Khaled Shahbo appointed Enterprise MD
Enterprise Holdings has announced that Khaled Shahbo has been appointed as managing director for the UK and Ireland. He will take over from Mike Nigro, who was recently promoted to head the company’s operations throughout Europe.
Khaled will assume responsibility for the UK and Ireland at an exciting time for Enterprise Holdings, which operates the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands.
In the last year, Enterprise has acquired Burnt Tree, a leading provider of commercial vehicles, such as trucks, refrigerated vans and accessible minibuses, as well as City Car Club, Britain’s biggest independent car sharing company, to cement its position as the UK and Ireland’s leading provider of mobility solutions.
Additionally, with the return of the National Car Rental and Alamo Rent A Car brands in Europe to Enterprise Holdings in December last year, Khaled will play a key role in defining how all three Enterprise brands are delivered.
Mike Nigro, Enterprise Holdings senior vice president of European operations, said, ‘Khaled has overseen a period of exceptional growth as head of the London and South East region without ever losing sight of the fact that Enterprise was founded on values of customer service. Khaled will ensure Enterprise continues to deliver an exceptional service to all our customers in the UK and Ireland.
‘This is an incredibly important time for the UK and Ireland business. A very solid rental business has allowed us to make strategic acquisitions that open up new mobility markets for Enterprise. Khaled will play a key role in integrating those businesses while ensuring that we deliver innovation to our rental customer base. He will also be integral to how we position and operate the three Enterprise brands in the UK and Ireland,’ added Mike.
Khaled Shahbo said, ‘This is an incredible opportunity to lead Enterprise’s UK and Ireland operations and reinforce our position as the countries’ leading provider of mobility solutions to individuals and businesses. We’ll do that by continuing to invest in our employees, customer service, innovation and bringing new technologies to market that allow us to better serve our growing customer base.’
Khaled joined Enterprise in 1991 after graduating from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and started to his career as a management trainee in Southern California. He was one of the first pioneers for Enterprise in Europe, coming over to the UK in 1994 to help open and develop the then fledgling car rental company.
In 1996, he was appointed vice president for Scotland. A few years later his responsibility was expanded to include Northern Ireland. In 2008, he was appointed to his current role as vice president for South East England.
During Khaled’s time in charge of operations in London and the South East, Enterprise has significantly grown its fleet size and number of branches. His region has also just posted its highest ever customer satisfaction scores.
Enterprise Holdings has a promote-from-within culture designed to create opportunities throughout the business – and this appointment further demonstrates how people who start as trainees can reach the very highest levels of management.
