English Heritage picks its top six printers for 1.2m tender

11 March 2009

Print buying

English Heritage has awarded a 1.2m contract to six printers after a rigorous two-phase tendering process that eliminated more than 150 firms.

The organisation submitted firms to financial, insurance, accreditation, sample and health and safety checks before inviting them to tender.

The successful printers were The Colour House, Alderson Brothers, Pureprint, Park Communications, St Ives (Andover) and Pindar.

Elaine Pooke, production manager at English Heritage, said: "They might be big names, but they have been through stringent testing. We used a restricted process and a point-scoring system. In the current climate, you have to keep the process tight. We need to make sure printers can meet our requirements and that they are stable enough to survive."

The first stage included a pre-qualification questionnaire followed by a detailed tender application.

"To get to the tender stage, printers have to show extreme commitment. Although the application process is tough, once onboard we ensure printers are treated equally and that they receive a good spread of work," she said.

Each printer has been offered an initial two-year contract with the view to extend this to four years.

"Apart from background checks, this year we put a lot of emphasis on colour management and FSC certification. Accreditations are important to us," added Pooke.