Rental firm executive heads for pastures new

Sep 17 2009 By Peter McCusker, The Journal

ONE of the region's best-known executives is to leave the company he helped turn into one of Europe's biggest vehicle hire companies.

Phil Moorhouse joined Darlington-based commercial vehicle rental firm Northgate in 1991 when it had a 5,000 strong fleet of vehicles, it now has 120,000 vehicles and has expanded from the UK into the Continent and Ireland.

Mr Moorhouse, who will leave the company at the end of next year, says he will pursue his passion for mountaineering and travelling as well as looking at other business opportunities.

He joined Northgate shortly after it was founded by Alan Noble and along with fellow director Steve Smith, the trio developed it into a publicly-listed company employing over 2,500 staff, with annual sales of over £600m.

Mr Moorhouse, 56, said: "I have been at Northgate almost 20 years and have had a fantastic time. We started off as a small business in Darlington and have had great growth since then, as well as having a lot of fun on the way.

"We have been contemplating succession strategies for some time and if the recession had not come along then I may have left a year earlier.

"We have had a tough year, however we are now over the worst. We have carried out a major refinancing of the business raised over £100m with an equity issue and the business indicators are now looking positive, so we felt this was the right time to make this announcement."