Consignia and Opus Trust have formed a joint Venture.

First class deal by Consignia and Opus Trust gets stamp of approval
[16th Nov 2001]
Consignia (the new name for The Post Office) and Opus Trust, the business services group, today creates a new joint venture to revolutionise transactional mailing. The company called Optecon will operate throughout the UK and Europe. Optecon will be based in Leicester and will employ up to 120 people, rising to 200 by 2005. The company will offer large organisations the opportunity to outsource their transactional mail requirements to a trusted and value-adding supplier. Optecon will offer customers the opportunity to enhance their conventional billing with personalised messages. Until now, companies have not maximised the use of transactional mail despite it being a highly successful way to communicate with customers. The white spaces on statements and bills can be used for messages or delivery of important information relevant to individual customers. Optecon will segment individual customer data using an advanced tool that selects the correct messages depending on the customer and billing type. A multi-million pound investment has been made in highly advanced multi-lingual and multi-currency software which, together with additional equipment, will enable businesses to optimise postal rates. Optecon will be able to produce a quarter of a billion mail packs a year. It will have a full integrity system for the transactional mail, ensuring that it is tracked throughout the process. The system receives electronic data, segments it, composes relevant messages, prints them, stuffs the envelopes and mails the items. The system can print a wide variety of documents including statements, bills and insurance renewals. The joint venture arose when Opus Trust decided to establish a transactional billing operation in Leicester and recognised that Consignia’s Electronic Services business located nearby had an obvious synergy with its own new business, adding significant printing and software capability. “Leicester offers the perfect location for Opus Trust and Optecon. It has excellent transport connections, a skilled pool of labour, and is centrally placed for us to attract a business from all regions of the UK for our operations,” said Peter De Haan, Chief Executive of Opus Trust. “The site also allows easy transfer for existing staff from the Electronic Services sites in Leicester which was a major consideration in deciding to site the business here,” he continued. Established five years ago, the Electronics Services arm of Consignia has an impressive client list including organisations such as Avis, npower, Green Flag. Jim Pang, Director of Electronic Services at Consignia, said: “The joint venture makes perfect sense as it combines Consignia’s integrity and infrastructure with the commercial acumen and market knowledge of the Opus Trust Group, a recognised player in the business services market”. “Opus Trust has significant contacts which will immediately bring more business to the operation and fill spare capacity, and it has the ability and expertise to move fast, be flexible and respond to market conditions.” “Although we have made great strides with Electronic Services we knew that in order to fully exploit the market opportunities we needed to increase skills, market presence and the scale of our operational infrastructure. We are confident that the joint venture will achieve this and provide the investment required. We believe it is the right deal for our business and our people”.
Optecon Ltd will be located at a new production facility in Leicester
scheduled for completion in early 2002. – Ends – For further information
please contact: Elinor Smallwood/Tania Mallett, The Communication Group, 020
7630 1411 or Christine Gregory, Consignia Press Office, tel: 0207 250 2417
Notes to Editors: About Opus Trust 1. Opus Trust was founded in 1999 by
Peter De Haan. Formerly Peter was Group Finance Director and part owner of
the Saga Group. 2. Opus Trust is comprised of 5 companies: ADM Group Mailing
Services Ltd, Eurowide Telecoms Ltd, TIA Systems Ltd, H&H Bancroft Ltd and
Versatile Furniture Solutions Ltd employing over 400 employees in 11 offices
throughout the UK. 3. Opus Trust’s client list includes blue-chip companies
such as British Airways, Cap Gemini, ensure (part of the Halifax Group), GKN
Group and Channel 4. About Consignia 1. Consignia was given plc status in
March 2001, but continues to be owned by the Government. It owns the Royal
Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and Post Office brands. 2. Consignia’s
Electronic Services arm was established in 1995 and its client list includes
npower, BBC, Avis, Alex Lawrie. 3. It offers a data handling service which
involves the transfer of client data for conversion into printed mail e.g.
statements, payslips which is then channelled through the Royal Mail
distribution system for delivery. Optecon Further capabilities The Optecon
facility will include the following key features: · A full contingency back
up site · Cheque printing with APACS approval · Selective inserts · Mail
sort and Walk Sort · Multiple stationery types · Composition and data
manipulation tools
www.consignia.com