SportsWorld awards £5m contract to Affiniti for technology overhaul -- and more news briefs

Short takes on this week's contracts news

SportsWorld pumps up

Retailer SportsWorld has awarded a £5m contract to Affiniti to carry out a technology overhaul of its head office and 250 stores across the UK. Affiniti will deploy voice, video and data via DSL technology under the three-year deal.

IBM goes to school

The Harris Group of Schools in Bromley, South London, has awarded IBM and Serco a five-year, £4.1m contract to deliver on-demand managed services. Students and teachers will be able access a suite of applications to facilitate the management of the school and the delivery of IT-enhanced learning.

Package for Peterboro'

Peterborough City Council is rolling out a £250,000 human resources and payroll software package from Northgate. The system will replace an OpenDoor package supplied in 1996 by Rebus Software, which was acquired by Northgate in January 2004.

Cannons backs Sirocom

Cannons Group has signed a three-year contract with Sirocom for a centrally managed ADSL-based virtual private network connecting the health club chain's 63 sites. The contract is worth over £400,000, with Cannons expecting to save £250,000 on its current costs over the next three years.

One Stop goes live

One Stop, the convenience store retailer, has gone live with a fully integrated Epos and Chip and PIN system from Anker Systems across 523 UK stores. A nine-month roll-out timetable saved the retailer £250,000.

Coda's care home coup

Four Seasons Health Care, the UK's largest care home operator, is to install Coda-Financials. Coda will provide software and services worth over £300,000 to the group.

NHSTrusts in joint deal

A consortium of NHS trusts in South Yorkshire have signed a £1.4m contract to implement the Agresso Business World finance and purchasing system in a shared managed service agreement with Netstore. The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and South Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trusts said the joint deal had saved on procurement costs.