THE leasing industry is preparing itself for a potential boom in sale and leaseback van deals following the Chancellor's announcement of a windfall tax on privatised utilities. The one-off tax leaves the utility companies facing bills from £45 million to £500 million.

According to Lex Vehicle Leasing LCV sales manager Paul McKay, many are looking at van leasing as a result. Due to the nature of their work, most utilities have large van fleets which have been bought outright, and could benefit from turning that asset into cash through sale and leaseback deals.

With the electricity companies facing a total bill of around £2.1 billion, water companies set to pay £1.65 billion between them and the other utilities - such as British Gas and Railtrack - having to find £1.45 billion, McKay says many have been looking at the option for some time. Lex has already had discussions with two of the companies - one with around 2,000 vehicles and one part of a consortium with around 10,000 vehicles - and expects interest from others.