A QUESTION mark has been thrown over the future management of the AA's fleet following its proposed purchase by Centrica. Both the companies run large car and van fleets, many of them for staff working in the field, and the vast increase in buying power from merging the two operations cannot be ignored.

Centrica's fleet is the larger of the two, numbering 5,300 vans and 2,500 cars, while the AA has a fleet of 5,000 vehicles, including a 4,000-strong breakdown fleet and 1,000 company cars. There are also about 1,100 vehicles, all Ford Fiestas, in the AA Driving School fleet, which are supplied direct from Ford and managed by British Car Contracts. Centrica's fleet boss Paul Holmes was unable to comment on the future role his fleet department could play in running the AA fleet.