BARRY Rand, the new chairman and chief executive of the Avis Group which includes PHH and Avis Inc, paid a flying visit to PHH Vehicle Management in Swindon just 21 days after taking the helm of the international company. His responsibilities include PHH's leasing and fleet management operations in the UK, Germany and North America, as well as global daily rental company Avis.

'The 'new' Avis Group is an umbrella for a combination of services that we will bring to the industry,' said Rand. 'We see ourselves as a service and information provider, focused on a full array of vehicle management services.' In the United States this will lead to synergies between Avis and PHH in business support functions such as call centres and management information, although both will keep their brand names.

Avis has no rental presence in Europe, however, relying instead on its partnership with Avis Europe, a completely separate company. This leaves the path clear for PHH to develop, and Rand made no secret of the company's ambition to grow. 'This is a knowledge system that gives information right down to individual drivers or vehicles, and we think it will allow PHH to go further up the value chain and work even more as a partner with our customers,' he said. 'We are focused on customer requirements and we realise there are many customers that have global needs and we intend to fulfil them.'