3663 First for Foodservice, the UK's leading distributor to the foodservice sector, has signed a five-year IT managed service contract with Fujitsu.

Part of the Bidvest Group, 3663 handles some 23,000 orders a day, offering next-day delivery to restaurants, cafes, canteens and other food outlets, via its fleet of over 1,000 temperature-controlled lorries.

“3663 operates under extremely tight deadlines and having reliable IT systems with high availability rates is critical to successfully processing and fulfilling orders, as well as managing the supply chain," said Anne Stokes, business unit director for retail, transportation, manufacturing and services at Fujitsu UK & Ireland. "In this economic climate, they also require flexibility in their IT systems, with continued service improvement and support, which will enable them to implement change in a cost-effective way.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Fujitsu will provide 3663 First for Foodservice a full IT managed service including hosting all systems, managing servers and desktops and providing helpdesk and process support.