Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Profile & Stats

“Take care of your customers and your employees first, and growth and profits will follow.” Founder Jack Taylor’s customer-friendly philosophy has been the driving force behind Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s success; it is a mantra that has seen the company’s revenue grow every year since its inception in 1957. Enterprise is now a subsidiary of Enterprise Holdings Inc – a privately held company formed in 2009. With more than 7,600 neighbourhood and airport locations across the US, Canada, UK, Ireland and Germany, Enterprise specialises in providing car rentals in the event of an accident, break down, theft, or short business or leisure trips.

Enterprise’s founder was born in the town he would start his company – St Louis, in the US state of Missouri. Enrolling in the Navy in 1942, Jack Taylor served his country as a decorated fighter pilot in the Second World War. On returning from the war, Taylor utilised the military values of integrity, hard work and team spirit to open his business in 1957. Starting out in the basement of a St. Louis car dealership with a fleet of seven cars, one employee and a commitment to customer service, Enterprise fielded phone calls, calculated rates and washed cars.

Today, Enterprise offers a wide variety of car rental/leasing, carpooling and vanpooling commuter services, car-sharing and hourly rental programs. Other services include fleet management, and the sale of used cars and trucks. The company provides these within 15 miles of 90% of the US population, and is unsurprisingly the largest car rental company in North America. Even in the UK, 91% of the population is within 10 minutes of an Enterprise branch, which makes this company more than just a US behemoth. Enterprise’s other locations include Canada, Ireland and Germany and the firm is still very keen to expand its empire.

To ensure the highest standard of service is maintained across this vast and wide custom, Enterprise employs a third party company to follow up on a random selection of customers each and every week. The results are impressive: customer satisfaction continuously ranks high with Enterprise, the company’s secret to success reflected in its turnover of over $12 billion.

In the UK, Enterprise is structured into nine regional groups. Each group has a similar set-up, with a general manager leading a team of department heads – including daily rental, financial, vehicle acquisition and remarketing, HR and sales. Furthermore, each group has its own daily rental branches, split into areas and run by the area manager. There is typically four to eight staff per branch, helmed by an assistant and branch manager.