News on 26 September 2000
Williams Lea has been awarded a £210m seven-year
contract by AXA. Williams Lea is to assume responsibility for the management
of all AXA’s print production that supports its insurance activities
in the UK.
The company will manage a vendor base and provide customers with real-time,
on-line access through the deployment of an e-procurement platform. Account
management resources are to be deployed within AXA’s offices and
Williams Lea will transfer a number of AXA employees.
AXA’s global strategic procurement director, Pete Wilkinson, said
AXA felt it needed a fundamentally new approach to the way it manages
its marketing print procurement across the group. The arrangement with
Williams Lea to outsource the print and fulfilment production is highly
innovative and has set a new benchmark in optimising economic benefits
from such partnership arrangements, he added.
William Lea’s UK managing director, Miles Toulson-Clarke, said: "The
award of the AXA contract represents a watershed for the supply of print
to major organisations. As our clients develop strategic sourcing techniques
to complement their e-procurement strategies, it is no longer appropriate
for them to procure print and related services in the traditional way."
AXA is an insurance and asset management company with over £488bn
of assets under management, employing 140,000 staff and tied agents in
over 60 countries. Williams Lea is a corporate information management
provider and its services include document workflow consultancy, internet
solutions, design and graphic services.
