XCH.L Regulatory News (XCH)

XCHANGING WINS PROCUREMENT OUTSOURCING CONTRACT WITH CHEP EUROPE TO MANAGE A TOTAL SPEND OF £375 MILLION, OVER FIVE YEARS

CHEP Europe to utilise Xchanging's procurement processing platform to streamline processes, drive efficiencies and reduce costs in non-core procurement

LONDON, 07 April 2010 - CHEP, the global leader in pallet and container pooling services has awarded a five-year procurement outsourcing contract to Xchanging (LSE:XCH), one of the largest and fastest growing global business processors. CHEP operates in 45 countries, serving customers in diverse sectors. Their global partners include Procter & Gamble, SYSCO, Kraft, Nestle, Ford and GM. The company has more than 7,500 employees.

As part of the contract, Xchanging will manage £75 million of spend per annum (£375 million of spend over five years) on behalf of CHEP Europe and help integrate and standardise procurement processes for CHEP's business across the UK, France, Germany and Spain for their non-core categories. Xchanging will consolidate spend management and help reduce overall non-core procurement costs across CHEP's European businesses. The contract will include sourcing of non-core categories and a large proportion of procure-to-pay activities.

CHEP is part of Brambles Limited, a leading provider of supply chain and information management services through its two businesses, CHEP and Recall. Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Brambles operates in 47 countries and employs more than 12,000 people.

Commenting on this contract, Marcelo Di Benedetto, Sourcing & Quality Director, CHEP Europe said, "We believe in constant improvement to provide the highest value to our customers and shareholders. Outsourcing our non-core procurement to a specialist such as Xchanging will provide us access to industry-leading expertise and global best practice in procurement processes and technology. We expect a number of benefits including increased efficiency, reduced costs and internalisation of best practices. Our goal is to spend smarter and get the best value from our supplier relationships."

David Andrews, CEO, Xchanging, added, "We are delighted at the prospect of working for a global leader that understands that efficient processes are a competitive edge. Xchanging has a strong track record of working with large, multinational companies to significantly reduce their procurement costs through strategic sourcing. Our aim will be to deliver procurement services that create sustainable value for CHEP Europe by enabling them to keep their costs to a minimum and thereby allowing CHEP to continue to offer competitive services to their customers. We look forward to being CHEP's procurement processor of choice."

Xchanging manages annual indirect spend of over £1 billion on behalf of large corporations and services multi-sector customers across a range of geographies and industries. With high-calibre procurement category experts and world-class technology, Xchanging offers a complete suite of procurement services from sourcing and spend management to procure-to-pay. Xchanging is recognised as a tier one Procurement Services provider globally by the Everest Research Institute.

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For further information, please contact:

Xchanging

Meeta Thareja Tel: +44 (0)20 7780 5374

meeta.thareja@xchanging.com 

Cardew Group Tel: +44 (0)20 7930 0777

xchanging@cardewgroup.com

About CHEP

CHEP is the global leader in pallet and container pooling services serving many of the world's largest companies. The company has more than 7,500 employees and operates in 45 countries. Combining superior technology and an asset base of more than 300 million pallets and containers, CHEP offers its customers exceptional value, a platform that enables reduction in customer product damage, and an environmentally sustainable logistical solution. Supply chains served include consumer goods, produce, beverage, and the automotive industry. With global partners that include Procter & Gamble, SYSCO, Kellogg's, Kraft, Nestle, Ford and GM, CHEP is known for Handling the World's Most Important Products. Everyday.

www.chep.com

About Xchanging

Xchanging is one of the largest and fastest growing business processors. With a wide range of multinational customers in 42 countries and employing over 8,000 people, we are a truly global company. Our aim is simply to provide business processing services better, cheaper and faster.

Xchanging provides procurement, accounting, human resources and technology services across industries. These include banking, insurance, manufacturing, retail and real estate among others. We combine functional expertise with deep industry domain knowledge to provide industry-specific outcomes for our customers.

Listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2007, the company is in the FTSE250, the index of mid-capitalised companies traded on the London Stock Exchange. Xchanging is also a member of the FTSE4Good index which measures the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.

www.xchanging.com