Virgin Projects and the facilities management wing of Wace Corporate Print have set up a joint venture to handle Virgin Groups 25m-plus annual print spend.
Megan Simpkins, formerly production director at London corporate design business CGI, has been recruited as client services director for the venture which operates as part of Virgin Projects, Virgins merchandising and marketing business.
It follows a successful pilot scheme between the two businesses. "We are providing a value-added service to Virgin companies and expect to offer them considerable savings. In order to grow and handle all the Virgin work procedures have to be put in place and standards have to set."
Simpkins will be carrying out an immediate review of Virgins 60 rostered print suppliers, and expects to bring other print firms on board.
Virgin Projects managing director David Hartley described it as Virgins "first group-wide procurement initiative" which would give the group competitive advantages through speed and quality. Future plans include the expansion of the service to external corporate clients outside of the Virgin Group. "We believe we do it differently and better than anyone else," added Hartley.
Wace Corporate Print managing director Angus Steel said the venture had taken two years to develop, and was "not a brokerage, its a value-added option".
"I believe there is a huge opportunity in the market this is a 300-400m business waiting to happen. Together with Virgin we can deliver that, and it could quite quickly become bigger than Wace Corporate Print."
Story by Jo Francis