LEASE Plan is poised to become Britain's biggest contract hire and leasing company if its expected acquisition of Dial Contracts goes ahead, according to rumours sweeping the Fleet Show. If the deal goes through Lease Plan, currently Britain's third largest company in the sector with 55,000 units plus 15,000 vehicles with sister company Automotive Leasing, is set to become Britain's first 100,000-unit contract hire and leasing company, according to Fleet News' 'FN50' survey of the UK's top 50 contract hire companies.

Dial Contracts, which also includes Network Vehicles, is the fourth largest with 53,000 vehicles. Neither company would comment on the rumours - the Barclays Bank subsidiary is believed to have been 'for sale' for some time - but Vahid Daemi, chief operating officer of ABN AMRO Lease Holdings, said: 'It has never been a secret that the Lease Plan group has wanted to be the leader in all the major markets.' Dial Contracts' executive director Ian Goswell said: 'There are a lot of rumours. Three to six months ago people said we were being bought by Ford. We don't comment on rumours.'