A VEHICLE rental company, which has headquarters in the North-East, has appointed a new UK operations manager.

Stephen Branch has taken over the role at Northgate Vehicle Hire, which was founded in Darlington.

The company has about 84,000 commercial vehicles used in the UK, Ireland and Spain, and runs operations from Darlington, with depots in Stockton, North Shields and Blaydon, near Gateshead.

Earlier this month, it revealed plans to open at least 20 branches across its UK division after a jump in profits.

It says Mr Branch, who was previously regional operations manager, will be responsible for Northgate’s UK operations across its network of 67 branches and 55,000 vehicles.

He will also look after the rental and workshop areas of the company, as well as its customer support centre, based in Darlington.

Mr Branch said: “Next year is set to be busy, with plans already in place to expand the company’s existing network of 67 branches to 90 in the next two to three years.

“Effective operation is key to its success, so it’s a very exciting time to be appointed in this role.”