Arcadia Group Sign £75 Million Strategic IT Agreement with IBM
LONDON (November 30, 1999) – The UK’s second largest fashion retailer, Arcadia Group, today announced that it has signed a strategic Information Technology (IT) outsourcing agreement with IBM. The agreement valued at £75 million ($124 million) over 10 years is for the direct management and support of all its 5,000 point-of-sale terminals in 2,000 standalone stores and 600 concessions throughout the UK and Ireland. It is anticipated that this outsourcing arrangement will lead to cost-efficiencies for Arcadia Group of more than £1 million per year.
With the emergence of sophisticated customer focused systems in the retail sector, professional services companies, such as IBM, are developing and deploying professional services to assist in the management of what can be a large and complex environment. This agreement is one of the first major agreements of its kind in the retail sector and is the first deal of this type for IBM Global Services in Europe. It will involve the transfer of around 50 staff to IBM. No redundancies are expected.
John Hoerner, CEO of Arcadia Group said; “This agreement is consistent with our partnering with market leaders in key support areas. This deal enables us to deliver improved cost-efficiencies for the Group, to maintain our leading edge in the use of IT and will result in better service to our customers by speeding up transactions at the point of sale. This alliance with IBM will give us the efficiencies and organisational flexibility we need to pursue our business strategy in this age of new technology.”
Source: IBM