Nuance confirms new Sydney contract

Gavin Lipsith

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The retailer gains eight more years at one of the region's most valuable duty-free locations

The Nuance Group and Sydney Airport Corp have agreed a new eight-year duty-free concession for Downtown Duty Free at Sydney International airport. The new contract will commence on November 1.

As previously reported, Nuance was appointed preferred bidder for the contract after a highly competitive tender process. At present Nuance operates over 5,000sqm (53,800sq ft) of retail space at the airport and generates annual sales of about A$200m ($150.4m),

Nuance CEO Australia and New Zealand Christian Strang said: "Nuance and its partners should be proud of what has been achieved in winning the Sydney concession. We are well into delivering the first phases of our proposal. We made a very comprehensive proposal and the support and recognition we have received gives us great confidence as we enter a new era. We recognise there are more and more challenges in our industry and together with Sydney airport we have developed a framework which manages risk and rewards high performance on both sides of the landlord/retailer equation.

"This win is an important signal of our commitment to the region and is good news for all our staff and business partners. This was a lengthy, complex and challenging tender process. Customer service is at the heart of our operations and we are committed to this for the future. Nuance is also committed to promoting an improved value proposition for duty free pricing in the region."

SACL CEO Russell Balding said: "We are delighted to have Nuance on board for this next, very exciting period in Sydney Airport's retail development. The decision followed an exacting process that began in November 2005. The proposals from many of the top global duty-free retailers were of a particularly high standard."

SACL general manager retail and commercial development Bob McFadyen added: "Nuance was awarded the contract on the basis of its response across the full range of assessment criteria. Its proposal was of an exceptional standard reflecting the concerted effort of a team that clearly understands the duty-free industry and particularly the opportunity at Sydney airport."