Specialist and secure print services provider, BemroseBooth, have been awarded a 3 year contract , with an option for a further 2 years , commencing 1 st July 2006 for up to 5 years to supply ticketing and related services to the Rail Industry in the UK by FPA Consulting. FPA Consulting confirmed the deal on behalf of the UK Train Operating Companies (TOCs); BemroseBooth have previously held the contract since 1996 . The new contract and the extension will potentially run through until June 2011 – seeing this well towards the 2012 Olympics where integrated UK transport is a prime focus.

The contract is the most important in UK surface transport and means that BemroseBooth will continue to supply all ticketing used by the TOCs – this equates to hundreds of millions of items a year across a range of different product types.

Commenting on the award, Graham Bennington, CEO said:

“We are delighted with this contract award; this represents a culmination of many years hard work in providing the rail industry with exceptional account management and product innovation. Having provided a major input into the seamless technology change that UK Rail ticketing has gone through in the last 2 years, we are very well placed through our investments to support the TOCs through the next generation of ticketing as the industry embraces Smartcard and Smart ticket technology.”

“Going forward we are looking to further leverage our expertise in tailored e-commerce solutions for the TOCs and our deep understanding of a complex logistics and distribution network to push forward on our strategy into print management.”

Rail tickets are currently distributed along with other printed products to over 2000 stations and travel agents nationwide across 22 TOCs. Stock can be ordered and tracked on-line via BemroseBooths portal TocStock.

Responding on behalf of FPA Consulting and the TOCs, Roger Guest, Director, said:

“ This award is testament to the work that BemroseBooth employees have provided and they have attained a Trusted Partner status for their approach - particularly in the areas of excellent customer service and product Following a clear and transparent procurement process Bemrose Booth were selected upon the basis of their tender submission. development. During this This contract period we will see a major shift in ticketing types resulting from the introduction of new Ticket Issuing machines technology and BemroseBooth are well versed in the issues associated with managing this transition. this technology .”