A BATTLE for United Biscuits’ fleet business has seen Vauxhall beat its rival Ford.

The company is switching its fleet of Fords to Vauxhall and Saab following a tender involving five manufacturers.

United Biscuits (UB) cited the new Astra – which will make up 300 of its 540-strong fleet – as one of the reasons for choosing Vauxhall.

Tony Lane, European purchasing manager at UB, said: ‘There will now be a wider choice for senior managers, including Vauxhall and Saab cars. We opted for Vauxhall ahead of Ford because of the better wholelife costs of the cars we evaluated.’