Pullman Fleet Services, the maintenance division of Wincanton,has been appointed by Asda to look after 1,800 of its home delivery vehicle fleet.

The contract is for a fleet management solution that will include dedicated 24/7, 365 days a year repair and maintenance cover for Asda's fleet of 3.5 tonne home delivery vehicles in the East Midlands, Northern England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Pullman has already provided a nationwide defect management programme for Asda's UK fleet of large goods vehicles for the last two years.

Traditionally a heavy goods vehicle repair business, Pullman has recently expanded its mobile repair capability. The business has its own technicians and facilities spread throughout the UK.

Graham Hunter, Pullman's managing director, said: "Clearly both businesses share a common value of delivering excellent customer service and we are of course delighted to be expanding our relationship with Asda.

"We look forward to using our expertise to bring further efficiencies to Asda's fleet, and to providing Asda with certainty of cost, helping it maintain its promise of providing value and savings to its many customers."

Sean Clifton, Asda's MultiChannel Fleet Contracts Manager, added: "We were adamant that we required a partner that could help us meet our promise of saving our customers money every day. Pullman already provides a comprehensive and successful defect management programme to our nationwide fleet so we were well aware of its capabilities.

"The new repair and maintenance contract announced today provides us with further certainty of cost as well as creating even more efficient working practices."