companies and finding out exactly what they offer, and what, if any, the restrictions are. Make sure you understand any terms and conditions relating to mileage, usage, insurance, cross-border use and anything else that might apply to you, before working out which company offers the best overall package.

This article is part of a series looking at additional services that are available to van hire customers. To learn more, check out the following articles:

All figures and details were checked at the time of writing in September 2013, but they may be subject to change. vanrental.co.uk and the author take no responsibility for any errors, omissions or future changes. Please check yourself before booking.