Try it like this:

=VLOOKUP("*"&A1&"*",$D$1:$F$50,2,0)

--
Biff
Microsoft Excel MVP


"Rob" wrote in message
...
Hi,

I'm looking up the contents of cell A1 against a list in D1:F50, however,
cell A1 contains for example Z1234 whereas the list in D1:F50 has Z1234 -
Mr R J Smith. I could insert an intermediate column and use =LEFT(D1,5)
to extract the data to find a match on but this then effects other
worksheets that link in.

Is there a way to modify the belwo formula to achive my requirement.

=VLOOKUP(A1,$D$1:$F$50,2,0)

Thanks, Rob