Hot on the heels of winning the contract to print banknotes for the Bank of England, De La Rue has ordered two full lines of banknote printing equipment for the Bank of England Printing Works at Debden.
The order is a major coup for Komori Currency Technology which has ousted KBA as the key supplier to De La Rue. KCT has supplied a banknote line to the printer’s Gateshead facility and has signed a technical agreement with De La Rue for “fundamental improvements in quality, productivity and cost reduction and for the development of future innovative security printing technology” according to a Komori statement last week.
The banknote printing contract will start in April next year and has a duration of ten years, a period which will lead to the introduction of polymer substrates for the new £5 and £10 denomination notes. This follows on from a contract awarded to De La Rue in 2003.
The incumbent was recognised as preferred bidder in September, signing the deal last month. This prompted De La Rue chairman Philip Rogerson to declare: “We are delighted with the Bank of England’s decision to award this prestigious and important contract to De La Rue, following a rigorous selection procedure. We are looking forward to continuing our successful working relationship with the Bank over the next 10 years.”
Komori, however, is not alone in supplying De La Rue with currency printing technology. At the annual meeting of the European Rotogravure Association in Germany this year, Dr Giancarlo Cerutti announced that the Italian manufacturer was supplying a gravure press to produce the UK’s polymer banknotes.
This is an R98X press which is supplied to Innovia Security for the plant it is building in Wigton to produce the Guardian polymer substrate. The Cerutti will allow the company to include high security features into the substrate. The press will include units to embed these security elements and has 11 further printing units.
The notes will then be finished at Debden using the site’s currency printing machines. The £5 will be introduced in 2016 and the £10 a year later.
The order is a major coup for Komori Currency Technology which has ousted KBA as the key supplier to De La Rue. KCT has supplied a banknote line to the printer’s Gateshead facility and has signed a technical agreement with De La Rue for “fundamental improvements in quality, productivity and cost reduction and for the development of future innovative security printing technology” according to a Komori statement last week.
