Another contract extension for Fujitsu on the Post Office's Horizon

Just a few more months until Accenture takes over running scandal-hit Horizon system

The UK Post Office is extending its contract with Fujitsu to give it time to move services to a new supplier, after a scandal that has long marred the relationship between the two.

The current contract runs until March 2027, and the publicly owned company has announced a short, time-limited contract extension to cover the transition.

Accenture will take over running the Horizon system, which was at the center of a string of miscarriages of justice, from September 2027, after winning a £410 million contract in May this year. Meanwhile, the Post Office is developing a replacement for the aging system to serve its network of 11,500 branches.

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The Post Office began rolling out the legacy Horizon IT system for accounting in 1999, along with two subsequent upgrades. The electronic point-of-sale (EPOS) and back-end finance system was first implemented by ICL, a UK tech firm majority-owned by Fujitsu in the 1990s and which it fully acquired in 1998. From 1999 until 2015, around 736 subpostmasters were wrongfully prosecuted and convicted over Horizon errors, devastating lives in the process.

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The Post Office, Accenture, and Fujitsu have agreed that Fujitsu will hand over the operation of Horizon to Accenture between 1 June and 1 September 2027, with the final date set to be confirmed in March 2027.

Accenture is set to "walk in and take over" the current Horizon system by assuming day-to-day operations from Fujitsu, as well as developing the back-end of the new system to replace Horizon.

Post Office CEO Neil Brocklehurst said: "Ending our contract with Fujitsu is a critical milestone in Post Office's transformation, and today's agreement secures the transition away from Fujitsu and over to Accenture safely and responsibly to achieve our target of summer 2027.

"In addition to ending our contract with Fujitsu, we are also working at pace with our leading technology suppliers, Accenture, OneView Commerce, and Escher, to build a modern, resilient platform able to make everyday life easier for customers and postmasters for years to come."

Fujitsu has also been awarded a contract extension to run the UK Government's Emergency Alerts platform until October 2029. The contract is worth £9.6 million ($12.8 million).

The company committed to not bid for new public sector contracts while the inquiry into the Horizon scandal continues.    ®