Prepress
ACCESSPLUS SIGNS UP DERBY HOMES AND THE NATIONAL PATIENT SAFETY AGENCY
Thursday 15. January 2009 - AccessPlus has today announced the signing of new contracts with Derby Homes Limited and the Department of Health's National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA), which combined it expects to be worth in excess of £1 million.
Following the acquisition in 2008 by leading business supplies and managed services company office2office plc, these wins demonstrate AccessPlus’s increasing ability to secure new contracted business, providing solutions which deliver more than just the traditional print management service.
Derby Homes Limited has taken the decision to outsource its print procurement for the first time to maximise cost savings and to reduce the pressure on its in-house creative team, leaving it free to concentrate on other aspects of the business. AccessPlus is providing the NPSA with a call handling, warehousing, distribution and mailing solution and has also integrated an online ordering system within the NPSA’s existing infrastructure.
Derby Homes Limited is the Arms Length Management company (ALMO) created by Derby City Council to manage, maintain and improve its council housing and estates. AccessPlus is managing the production, storage and distribution of all its promotional print requirements including its quarterly newsletter for residents and annual report. By implementing systems and procedures such as the proprietary OSCOS, online stock management system and the auditing of stock levels at its offices across Derby, AccessPlus has helped Derby Homes to purchase and distribute printed stock more effectively. AccessPlus is also helping Derby Homes to limit the impact of its operations on the environment by delivering print on just two pre-agreed days per week. Print orders for its offices are not dispatched until these pre-agreed days so as to avoid multiple deliveries and unnecessary vehicle trips.
Jane Bettany, Marketing Officer, Derby Homes Limited says: “We chose AccessPlus because we were impressed with the range of services it proposed and felt confident that it could address our mailing requirements, an area where we had been let down in the past. Rather than dealing with numerous print suppliers direct, our marketing and creative team is now free to concentrate on the development of our promotional materials and our correspondence with residents. The relevant reports are not due just yet but it’s already clear to us that we have made savings by consolidating our print spend with AccessPlus.”
The NPSA is a Special Health Authority of the NHS, leading and contributing to improved, safe patient care by informing, supporting and influencing healthcare individuals and organisations throughout England and Wales. AccessPlus has taken on the production, storage and distribution of the NPSA’s posters, leaflets and reports which are aimed at healthcare staff. It has developed an online ordering system which has been fully integrated within the NPSA’s existing website. The system is more efficient and reliable than the previous system, which was based on telephone, fax and email ordering. Security has also been improved as the new system is able to verify whether or not users requesting printed items from the NPSA are NHS employees.
Says Clive Gotch, Business Development Director, AccessPlus: “Derby Homes and the NPSA awarded contracts to AccessPlus on the strength of its technology offering and both are now benefiting from the significant cost and time savings that can be achieved with consolidation of supply, streamlined ordering systems and the careful monitoring of stock. In the case of the NPSA, AccessPlus has seamlessly integrated its technology with that of the NPSA, resulting in an improved service which is more cost-effective and secure than before with absolutely no disruption to normal operations.”