BCH Vehicle Management Services is to float on the London Stock Exchange in November in a move which will value the company at between £35m and £40m. The flotation follows a management buyout at the Bristol-based contract hire and fleet management company in December 1995.

'BCH has been successfully developed by the current management team,' said Richard Pepper, chief executive of BCH. 'A listing on the London Stock Exchange will further raise the profile of the company, enhance opportunities to expand the business and enable us to take advantage of the growth in our target markets.'

The company has already earmarked £1.5 million raised through the flotation for investment over the next 18 months in IT, communication systems and a significant expansion of its retail site for ex-contract vehicles. This is set to double in size to a 350-car site, including space for 100 cars under cover, at BCH's Fishponds headquarters.

BCH runs 11,444 vehicles on contract hire and a further 1,767 on fleet management, and predicts its total fleet size will number 14,500 by the end of the year.

In the year ended December 31, 1996 the company made £2.7m profit on a turnover of £46.5m, and to the end of August this year it had generated an operating profit of £2.3m on a turnover of £35.8m. HSBC Investment Bank plc is the sponsor to the flotation and the stockbroker is Panmure Gordon & Co.