UNISYS has agreed a two-year pan-European deal worth more than £20 million with Avis Fleet Services for the running of its 2,800-strong multinational fleet. Discussions have started to review the potential of extending the scheme from Europe to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The Unisys fleet includes a 1,200-strong car and van fleet in the UK, where the computer services group has been using four different suppliers, including Avis Fleet Services. The three firms which have lost the UK contract are not being named. Avis Fleet Services is now the sole supplier to Unisys in the UK, Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Italy and will be preferred supplier in several other EU countries.

Vauxhall has a sole supplier manufacturer agreement - currently under review - in the UK, but the arrangement throughout Europe is now under consideration to enhance the savings possible from a pan-European fleet deal. Work on the pan-European operation began as far back as May 1997 when a tender document was issued by Unisys. Avis Fleet Services' owner GE Capital Fleet Services won the contract in February 1998, with Avis taking responsibility for the UK fleet in May last year, followed in the second half of the year by Spain, Portugal, Sweden and Italy.