NATIONWIDE Fleet Services has bought Payless Car Rental for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition gives Sussex-based Nationwide rental branch locations at Heathrow, Gatwick and Manchester airports.

Taiwanese company Granatico acquired the Payless franchise in 1996 - well established in the United States - and aimed to open a 150- strong network of car rental and car sales outlets in this country as a springboard for European expansion. It did succeed in opening a number of Payless franchises, but few survived, and as a result the company began to open corporately owned locations.