Case Studies
Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Executive (GMPTE)
The Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority (GMPTA) is the body established to assess the public transport needs of the county and make policy decisions about public transport provision.
It is made up of 33 Councillors appointed by the 10 District Councils in Greater Manchester. The Authority provides a grant to GMPTE which is the body responsible for implementing the Authority's policies. Some of its responsibilities include:
- GMPTE pays for bus services which are not provided commercially by bus operators.
- GMPTE actively campaigns to promote public transport in Greater Manchester
- GMPTE owns the innovative and successful Metrolink system which carries over 19million passengers a year.
- GMPTE owns bus stations, shelters and stops in Greater Manchester
- GMPTE subsidises concessionary fares and free travel facilities on buses throughout the region
- GMPTE carries out the policies of GMPTA to ensure that local rail services meet local travel needs
Client Challenge
In June 2008, GMPTE was given the authorisation from the government to enter into a period of consultation for a package of transport investment in the Greater Manchester area. GMPTE required a partner for the printing, personalising and fulfilment of the consultation documents to be issued to all businesses and households in the Greater Manchester Area. Due to the short timescale required and the high profile of the project, GMPTE decided to source the supplier through the Buying Solutions Framework (formerly known as the OGC) removing the need for an OJEU procurement initiative. Following a bid exercise within the Lot 11’s accredited companies, Paragon was awarded the contract.
Our Solution
Identification of mailing list
As it was a formal regulated consultation, there was a requirement to establish the areas, postcodes and local authorities that were contained within the Greater Manchester boundary. Following the agreement of these areas, all the households/letterboxes contained within the boundaries had to be identified using the most reliable and up-to-date source. The areas of Greater Manchester and households within the agreed parameter were identified using details supplied by Ordnance Survey and Paragon’s data bureau, Rocket Science.
Printing, personalisation and fulfilment
Within a 4 week period, Paragon achieved the following:
- 130k Business Newsletter packs containing a duplex letter and 16pp booklet were printed, personalised, fulfilled and mailed.
- 1.2m domestic consultation packs and 130k business consultation packs comprising a carrier sheet, response form with unique barcode and OCR number, BRE and pocket guide were printed, personalised, fulfilled, poly-wrapped and mailed.
- 5000 information packs comprising of 3 booklets (How 44pp, Why 32pp & What 104pp) were formatted by both Paragon and approved vendors studios. These were for general issue to stakeholders, press and available to the general public upon request.
Added-value services:
To support the initial print, personalisation and fulfilment of the mailings, Paragon also provided additional services included:
- Returns Management – Full tracking system, submission of reports to GMPTE regarding returned packs
- Fulfilment of additional requests - via GMPTE or Granby Marketing (GMPTE's helpline) actioned by Paragon
- Track and Trace system - Using the response forms’ barcodes for both returned packs and fulfilment requests
The above facility enabled any non receipt notifications to be cross referenced to identify if the requestor had not been included in the original mailing or if their respective pack had been returned as a ‘goneaway’.
Benefits
By our appointment, GMPTE benefited from:
- A single point of contact throughout the entire process
- A cost reduction of 50% - Paragon challenged the initial format and production method of the documents and offered an alternative specification resulting in GMPTE costs being reduced by 50%
- Data Generation - Paragon supplied data to GMPTE therefore it had to be leased/purchased using legally and data protection compliant method of contracting
- Identification of what postcodes/local authorities actually made up the Greater Manchester area
- Highly co-ordinated project team, key members liaising with GMPTE personnel, formal partners approved suppliers
- Integrity and confidentiality throughout the whole process