The contract is currently held by RR Donnelley’s Global Document Solutions (RRD GDS) due to its purchase of Astron in June 2005, which had previously acquired Edotech, a company formed after the management buyout of Barclays’ print division in May 2000.
However, a spokesman for Barclays told PrintWeek that the contract was currently under review as part of the company’s regular review of all supplier contracts.
He added: “A tender process is ongoing with a number of potential suppliers, including the incumbent. A decision is expected by the end of the year.”
The contract is believed to be worth around £25m a year and industry speculation suggests the banking giant may be looking to split the work between two companies.
Communisis has been rumoured as a front runner for at least part of the contract, but may face competition from a host of companies, including Williams Lea, Dsicmm and Polestar Direct.
Yolanda Noble, chief executive of Dsicmm, said the company had not yet decided to bid for the contract.
Simon Ward, St Ives managing director for UK sales, ruled the print giant out of the bidding, saying “transactional print would have to be a managed service and this area is not core to our strategy”.
RRD GDS and Commun-isis both declined to comment when contacted by PrintWeek.
Barclays' bumper print contract up for grabs
Print management firms are currently tendering for one of the largest contracts in the business, following Barclays' decision to review its transactional print spend.
