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As others have said, drag this process out as much as possible.
Is there any chance that the vehicle is subject to a finance agreement? I ask because if that were true, the 'owner' would be a finance company - that would mess them up!
I'd defiantly appeal as this will give you further access to the POPLA appeal process which will further consume a period of time.
Also, personal experience tells me that POPLA are unlikely to agree with the operators statement regarding 'reasonable assumption' with regard to keeper liability - the fact is, there is no legal mechanism which can move liability from the owner to the keeper. If liability could be shifted from party to party so easily then there would be no need for the processes set out in PoFA. The fact that PoFA exists clearly demonstrates that the law requires something greater than 'reasonable assumption' when moving liability to the keeper. The operator's claim of reasonable assumption is being made out of necessity rather than any proven legal process. VCS v Edward also confirms the legal position of reasonable assumption with regard to keeper liability.
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