Plans to replace the City of Sydney’s street furniture have been delayed yet again due to COVID-19.
The City of Sydney has extended its deal with JCDecaux until September, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Origially, the contract with JCDecaux – which it had held since the late 1990’s – was due to end in 2018, though it has now been extended multiple times.
QMS won City of Sydney’s outdoor advertising account in mid 2020.
Back when they were awarded the contract, QMS Group CEO Barclay Nettlefold described the contract as the “jewel in the crown of Australia’s OOH industry.”
According to the Herald, this extension is the result of COVID-related delays on shipping the new outdoor furniture from overseas.
Initially, the furniture change was supposed to happen in July. It was then pushed to August, and now to September.
A spokesperson for QMS told B&T that it is still on track to install the new street furniture as JCDecaux removes the existing installations. They said that “JCDecaux will be removing their assets from September and QMS will follow behind with the installation of the new assets also from September. The rollout will follow closely behind the JCDecaux removal program and will span a period of six months to minimise the disruption to the City.”
The removal plan will also occur on an outside/in basis, meaning street furniture will be removed from the outer suburbs first.
“As the current JCDecaux street furniture is over 20 years old and does not comply with the current Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and Inclusivity Standards, QMS has worked closely with the City of Sydney to ensure that the new design complies with today’s standards, including additional functionality and sustainability measures.”
“As the exclusive provider of street furniture advertising within the City of Sydney, QMS is excited to begin the rollout of its ground-breaking digitally-led offering and be able to provide marketers with the unique opportunity to impact and influence consumers where they live, work and play, through a powerful and digitally focused advertising network.”
JCDecaux declined to comment for this story.
