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Van hire company Northgate has reported a "strong operational performance" in its interim results, says UK managing director Phil Moorhouse. And he is "confident for the outcome of the year," he tells Motor Transport. "The rental share is only 10% of the [light commercial vehicle] market - there is a big opportunity to convert commercial vehicle users to rental." Pre-tax profit went up by one-third in the six months to October 31, 2006, to £37.8m, from £28.3m for the same period in 2005. Turnover  grew by 48% to £262m in 2006 from £177m in 2005, with £177m of the 2006 turnover coming from the UK business.

Northgate has restructured its UK business, streamlining from 35 to 21 hire companies at a cost of £500,000. Its UK fleet has grown by 11,000 to 65,300 vehicles, with some organic growth and some from the full integration of Arriva Vehicle Rental (AVR), the acquisition of which became "unconditional" in February last year. The integration has meant a reduction of 400 staff and 21 locations acquired with the AVR business, but Moorhouse says that Northgate "has retained virtually the entire customer base".

"In the UK there is still a lot of localised business. Our strategy is to look at opportunities as and when they will arrive. I'm sure the industry will consolidate, but we're confident that we can grow organically at 5% [a year]," he tells MT.