CCL Secure and De La Rue have been awarded ten-year contracts by the Bank of England to supply polymer substrates for the new £20 banknotes.

Under the terms of the contract, CCL Secure will supply the Bank of England with Guardian™ substrate for 75% of the first call-off volume, and De La Rue will supply its Safeguard® for the remaining 25%. The next call-off will take place in 2021.

The new £20 banknote, featuring artist J.M.W. Turner, will be issued by the Bank of England in 2020.

CCL Secure’s Guardian™ polymer substrate

Until now, CCL Secure has been the sole supplier of polymer substrate for the Bank of England for the past four years, providing Guardian™ substrate for the Bank’s polymer £5 and £10 banknote denominations. There are reportedly more than 20 billion banknotes using Guardian™ substrate currently in circulation, accounting for more than 99% of all polymer banknotes.

Speaking of the CCL contract, Vice President and Managing Director of CCL Secure, Bernhard Imbach, said:

“We are extremely honoured that the Bank of England has selected Guardian^™ polymer as the initial main substrate for the next £20 note and we are looking forward to continuing working closely with the Bank in bringing cleaner, safer, stronger banknotes to the British public.”

De La Rue’s Safeguard® polymer substrate

De La Rue introduced their polymer Safeguard® substrate product to the market in December 2012. Today, the company says that it is used by 15 issuing authorities across 21 banknote denominations. De La Rue reported that the production volume of Safeguard® almost quadrupled during 2016, and it is expected to double again by the end of 2017.

Speaking of the contract with the Bank of England, De La Rue’s CEO, Martin Sutherland, said:

“We are delighted to have been chosen by the Bank of England to supply polymer substrate for the new £20 notes in addition to our existing work designing and printing the notes.”

“Having worked closely with the Bank to design and print the new polymer £5 and £10 notes, we look forward to continue our close relationships and the successful delivery of the new £20 notes in 2020 and beyond.”

Read the press release from the Bank of England.

Read the press release from CCL Secure.

Read the press release from De La Rue.