The Bank of England (BoE) first outsourced the printing banknotes in 2003 and looks set to continue down the outsourcing path with a new 10 year printing contract to commence in April 2015. De La Rue who are the current printers of sterling bank notes have been announced as the preferred bidder for the 10 year contract. De La Rue the Basingstoke based firm will print £20 and £50 notes on paper and £5 and £10 notes will now be printed on the plastic polymer material. De La Rue is the largest commercial bank note printer in the world.

Bank of England moves to invest in compliance systems