Members of the local community can now walk into any Northgate depot, including those in Darlington, Blaydon, Stockton-On-Tees and Wallsend, and hire a van without having a business account, leading to increased accessibility for customers. To further support the retail hire re-launch Northgate has introduced a new loyalty scheme, whereby customers can hire a high quality vehicle for free after receiving five stamps. 

All Northgate employees will be going through rigorous training throughout January and February to ensure they are fully up-to-speed with the new service offering and are equipped to cater for any retail hire customers and enquiries. This follows on from Northgate’s drive to increase customer service levels throughout 2011. Standardised pricing has also been introduced throughout all of Northgate’s UK depots, to ensure customers receive the highest quality vehicles at extremely competitive rates. 

Jonathan Pearce, Marketing manager at Northgate Vehicle Hire, said: 'Due to increased demand for retail hire, we decided to re-launch our current offering to make sure our customers are getting rates that are competitive in the marketplace by aligning ourselves with our main competitors in the UK. While Northgate isn’t typically associated with retail hire we wanted to take this opportunity to let the local communities around our depots know that our vehicles can be used for personal use as well as by businesses that have accounts with us. From moving house to taking a van load to the tip or picking up new furniture, we are here to help and make life that little bit less stressful!'