PARAGON Group has doubled the size of its fleet with the acquisition of another leasing company a year after its purchase of RCR Contract Hire. The finance company, which was previously known as National Home Loans, has bought Airflow Streamlines' 2,000-vehicle contract hire fleet in a £4 million deal.

Paragon, which also has interests in mortgages and consumer finance, and was last week renamed RCR Paragon Vehicle Contracts and is seeking to increase its contract hire subsidiary's presence in the corporate fleet market. Paragon will take over Airflow's existing contract hire agreements and assume responsibility for maintenance and customer contact with the companies' 200 corporate clients, but will continue to use external finance. Airflow - a subsidiary of an industrial automotive engineering operation - made an operating profit of £802,000 last year.