HIGH Street furniture retailer Habitat UK was welcomed into the new year with a cheque for almost £84,000 from Lease Plan.

The new year bonus is the result of savings and economies made by Lease Plan on the running of Habitat's 55-strong company car fleet used by managers and sales force over the last year. Under the company's open calculation leasing product if the actual costs of running the fleet are less than the rental paid, the company refunds the difference to its customers. In 1995 Lease Plan returned a total of more than £3 million to its customers.