CitySprint,has been awarded a national contract with air traffic control service provider NATS. NATS provides air traffic control services at 15 of the UK's biggest airports and ‘en-route’ air traffic services for aircraft flying through UK airspace. NATS operates at sites across the UK and relies upon its courier services provider to deliver to and collect from any one of its sites, no matter how remote.

Under the contract CitySprint will be providing SameDay and NextDay courier services nationally and internationally for NATS on a daily basis through its national network of 30+ ServiceCentres. CitySprint will be delivering to engineers in the field, employees, customers and suppliers, across the UK, within Europe or beyond.

The contract was awarded to CitySprint following the completion of a comprehensive tender process. NATS invited numerous courier service providers to submit and discuss innovative solutions and services aimed at meeting and exceeding NATS specific requirements. In this tender NATS opted to award on the basis of best value for money taking into consideration price, service performance, reliability and innovation.

Richard Katon, NATS Commercial Specialist, explains why CitySprint was chosen over other competitors: “During the tender process I was impressed with the innovative approach CitySprint offered and the manner in which they engaged with NATS in establishing how CitySprint could best deliver the requirement.

“CitySprint met the criteria that we set in advance of the tender and we were confident that they could deliver the improvements we required. Discussions with the CitySprint team, together with a comprehensive service structure and competitive pricing helped us establish that CitySprint offered the best value solution for NATS”.

The contract went live in September 2008 with a staggered start for different areas of NATS estate enabling NATS to oversee the transition from its existing courier services provider to CitySprint. The transition is currently continuing with a view to completion in February 2009.

Richard continues: “CitySprint has become a key part of our support infrastructure and I am pleased with their performance to date. I am impressed by the level of support, service performance and dedication that CitySprint bring to the contract”.