Nationwide Maintenance is one of the UK's leading providers of planned, preventive and emergency maintenance across the commercial, retail and industrial sectors. It is headquartered in Godalming, Surrey, with regional offices in Daventry, Leeds and Bristol.

The firm's fleet consists of around 150 Citroen vans, which Lombard is supplying with racking and signage, and vehicle tracking is being trialled. The remainder of the contract-hire fleet is a mix of Vauxhall Astra job vehicles and user-chooser management cars. All are diesel-powered. In addition Lombard is also providing 40 long-term rental vehicles to give the flexibility required given the current economic climate.

Nationwide's regional operations manager, Paul Witter, praised Lombard's winning approach. 'For us this is about building a strong relationship. The other companies in the tender had similar offerings but it came down to the quality of the people. The service level Lombard provided during the tender exercise was excellent, but what really made the difference was that they had a long-term approach and a partnership ethos. In addition they were able to be the most competitive on price, so it became a simple decision for us.'