LeasePlan, the world’s largest vehicle management and leasing provider, have announced that they will be bringing together its two broker arms into one business unit. The Network franchise division and the intermediary broker division of Automotive Leasing will be brought together during 2008 and re-launched as a new business in 2009.

The combined responsibility of the 2 divisions is currently 50,000 vehicles; LeasePlan aim for this to have risen to 75,000 in 5 year’s time.

Tim Hudson, the commercial director of LeasePlan commented “We have closely examined the logic of retaining two separate brands. Bringing our two broker divisions into one, we will provide an unrivalled solution to the UK intermediary broker sector.”

Network will cease to recruit new franchises at the end of June 2008. The public sector division of Automotive Leasing will remain unaffected by the changes.