The deal will see the Leatherhead-headquartered business supporting The Co-operative Group’s marketing activities across its entire estate of over 2,500 Co-op stores and also provide support for Funeralcare, Insurance and Membership.
Its services to the company will include POS, direct mail, marketing print, operational print, ticketing and warehousing.
The work will go live on 1 April 2020, before which work will be transitioned for all departments, each with their own requirements. As part of the contract implementation, HH Global will open a new office in Manchester, close to The Co-operative Group’s head office, to support the business as well as other clients based in the region.
HH Global chief executive Robert MacMillan told Printweek that the firm’s pure outsource model was particularly attractive to The Co-operative Group.
“The key element from the client’s perspective was our people; I think they really liked our people, they liked our proposition, and I think we’ve given a lot of confidence about our ability to make sure we incorporate and drive change in their business.
“We’ve proven to clients that we can drive better value, better performance through an outsource model, and open up the market to the best-in-class suppliers rather than just driving it through our own presses.”
Co-op head of creative services Gemma Kidd added: “Over the last 18 months we’ve reviewed our agency ecosystem, with print and POS production being a key area of this.
“Following a market review and tender process, we chose HH Global because of the quality of their people, their ability to understand and satisfy our diverse business units, and the reassurance they were able to give us around transition and taking care of the staff that work on the account.
“We’re really excited to welcome them into our agency roster and see how their collaboration with us and our other partners can add value for all our marketing teams.”
As part of the agreement, HH Global will provide both on-site and near-site account management support from Manchester for Co-op. The account will also be supported from HH Global’s office in Wakefield.
The new contract follows several other recent wins for HH Global in the UK retail sector, including Asda and JD Sports. The business reported a revenue increase of 17.7% in its Q2 results, which came out in December, shortly after its agreement of a £100m strategic minority equity investment from Blackstone Tactical Opportunities.
“Our business is significantly ahead of budget, and with our investment now with Blackstone we’re actively looking at acquisitions,” MacMillan added.
HH Global has recently taken on 270 new staff, taking the total to 1,300 worldwide, and its clients include Google, HSBC, Pepsico, Procter & Gamble and Samsung.
