G4S preparing joint bid with French to print British banknotes The Bank of England is inviting bids to print the notes, which could be plastic for the first time in their 300-year history, from 2015 to 2025. If the Anglo-French partnership wins the contract, G4S would provide security and move the cash around the country, while Oberthur, which also makes credit cards, would focus on printing. G4S, which has been rocked by a series of mishaps over the past year including a botched 2012 Olympics contract and a profits warning, already transports £300bn-worth of banknotes every year in the UK. Other bidders are believed to include Munich-based Giesecke & Devrient; Landqart, the banknote division of Canadian company Fortress Paper; and UK-based Innovia Security. De La Rue, which has held the BoE contract since 2003, is expected to re-bid. It entered the polymer notes market earlier this year with deals to supply Fiji and Mauritius. The British central bank has begun a two-month public consultation on whether to switch banknotes from cotton pulp to polymer. The plastic currency would be waterproof and last at least 2.5 times longer than "paper" money. De La Rue and the BoE declined to comment. Oberthur did not return calls for comment.