Consultant Rob Sirett was brought in to advise Vodafone following the cancellation of its print management contract with The Print Factory earlier this year (PrintWeek, 9 September).

"What we've done is create a hybrid system somewhere between in-house print buying and print management," said Sirett.

Following an audit Sirett isolated the ideal way of purchasing print for the firm. Although he declined to go into further details he said this would involve an in-house team at Vodafone, responsible for print buying and management.

Vodafone's head of marketing procurement Mark Coulson said the intention had been to create an initiative that sat between print buying and management, combining all the benefits, but without the pitfalls.

Coulson said a roster was still being worked on, with printers being evaluated against a set of criteria drawn up by Sirett. This is likely to lead to a final list of between 12-15 printers.

Story by Andy Scott