NATIONAL Car Rental has won what is believed to be the first ever UK negotiated global car hire deal - worth a minimum of £1.5 million and around 1,000 rentals a month. The three-year contract with pharmaceutical giant Glaxo Wellcome will see the car hire firm manage the organisation's car rental requirements throughout Europe, the USA and Canada.

National is now implementing the agreement across the US and Canada and next month will phase in the European side of the operation. The rental company expects the European phase to take around two months to get off the ground in countries such as Germany, Italy, Holland, Belgium and Spain. As part of the UK agreement, National will provide Glaxo Wellcome with 'D group' cars, such as the Vauxhall Vectra, Nissan Primera and Ford Mondeo. These vehicles will be used by Glaxo's sales force and management teams to travel between company locations, laboratories and customer sites.

In addition, staff based at Glaxo Wellcome's UK head office in London will use the cars to travel to airports when flying out to the company's head office in North Carolina. The cars, which will be used for an average of three rental days, will also be used as replacement fleet vehicles and as temporary company cars for new starters.