Throughout the summer, Enterprise Rent-A-Car will be piloting Sunday opening across nine of its UK neighbourhood branches, in addition to its airport locations, to test the impact on service and flexibility.

It is anticipated that Sunday openings will help improve the customer experience by providing greater flexibility to collect vehicles.

Enterprise says it forms part of its focus on customer service and in identifying new measures that improve the experience of rental for motorists across the corporate, replacement vehicle and retail markets.

Clustered in the South East and selected for their higher use over the weekend, the pilot has already started in four branches in Slough, Brighton, Southend and Waterloo, and is due to begin from April 1 in five branches in Bow, Kingsbury, Kingston, Lewisham and Hatfield. These will open from 12noon to 5pm every Sunday for the duration of the pilot scheme.

During the open periods, customers will be able to access the range of rental services typically available, but most importantly, will be able to collect and extend vehicles at the branches.

“We can see from our customer data that demand for mobility is changing and that people want to be able to access rental cars with greater convenience” said Mike Nigro, UK managing director of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. “Customers are increasingly time precious. Our aim with Sunday opening is to test the value of providing access to our fleet at times that better suit our range of rental customers.

“For example, a corporate customer with a Monday morning meeting can collect the vehicle on Sunday, giving them the opportunity to get a head start on Monday morning.

“Our customers’ willingness to rent is changing, and we need to change with it. If that means extending our hours of operation to suit demand and improve service, then this is what we will do. For now, this is a pilot, but if it is well received, we will look at how we can adopt a similar approach throughout our UK and Ireland operations.”