Firms involved in the frame­work, which is being led by the Department for Transport (DfT), will now have the chance to bid for work from a wide range of public bodies including both Whitehall departments and local and regional authorities.

The four-year Pan Gov­ernment Collaborative Framework Agreement is the result of a tender launched by the Office of Government Commerce last April.

The framework replaces one previously dedicated to the DfT and has a committed annual spend of around £85m, although the initial tender claimed that this could rise to as much as £250m.

It was split into 10 lots covering web offset, B1, B2, digital printing and finishing, large-format, stationery, labels, packaging, print management and digital asset management.

A spokesman for the Office of Government Commerce, which will run the framework initially, said: “One of the benefits of using the new framework is that it is wholly OJEU-compliant and will remove the need to undertake separate OJEU exercises.”

The spokesman added that detailed guidance on the new framework is expected to be published by next month.