Loyalty Programme

Sainsbury(J) PLC 5 June 2002 J Sainsbury's plc announces it has joined with Barclaycard, BP and Debenhams to create a new loyalty programme operated by Loyalty Management UK (LMUK). Details follow: FOUR CORPORATE GIANTS JOIN FORCES FOR UK's BIGGEST EVER CONSUMER LOYALTY PROGRAMME LONDON - 05 June 2002: - Four of the UK's best known companies, Sainsbury's, Barclaycard, Debenhams, and BP, are coming together to create a revolutionary loyalty programme that is expected to sign up 50 per cent of all UK households, making it the largest and most comprehensive loyalty programme the UK has ever seen. The new programme, Nectar, will be available to consumers from the autumn, offering them an unrivalled ability to collect points from more than 1,800 Sainsbury's, Debenhams and BP outlets and with all Barclaycard purchases. Points collected in the Nectar programme card will be exchangeable for a wide range of rewards like grocery shopping, consumer goods, flights, holidays, restaurant meals, family days out and cinema tickets. The significant advantages for the sponsors will include access to shared resources, increased customer loyalty and the opportunity to attract new customers. In addition each founding sponsor will have sector exclusivity within the programme. Nectar will be launched and operated on behalf of the sponsors by Loyalty Management UK (LMUK), a subsidiary of Loyalty Management International (LMI). Keith Mills, chairman of LMUK, is the founder of large coalition loyalty programmes in Holland, Spain and Canada where up to 70 per cent of households participate. Announcing the programme to the business community Mills said: 'We are delighted that four of the UK's best known and respected companies are coming together with us to launch Nectar. It will transform the UK loyalty market. LMUK will be working with trusted household names that are market leaders in their sectors. We will also be adding other sponsors to the programme in the future which will mean that consumers will have even more opportunities to earn points.' Sir Peter Davis, Group Chief Executive for Sainsbury's said: 'We think our customers will welcome and value the benefits that Nectar offers. It offers them a huge opportunity to earn more points in a range of complementary retail outlets. And it gives Sainsbury's a powerful tool with which to reward our existing customers and attract new ones.' Barclaycard CEO Gary Hoffman said: 'We are hugely excited about what Nectar has to offer our customers. Barclaycard brought rewards to financial services back in 1987, and it's fantastic now for us to be part of the biggest loyalty scheme ever to hit the UK.' Belinda Earl, Chief Executive of Debenhams, said: 'I am delighted Debenhams is one of the key sponsors in this unique loyalty scheme and believe it is a truly exciting development for our customers. It will further enhance our overall offer and give our customers yet another great reason to shop at Debenhams. It will provide us with an excellent opportunity to acquire new customers and to grow market share.' Graham Sims, BP's Retail Director, Western Europe, said: 'We know our customers love loyalty schemes and Nectar represents a great opportunity to satisfy further their increasingly sophisticated needs. In the new scheme, our customers will be able to earn points faster from a larger number of retailers, accessing a greater value of rewards.' For further information, please contact: MS&L, on behalf of LMUK Megan Ratcliffe Tel: 020 7878 3251 Mob: 07754 500 589 Steffan Williams Tel: 020 7878 3241 Mob: 07767 345 563 Damian Beeley Tel: 020 7878 3142 Mob: 07950 481 795 e-mail firstname.lastname@mslpr.co.uk Sainsbury's Lindsay Muir Tel: 020 7695 8252 e-mail lindsay.muir@sainsburys.co.uk Barclaycard Ian Barber Tel: 01604 251229 e-mail ian.barber@barclaycard.co.uk Debenhams Joanna Lane-Jones Tel: 0207 408 3459 e-mail joanna.lane-jones@debenhams.com BP Shaun Harley Tel: 01908 853828 e-mail harleys@bp.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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