07/10/2005 Advance Vehicle Rental Scoops Best Business Award
Picture: Steve Ball (left), Managing Director, Advance Vehicle Rental with Jonathan Barclay, chairman of Norfolk's Shaping the Future. Recieving the award at the EDP 2005 Business Awards.
Feature as quoted from;
EDP: Wednesday October 12th 2005.
BOLD DECISION LED TO A REAL SUCCESS STORY.
Norwich-based vehicle rental company hailed as Best New Business 2005.
Winner: ADVANCE VEHICLE RENTAL
Runners-Up: First Active; Foolproof.
A business gamble has certainly paid dividends for Steve Ball, who sold his home to create Advance Vehicle Rental, a one-stop shop for car, van and truck hire in Spitfire Road, Norwich. The venture started with just 15 vehicles and sweet talk to the banks and borrowers. He and manager Wayne Rogers now operate a fleet of 154 vehicles.
Their breakthrough came when they beat the big boys to secure a nationwide deal with Royal Mail, and by June this year they boasted 10,000 customers who had clocked up 15m miles - 600 times around the world. Customers now include Norfolk Constabulary, the NHS and Bernard Matthews.
Judges of the Best New Business award, which is sponsored by Shaping the Future, picked Advance Vehicle Rental as this year's winner and said: "We were impressed with Steve Ball's commitment and enthusiasm. His determination to make his company work shone out. It was a bold decision to set up the business but backed by an excellent business case the company is clearly going places."
Mr Ball said: "This prestigious business award is gratefully recieved on behalf of all the team at Advance Vehicle Rental. Our company has seen rapid growth and development in the first three years of business, enabling us to continue the level of growth in the years to come. I would like to thank all our customers for their continued loyalty and support for Advance Vehicle Rental." He added: "To show our commitment to our customers we have invested a further 1.1million in 2005, updating our car, van and truck rental fleet, offering more choice and variety of new vehicles, to the East Anglian region."