VAN rental firm Northgate has its sights set on opening its 100th UK depot during the next few years after raising more than £16m in working capital.

Darlington's only plc, which operates from 71 sites, also hopes to further establish its operations in Spain, where the group said it enjoyed an excellent six months.

Northgate posted a 19 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £22.4m in the six months to October 31, against £18.8m last time.

A difficult first quarter in the UK market saw fleet numbers fall for the first time in ten years from 1,000 to 44,000.

But a strong rally in the second quarter put 1,700 vehicles back on the books. By the end of October, fleet size was 47,500.

In Europe, Northgate owns a 40 per cent stake in Spanish vehicle firm Fualsa, which delivered £1.6m pre-tax profits.

It has an option to buy the remaining 60 per cent of the company in two stages over the next two years.

Phil Moorhouse, former finance director and now UK rental managing director, said: "We have acquired part of a very good business.

"The two principal partners are two brothers who have driven the business forward.

"We have been able to help in that we experienced a lot of the growing pains they are going through. It is very much where we started 12 years ago."

During the past year, the Spanish network has expanded to eight hire sites, with new locations in Malaga and Barcelona, while additional sites are planned in Madrid and Santander.