AROUND 20,000 fleet managers and fleet decision-makers are being targeted in the build-up to the 1997 Fleet News Roadshows in December. Next week Fleet News and Fleet Car readers, Fleet Motor Show visitors, delegates at last year's Fleet News Roadshows and Association of Car Fleet Operator members will receive information on the event.

The 1997 Fleet News Roadshows will focus on three key operating areas - cost control, taxation and contract hire and will be held on Tuesday, December 2, at Sopwell House, St Albans, Herts, and Tuesday, December 9, at The Donington Thistle Hotel, close to East Midlands Airport.

On each day delegates will have the opportunity to attend three 75-minute seminars, which this year are being held by Deloitte & Touche, Shell Fuel and Fleet Services and Swan National. In addition Vauxhall Motors is sponsoring a special helpdesk where delegates will be able to have their questions answered by HM Customs & Excise and the Association of Car Fleet Operators. In addition there will be special software demonstrations at both venues from a number of leading fleet software providers.

Each day will run from 9am to 4pm, with Deloitte & Touche focusing on tax and the fleet market, Shell looking at how fleets can cut fuel costs and Swan National discussing personal leasing schemes. Event manager David Penford said: 'The main objective of the event is for delegates to gain a wealth of key information from industry experts in a single day. Fleet managers face a complex minefield of issues every day which impacts massively on the performance of their employer; these seminars will help fleet chiefs address those issues.'

The cost to attend one seminar day is £99, plus VAT, per delegate and Penford added: 'There is no other place where fleet managers could talk to so many key industry specialists in one day and obtain such good value for money.'

Deloitte & Touche - the international firm of accountants - has a specialist automotive division which has established itself as one of the leading consultancies in the UK. Experts from the company will be on hand to discuss a range of issues, including company car taxation and the cash or car equation, and will also update delegates on a range of fleet-related tax issues, including the VAT changes which came into effect in August 1995.

Shell Fuel and Fleet Services - one of the world's largest oil companies and one of the UK's leading suppliers of fuel cards to the fleet industry - claims companies could cut their fuel bills by more than 35%.

At the seminars Shell experts will be advising fleets on the efficient use of the fleet management information they receive from fuel card companies, the practical applications of fuel cards and what cost control will mean for the millennium.

Swan National - one of Britain's leading leasing companies with a fleet of 48,000 vehicles - will be focusing on the various contract hire and leasing options, including personal contracts, employer-sponsored schemes and in-house leasing operations. In addition the company will also look at the cash for car equation through case studies, illustrating the impact on employees, employers and fleet managers.

Bookings have already started to come in - for further information contact David Penford, Fleet News Roadshows organiser, on 01664 481922, fax 01664 410492 or e-mail davidp@automotive.emap.co.uk.