THE biggest contract hire deal of the 1990s is in turmoil after National Health Service transport managers branded it too restrictive, and threatened to overrule it. As a result NHS Supplies has promised a review of the leasing deal it negotiated earlier this year for the supply of the NHS's 33,000 strong fleet.

Transport managers in the NHS are up in arms over NHS Supplies' decision to slash the number of suppliers from 14 to four - Ford Credit, Renault Financial Services, Vauxhall Master Hire and Automotive Leasing - in a bid to achieve savings, one of the overriding aims of NHS Supplies. But the NHS Transport Managers Association claimed the list was established without consultation.

John Dewar, acting chairman of the NHS TMA, said the association's members were satisfied with the presence of the three manufacturer leasing operations, but were unhappy at being restricted to only one independent. He stressed this did not infer criticism of Automotive Leasing, but said it was unrealistic to expect it to be the cheapest supplier of all marques other than Ford, Vauxhall and Renault, and added that a number of transport managers wished to maintain their well established relationships with other leasing companies.