GOODE Durrant, which owns specialist commercial vehicle hire company Northgate Motor Holdings, has bought Transport Development Group (TDG) Vehicle Rental for £28.2 million. London-based TDG operates a fleet of 2,440 vehicles, mainly commercial vehicles, from 16 depots largely based in Scotland, along the M4 corridor and in the Portsmouth/Southampton areas. The fleet consists of 2,250 commercial vehicles and 190 cars.

About 150 TDG Vehicle Rental staff have been taken on by Goode Durrant, although the rental operator has retained some staff, including some senior management and TDG Vehicle Rental managing director Bill Duffy. Darlington-based Northgate, the UK's largest operator of commercial vehicles for rent, operates a fleet of about 17,000 vehicles, which has expanded dramatically in recent years, from 24 depots in England, Scotland and Wales.

In announcing the sale TDG said its rental subsidiary made a marginal profit contribution to the company's results on turnover of £7.2 million. Goode Durrant's acquisition comes less than two months after the company predicted rapid growth for the UK's light commercial vehicles hire market. Northgate will develop TDG Vehicle Rental's individual brands - Swift Self Drive in Stirling, Adrian Truck Hire in Reading and UK Vehicle Rentals on the south coast alongside the existing individually-branded Northgate depots.