Redde Northgate, the mobility and automotive services group that includes Bath-based specialist vehicle accident management firm Redde, is to seek the permission of its shareholders to change its name.
The group, formed nearly four years ago from the merger of Redde and light commercial vehicle hire business Northgate, wants to rebrand as ZIGUP – a name it says better reflects its strategy and ambition.
The change will be put to shareholders of the London Stock Exchange-listed group at a general meeting on 15 May.
In a statement to shareholders, the group said since the merger it had achieved material cost savings and operational efficiencies and new large contract wins while also embracing new opportunities, including six acquisitions that had “delivered meaningful value and enhanced capabilities”.
The statement continued: “We operate in markets which are undergoing significant structural change, including customers shifting to greater outsourcing, major technology advancements in both vehicles and customer engagement, and a growing focus on sustainability and low carbon energy transition.
“We help our customers ‘move smarter’ and, increasingly, present more of our products and services as packaged services, moving the thinking away from simple verticals such as van hire and accident management.”
As a result, it said the new brand and company name were allied to a “refreshed strategic framework under the new pillars of Enable, Deliver and Grow as it embraced the changing environment in which the group and its customers operates”.
It added: “The board believes that a more modern brand and name reflecting these changes will also help shift the narrative with all our stakeholders towards the strategic direction of travel we set out.
“This is aligned to our updated purpose, 'to keep customers moving, smarter'.”
The group’s operational brands will remain, including Redde, which under its previous name of Helphire became one of the South West’s fastest-growing businesses as an innovator in accident management.
If approved at the general meeting, the new brand will be rolled out from 20 May, with its legal registration by the UK Companies Registry expected to take place no later than 25 May.
The group made its best-ever pre-tax profits of £178.7m for the year to April 2023 – a 34.7% increase on the previous 12 months – with revenues up 19.8% to a record £1.49bn flollowing a spate of contract wins and acquisitions.
