City Car Club buys WhizzGo

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Car Rental News - 18/09/2009

 

Take-over creates UK's largest pay-as-you-go rental network

The Huddersfield-based City Car Club company has taken over the pay-as-you-go car rental firm WhizzGo.

The City Car Club, which bought WhizzGo for an undisclosed sum, now owns the largest fleet of hourly rental cars in the UK. The take-over is the first major consolidation in the UK pay-as-you-go car rental market.

City Car Club was launched in 1999 and provides rental cars by the hour in several cities including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Brighton and Norwich.

WhizzGo's existing members will now have access to City Car Club's total fleet of 500 cars, covering Southampton, Leeds, Huddersfield and 12 other cities and towns across Britain. WhizzGo's fleet of rental cars in Leeds will be re-branded as City Car Club.

Following the take-over, the City Car Club will have around 16,000 members spread across the UK.

Pay-as-you-go rentals are considered a recession-proof alternative to owning your own car. The cars are available for rental at any time of the day and night. Businesses and individuals rent cars by the hour, booking via phone, internet or even at the vehicle.

Chief executive of City Car Club, James Finlayson said the company is delighted to be running the car club in Leeds. He expects to rapidly expand the club's services to keep pace with the demand in the city. He said that acquiring WhizzGo was a strategic move for the company, one that had been planned for some time.

Finlayson put the annual turnover of the merged businesses at close to £5 million, and announced plans to double the size of the City Car Club fleet to 1,000 cars over the next two years.

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