JOHN Laing Construction has awarded the contract to manage its 2,500-strong company car fleet to PHH Vehicle Management as part of a major restructuring. Venson will hand over total control of the fleet to PHH by June following a five-way tender process.

The change of supplier follows major changes made at John Laing which will see its fleet size drop by some 300 vehicles from its current level of 2,500. Fleet administration manager David Lee will remain in overall charge of strategy and high level management, while PHH will run the day-to-day operations previously operated by Venson.

The move ends a long-term relationship between Laing and Venson Group which began in 1992 when Venson bought Laing Fleet Services. LFS was a joint venture between John Laing and venture capitalists in 1986 that outsourced the construction company's fleet department and led to the new firm expanding to take on several other fleets.