MASTERDRIVE Leasing and Rental is contacting all of its customers, potential customers and suppliers to make sure their software systems are millennium compliant. The company says it is now certain its own IT systems are fully year 2000 compliant, but wants to make sure customers and suppliers are doing the same.

Masterdrive is enclosing a highlighter pen in a mailshot to all the companies that it thinks should be warned of the dangers of the millennium bug. When the clock strikes midnight at the end of 1999 and January 1 arrives, Masterdrive says it wants to be sure its systems are all still running. The company operates a contract hire and leasing fleet of almost 10,000 cars and vans, and says it is conscious of the lack of time companies now have to become millennium compliant.