Top UK car club moves into vans

Date: Friday, August 22, 2008

Streetcar, the UK's biggest car club, is claiming massive demand for the van version of its business launched last month. Initially predicting around 50 new members a month, it claims to already have 400 members signed up and looking to hire the Volkswagen Transporters stationed at 50 sites across the South East, rising to 100 in the next few months.

As well as on-street locations, the vans are positioned at Homebase and Big Yellow Self Storage sites, and can be hired for £8.95 per hour. Most of the sites are in London for now, with a trial taking place in Brighton that could lead to further moves outside the capital.

“On average each of our vans is used by three different drivers every day,” said Streetvan co-founder Brett Akker. “This means the scheme works towards reducing congestion with multiple businesses effectively pooling their own delivery vehicles.”

Businesses or individuals pay a £9.50 annual fee to join the scheme and then book vehicles online or over the phone. Once booked, members enter the vehicle using a remotely activated card and have a four-digit code to deactivate the immobiliser.

This latest development means Streetcar now has 650 locations across six cities and 36,000 members.

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