A SMALL firm's 340-vehicle in-house contract hire operation is being expanded nationally to cater for more than 1,200 vehicles under the direct control of new fleet manager. EG Tucker, the Bristol-based fleet operation of regional newspaper group Bristol United Press, is to take on the fleet requirements of its new parent company, Northcliffe Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Mail and several regional newspaper titles.

In spite of the current trend for companies to outsource their fleet operations, the company believes keeping it in-house is the best option.

Trevor Lethaby, EG Tucker's finance director, said: 'I have been the fleet manager part-time looking after our fleet of 260 cars and 80 LCVs. However this will be quite an expansion and we now need a full-time fleet manager. We have been doing this for years in-house and we anticipate making savings because of our greater buying power.'

As part of the expansion, the company will be renamed Press Fleet Management and will buy cars outright and lease them to the employees. Around 75% of the fleet will be essential users, with the remainder user-choosers. Currently, the fleet runs a dual-badge Ford and Volkswagen fleet, but it plans to take on a third manufacturer.