VEHICLE hire and lease specialist Autohorn Fleet Services has renewed its 20 year franchise agreement with vehicle rental firm Europcar, for another three years.

York-based Autohorn was established in 1995 and offers a range of fleet and leasing packages to businesses and individuals across the UK.

It has two sites in York: Leeman Road which is the base for cars to be delivered to customers and a second site at York railway station where customers can collect Europcar vehicles they have hired.

Helen Fitzgerald, territory manager at Europcar UK Group, said: “Autohorn is a great partner for us as its has an excellent fleet of vehicles and a great location at the railway station.

"They are easy to work with and are pioneering the rental industries approach to electric and environmentally friendly vehicles.

"Autohorn’s success is built on a can-do attitude both to us as franchisors, and to their customers.”

Autohorn has grown since launching in 1995, from a team of five employees and nine cars to a fleet of over 2,000 vehicles and a team of over 80, with 28 of these working for the Europcar side of the business.

Lee Underwood, managing director at Autohorn, attributes the business’ success to keeping customer service at the heart of everything, yet constantly evolving the business.

He said: “I believe our success is based on a number of factors, including our location near the railway station so customers can easily access our services, the wide range of vehicles on offer, and our loyal team of staff and partners.”

Autohorn was recently granted planning permission to create a car storage facility and offices at a site near Clifton Moor.

The facility will generate 65 full-time jobs by 2020 and will allow the business to grow in York.

Autohorn specialises in fleet management for companies. Its services include vehicle hire, vehicle leasing, flexible leasing, fuel management, driver training and accident management, which it offers throughout the UK.

It also provides personal vehicle leasing under its 1st Car Leasing brand. It has Go Ultra Low Company status and aims to have more than 100 electric rental vehicles operating in York by 2020.