Northgate broadens customer base with FridgeXpress acquisition

Northgate Vehicle Hire has entered the chilled and freezer van rental sector with the acquisition of FridgeXpress.

The company, which runs a fleet of 600-plus diesel and electric vans and trailers, provides short and long term chilled and freezer van rental to a nationwide network of food and pharmaceutical businesses.

Redde Northgate CEO, Martin Ward, said: “With FridgeXpress, we continue our record of acquisitions offering significant potential for growing both customers and fleet.”

Ward explained that the acquisition of FridgeXpress extended Northgate’s UK capabilities.

“The business fits with our strategy of owning market-leading businesses across the mobility solutions value chain, and we see significant opportunities for broadening the customer base to many other customers who use our integrated platform for their mobility needs,” he added.

FridgeXpress’ fleet is managed and maintained centrally from its workshop in Rugby supported by a network of mobile service engineers.

It was one of the first companies to add electric refrigerated vans to its fleet to help customers tackle their emissions particularly in urban areas.

Northgate said that the business, which was launched in 2008, will continue to trade under the FridgeXpress brand but will benefit from the increased resources and support from being part of the Northgate group.

Founder and managing director of FridgeXpress, David Richards, will leave the business, with Danny Bell, who has been operations director for more than a decade, taking over his role.

Northgate’s current branch manager of the year Craig Diaz becomes the company’s new operations director, while Scott Steadman will join the company as a business development manager, moving from a similar role at Northgate.

Neil McCrossan, UK sales and marketing director for Northgate Vehicle Hire, said: “We have been impressed with all aspects of the FridgeXpress business, and we are delighted to welcome them to the Group.

“It is a profitable and well-run business and very complementary to Northgate. It employs an experienced and dedicated workforce that are extremely focused on providing a first-class service to its customers.

“The acquisition enables us to offer our current customer base a chilled and refrigerated rental van proposition for the first time.

“We would like to congratulate Danny, Craig and Scott on their new positions and wish David well for the future.”

Richards added: “I am immensely proud of the business that we have built up over the past 14 years.

“We have single-mindedly concentrated on chilled and refrigerated rental and have become one of the best providers in the industry. 

“I would like to thank my team and customers for their support, many of which have been with us from the very start.

“I look forward to seeing the business continue to grow with the added investment and support from the Northgate team,” he added.

The FridgeXpress acquisition follows Northgate’s purchase of Blakedale in July 2022, which saw it enter the traffic management and highways rental sector for the first time.