PHH marketing manager Rosemary Wells said smaller companies could survive if they could pull together the services needed. 'Customer needs are changing fast and companies must be able to match those needs irrespective of size,' she said. 'Flexibility and speed are the keys '

ACFO director Stewart Whyte said while some smaller specialist companies operated 'hand-to-mouth', others offered an excellent service which customers would stick with. Thomas Cook's Head of purchasing Alan Fenwick said: 'We fully outsourced with FCM which resulted in improved service and reduced costs. We are looking at other fleet management companies, but will remain fully-outsourced. One-stop-shops are the big advantage.'