Titan signs new 10-year deal with Network Rail

by Sarah Crawley-Boevey Media Week

LONDON - Titan will retain exclusive control of all outdoor advertising at Network Rail's major national stations for 10 years under an extended and restructured deal.

The outdoor company, formerly Maiden Outdoor, has extended its Network Rail contract - covering 17 stations including London Euston, Victoria and King's Cross - by three years, so it will run until 2017.

Titan, whose joint managing director Alison Reay announced her resignation last week, has pledged to make an eight-figure investment in the portfolio, digitally enhancing a number of sites.
The original 10-year contract was taken out two and three-quarter years ago and was believed by many in the industry to have had crippling terms that have been blamed for Maiden's demise and the subsequent takeover by Titan.
The company refused to be drawn on the financial details of the new deal, though industry observers suggested that one way of bringing the contract back into the black would be for Network Rail to agree to a restructure in which payments increased as the lifespan of the contract progressed.
Titan chairman Bill Apfelbaum said new technology would increase the profitability of the contract.
"New technology we bring in will generate extra revenue to make it profitable for us," he said.
Titan chief executive Jon Slatkin said: "I'm not going to comment on the speculation about how profitable or not the contract has been, but we now feel we have a contract that over the next 10 years will be profitable for us."
Reay announced her resignation last week after just 14 months in the job. A number of senior staff left under her watch, including sales director Steve Atkinson, development director Helen Bouchez and head of research Anthony Waithe.
However, Titan has recently signed seven new directors and recruited to its sales team.
In January, Titan Outdoor retained the £34m Southeastern Rail advertising concession after fighting off competition from rival CBS Outdoor, just a couple of weeks after CBS took the £12m five-year Northern Rail contract from Titan.