A HAMPSHIRE firm has inked a major, £3m deal with one of the UK’s largest retailers.

Whiteley-based Onecom will provide communications services for the Central England Co-operative after the deal was agreed.

The arrangement, worth £2.8m over three years, will see the firm provide internet and voice connectivity to 450 Co-Op outlets, its head offices and a distribution centre.

It is the biggest contract to date for Onecom, which employs about 300 people in Hampshire, and will see it provide new ISDN lines, phone lines and voice over internet capability.

The firm will install a high-speed service which will be boosted by existing broadband and wireless services.

James Bannister, solutions director at Onecom, said: “This is a landmark deal for us and cements Onecom’s position as a leader in the field of unified communications.

“The solution we will be providing for Central England Co-operative is highly innovative with minimal latency and very high resilience – it’s a technical showpiece for this kind of network in the retail space.

“Central England Co-operative has around 9,000 members of staff, and most will come into contact with this system in one way or another. For an organisation of this size it is crucial that networks are secure and reliable and that there are effective failsafes in place.

“We are delighted to be working with the Central England Co-operative on a project which demonstrates our capability to deliver bespoke communications solutions on a large scale.”

Central England Co-operative’s head of information systems operations, Mark Woodyatt, said: “We were looking for a strategic partner who would work with us on the delivery of our digital strategy.

“We were very impressed with the way that Onecom deliver their services and during the tendering process they were the only partner that put forward a step change in technology.

“They did their research, got to know our business and got a feel for what it was like on our sites.

“Above all we needed a partner who would be sufficiently creative to work with us to find the best solution for our business, and one who would develop and grow with us.

“Onecom demonstrated those qualities and we are excited to be beginning this new partnership with them.”