MOBILE phone manufacturer Ericsson has awarded a £1.5 million daily rental contract to Lease Plan. The deal comes two months after Lease Plan won a sole supply fleet management contract for Ericsson's 700-strong fleet.

The leasing and fleet management company handled over 48,000 daily rental reservations last year, and promotes its short term hire facility as a stand alone product, promising competitive rates, unlimited mileage, no charge on one-way rentals, petrol recharged at pump prices, a service charter, guaranteed availability, a worldwide reservation service and pre-contract rates.

Lease Plan sources all its short term hire vehicles through National Car Rental, and is now National's largest leasing customer. Graham Rixon, Lease Plan's operations director, said: 'We look forward to providing Ericsson with a daily rental service which is one of the best in the industry. Lease Plan and National Car Rental work closely together to ensure that the daily rental product encompasses all our customers' demands.'