Prohire expands operations team to drive continued growth

Prohire, a leading provider of commercial vehicle hire and fleet management solutions, which is based in Stoke-on-Trent and has a depot in Tunbridge Wells, has made four new appointments to its operations team, along with one promotion, as part of its ambitious growth strategy.

To further expand its operations in the south and into London, Prohire has recruited Ashley Bourne as depot operations manager in Tunbridge Wells. Joining from Redde Northgate where he was branch manager for five years, Ashley will have 50 valued accounts to manage as well as run the day-to-day operations of the depot which involves the full rental process from on to off hire.

Kane Bowden, who has over 20 years’ experience in the commercial vehicle hire sector, most recently at Enterprise, joins Prohire as national account development manager responsible for the growth and share of key customers including Bunzl, Vow, Speedy, Greencore and Unipart.

Hannah Ridgway has been promoted to operations manager for the fleet compliance and administration department, the latest in a series of promotions for Hannah who joined Prohire nine years ago in a temporary administration role. As well as providing direction and support to the team, Hannah’s new role will enable her to focus on process development in areas of emerging technologies such as AI.

Joining Hannah as operations manager for technical services is Wayne Pheasey, previously regional fleet maintenance manager (Northwest) at Ryder LTD. Wayne’s new role will see him driving day-day activities and strategies, whilst building key customer relationships and contacts. Wayne will support his leadership team to enhance the delivery of front-line technical customer service in line with best-in-class standards.

The new technical services team leader at Prohire is Jason Downes. He will be responsible for a ten-person team which manages the day-to-day defect and breakdown management, vehicle off road uptime, cost control and authorisation and customer service. Jason joins Prohire from TIP trailer services where he was a customer service specialist managing damage and maintenance repairs on 3,500 Amazon trailers.

Commenting on the expansion of the team, Gary Banister, group operations director at Prohire, said: “I’m delighted to welcome these talented and experienced individuals to the team, and to congratulate Hannah on her promotion. These roles have been created as part of our ambitious growth strategy which will see further recruitment in the coming months.

“Our business success is built on customer relationships and, as part of our operations team, Kane, Ashley, Hannah, Wayne and Jason are united in providing world-class customer service and building excellent relationships with our valued clients across a wide range of business sectors.”

Established in 1997, Prohire supplies nationwide commercial vehicle contract hire and fleet management solutions to organisations in the foodservice, catering, chilled food, pharmaceuticals, building products, leisure retail and brewing, office supplies and waste management sectors, as well as specialist logistics companies and own account operators.

Based in Stoke-on-Trent and employing over 80 people, Prohire provides commercial vehicle rental and long-term vehicle contract hire, together with fleet maintenance, accident repair management, and fleet compliance to customers across the UK.