Banner picks up Carphone Warehouse contract off HH Global

02 May 2012

Point of sale

Banner Managed Communication (BMC) has been awarded a three-year print management contract by Best Buy Europe, the joint venture between Best Buy and the Carphone Warehouse.

BMC, which was born out of AccessPlus and the former BPO arm of The Print Factory (TPF) and DSR - acquired by Office2office in May 2008 and February 2010 respectively, has been awarded a minimum three-year contract with an optional two-year extension clause.

Under the terms of the contract, Banner will provide a range of procurement and PM services, including the establishment of a marketing resource management tool covering the printing and delivery of in-store POS material.

In a statement to the stock exchange, O2O said that Banner and Best Buy would develop "new practices and processes that will significantly improve Best Buy's efficiency and execution across over 1,500 stores in the UK and Northern European markets".

O2O said that the contract, which is expected to move from incumbent supplier HH Global to Banner following a handover period in July, was won on the basis of the group's "open book pricing model".

Simon Moate, chief executive of O2O, said: "We warmly welcome Best Buy Europe. Our established and increasingly important open book managed procurement model is at the heart of our relationship and is again proving a key factor in securing record new business and growth for Office2office."

Catherine Burke, managing director of BMC, added: "On behalf of the team at BMC, we are delighted to have been awarded this contract. I am confident BMC will deliver improved speed and efficiency within Best Buy Europe's marketing operations."

Best Buy Europe head of marketing procurement Kevin Trever, who worked with Banner's previous incarnation TPF in his role as head of marketing procurement at Sky, could not be reached for comment at the time of writing.

O2o said that some initial implementation costs would be incurred and consequently the contract is not expected to materially contribute to the group's results in 2012 but is expected to enhance earnings in 2013.

HH Global chief sales and marketing officer Tony Massey told PrintWeek: "This sees the ex Sky buyer team up with ex TPF colleagues. Whilst we wish Carphone Warehouse well for the future, we are concerned that they may have bought phantom software and European infrastructure on this occasion."