Why passports could have a foreign flavour

There has been much talk of British passports reverting to their old blue colour after Brexit. What might not have been foreseen, however, is that they could be made on the Continent. The boss of De La Rue, which prints the passports, said it was facing competition for the contract from two European firms.

‘It would be a shame if in the year of Brexit the British passport was not printed by a company in Britain’

BRITISH passports could be printed in Europe post-brexit, the boss of the company that currently makes them has warned.

Martin Sutherland said that De La Rue, a British firm which also prints £5 and £10 notes, was on a shortlist of three bidders for the contract to design and print passports, up for tender in 2019.

“We have submitted our bid for the renewal, which is in 2019 and will last for 10 years,” he said, adding that two other unnamed European companies were also in the running.

“It would be a shame if in the year of Brexit the contract was lost and the British passport was not printed by a company in Britain.”

The Home Office is expected to announce the winner of the contract, which had to be tendered across the EU contracts system, by the end of the year.

With Britain leaving the EU, the much-criticised burgundy cover colour could be abandoned in favour of traditional blue. Winning the £490 million contract to design and produce the passport would be important for De La Rue, which is working to become less reliant on the moneyprinting operations that make up the bulk of its revenues, Mr Sutherland said.

Retaining the UK passport contact would be a flagship deal, he added. Mr Sutherland also ridiculed suggestions banknotes have had their day with the rise of electronic payments.

The chief executive said: “A third of the global population don’t have a bank account and 7 per cent of people in Britain [do not], meaning cash is their only option. Cash is here to stay as the bedrock of the economy.”