LEADING telecommunications supplier Ericsson has appointed Lease Plan to manage the maintenance of its 700-vehicle fleet. Lease Plan will also fund Ericsson vehicles via its Open Calculation product, as one of two suppliers of vehicles to the phone firm - the second has yet to be chosen from an unnamed shortlist of two.

Choosing which of the two companies supply vehicles during the contract, which will run for a maximum of two years, will be down to a 'best package on the day' basis. Bill Thompson, Ericsson's procurement director said: 'In the past we have used six leasing companies, including Lease Plan for vehicle funding and management. We were keen to consolidate the number of suppliers we use, moving to just one supplier for fleet management and having the option to use that same partner for vehicle funding.'

Thompson added: 'The two companies will be preferred suppliers, so if their offers for vehicles can be beaten by another company, then we will go with the best deal.' Ericsson's fleet is made up of a range of user-chooser vehicles, including Vauxhalls, Fords and Jaguars. The average replacement cycle is three years/75,000 miles.