NS&I signs partnership deal with WHSmith

NS&I (National Savings and Investments) has teamed up with leading UK retailer WHSmith to market Premium Bonds and Inflation-Beating Savings in 400 of its High Street stores.

The same range of NS&I products will also be trialled in a further 20 WHSmith Travel stores, located in airports and railway stations.

The partnership will enable WHSmith customers to pick up brochures for two of NS&I's products which are free of UK income tax and capital gains tax - Premium Bonds and its range of Inflation-beating Savings. They will be able to invest in these two leading NS& I products by telephone or online.

The partnership will begin on 1 November 2007 and the initial phase will be concerned with testing logistics and marketing opportunities, and gauging customer reaction. Full marketing activity is planned to start on 1 April 2008.

How the partnership will work

NS&I chose WHSmith to market its products to make it easy and convenient for people to save and invest while shopping at these stores. This will be achieved through WHSmith's proven retail experience, in-store marketing opportunities and access to just over 1.2 million people who visit a WHSmith High Street store every day of the year.

To build on its existing customer base of 27 million people with more than £80 billion invested, NS& I is seeking new ways of reaching out to an even wider audience. Signing up new partners to market its products is one way of achieving this aim.

Jane Platt, NS& I chief executive, said: "This new marketing partnership gives WHSmith the opportunity to offer convenience for customers, and the opportunity for customers to find out more about our savings and investments. It means we have an additional retail channel to work alongside our strong and long-standing partnership with the Post Office. This is an exciting time in NS&I's development and means we can reach a wider audience in WHSmith stores across the country."

Kate Swann, WHSmith group chief executive, said: "We are delighted to be working with NS& I, one of the UK's largest providers of savings to personal savers and investors. This partnership will enable WHSmith to further enhance our customer offer by giving our customers the opportunity to purchase NS&I products from their local WHSmith store."