The company has been awarded in both lots one and two to provide passenger vehicles and light commercial vehicles up to 7.5 tonnes.

This follows a relationship with the public sector which has lasted for over 20 years – formerly as Appleyard, which was acquired by ING Car Lease in 2006.

As well as managing relationships directly with local and central government and other publicly-funded organisations, ING Car Lease has been part of the Buying Solutions framework (formerly an NHS PASA agreement), the Central Buying Consortium and other consortia since their inception in the 1990s.

Clive Buhagiar, ING's national public sector manager, commented: 'The Buying Solutions framework really helps to support the management of fleets in the public sector – ensuring that schemes are efficient to run and that financial risk is reduced for all parties.

'On top of that, it helps the wider profile of public sector fleet and the individual vehicles. After all, the wider marketplace is looking for vehicles with a resale value based on higher fuel economy and lower carbon dioxide emissions – something which the Buying Solutions framework helps to ensure.'