Hiremorecar.com marks 20 years having kept some prices the same since it launched the business
Published: 00:00, 06 December 2017
Updated: 10:43, 06 December 2017
The Bank of England is mulling over how to cut inflation from its five-year high of 3%.
Its policy advisors might be wishing bosses would follow the example of a car hire company in Kent, which has kept some of its prices the same as the day the business was founded 20 years ago.
Jeremy Feeney launched Hiremorecar.com in 1997, charging £19.95 a day for eight days to hire a Vauxhall Corsa.
Today, the entrepreneur offers the same price to borrow a Peugeot 107 or Fiat 500 for the same period.
He said he has been able to keep prices down in the two decades he has run his Maidstone business thanks to innovations in technology, which lowered costs.
He said: “With high interest rates and inflation, prices went up but I thought we would do things more efficiently.
“The definition of technology is getting more for less and that’s what I’ve tried to adopt over those 20 years.”
Mr Feeney launched his company after nearly 30 years in the motor industry, renting Broadway Garage, near Maidstone West Railway Station.
He carried out car repairs and servicing before focusing on car rental in 1997. The garage was later sold for housing development but Mr Feeney kept the business just a few metres from the station.
That decision helped continue growth thanks to high-speed rail services between Maidstone West and London.
Many passengers step off the train and head to the company’s office on the station approach.
The business has a fleet of more than 40 vehicles.
He said: “When we opened, this station was a quiet backwater. Now it’s busy and high-speed puts us on the map.”
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Chris Price