A VAN hire company which this week announced 150 new North-East jobs revealed it is on track to double year-end revenue from its retail hire division to £4.4m.

Northgate Vehicle Hire, with headquarters in Darlington, has seen a surge in business from its consumer offering, as well as a 312 per cent year-on-year increase in website bookings.

The firm said the rise in revenues are a result of increased demand from people looking for van hire for personal use, as well as standardised pricing, introduced at all Northgate’s UK depots this year, and which the firm believes has made it more competitive.

The retail hire offering means the public can walk into any Northgate depot and hire a van without having a business account, which it believes has increased accessibility for customers.

Northgate has also introduced a loyalty scheme, where customers can hire a vehicle for free after receiving five stamps.

Jonathan Pearce, marketing manager at the firm, said: “We relaunched our retail hire offering in January and, since then, it has gone through the roof.

“We’re all set to be 100 per cent up on the last financial year and can only anticipate further growth in this area as we approach next year.”