1 Year Extension of the Horizon Services Agreement

Contracts

• Contract 073336-2025-C100147-1 · Fujitsu Services Ltd

  Signed

  4 Nov 2025

  Value

  £2,479,000,000

  Status

  active

  • Change A one year extension of all Services from the 1st April 2026 to the 31st March 2027. Other than the extension of the term of the agreement, all other terms and conditions shall remain the same with the exception of FSL obligations in respect of: End of Service Life (EOSL) components, improved Governance for better management, Removal of Redundant Clauses and Schedules, maintenance of software that resides on HNG-X system, licenses required, updated contractors used by FSL and replacement of the current Fujitsu Services WAN, from the date of the execution of the modification; and Additional upgrades to address legacy End of Service Life components is estimated at £3,000,000 is also included in the modification value. NB: Any investment will be subject to POL agreeing suitable work orders with FSL., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: This notice relates to the modification of an existing contract under regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("PCR"). Post Office Limited ("POL") requires a 12-month extension to its contract with Fujitsu Services Limited ("FSL") for the provision of its core trading platform Horizon (the "Contract"), from 01 April 2026 to 31 March 2027. The modification has become necessary because POL is in the process of procuring a replacement service provider ("Replacement Provider") to manage Horizon (the "Procurement") and that procurement activity and the mobilisation of the Replacement Provider will not be complete by 31 March 2026 when the Contract expires by effluxion of time. POL commenced the Procurement in the summer of 2025 and has been conducting the procedure at pace. POL expects that the Procurement will conclude and a new contract with the Replacement Provider put in place in Summer 2026 with transition activity commencing upon execution. It is necessary, therefore, to extend the Contract by 12 months to 31 March 2027. It would not have been possible for POL to have competed the opportunity to support Horizon during this period as any alternative tendered solution would not have been mobilised and transitioned to prior to 31st March 2026. A change of contractor cannot be made for technical reasons. The existing Horizon system is a highly complex legacy platform, written in outdated versions of software languages, and incorporates five 'systems' in one (i.e., financial services, banking, government services, mails, and retail). Horizon is an aging platform and has an inflexible monolithic architecture that makes technology change difficult. It would not be possible to simply hand this system over to another supplier. A change of contractor would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in implementation as well as operation and maintenance. Furthermore, while there are other similar systems to Horizon available on the market, there are no alternative systems that currently meet all of Post Office's business needs without significant development or customisation. It would not, therefore, be technically possible to mobilise a replacement system before 31 March 2026. On that basis, there are technical reasons why a change of contractor cannot be made. Changing contractor would cause significant inconvenience and duplication of costs. It would cause service disruption, cause significant data migration issues, require substantial business change at short notice, threaten continuity of service and create risk in the transfer of know-how. Furthermore, changing contractor would result in sunk costs, including an increase in run costs, dual running costs, and additional exit/transition costs. The modification is less than 50% of the original contract value. The Horizon support agreement was originally valued at approximately £846,700,000. The maximum value of the extension, if all options are called on during its term is approximately £41,000,000. The increase is, therefore, approximately 4.8% of the original contract value. In summary, a change of contractor cannot be made for technical or economic reasons and would cause substantial inconvenience and duplication of costs for the Post Office. The value of the extension is substantially less than 50% of the original contract value. Accordingly, Post Office is satisfied that the modification can be made under regulation 72(1)(b) of the PCR.

• Contract 009521-2025-C100147-1 · Fujitsu Services Ltd

  Signed

  29 Nov 2024

  Value

  £2,438,000,000

  Status

  active

  • Change A one year extension of all Services from the 1st April 2025 to the 31st March 2026. Other than the extension of the term of the agreement, all other terms and conditions shall remain the same with the exception of the removal of FSL obligations in respect of:  Court Support Services, Litigation Support and prosecution support from both the Clauses and the Security Management Service: Service Description as well as Schedule A4 from the date of the execution of the modification; and  Delivery of the Payment and Banking Service from 31st March 2025 or such earlier date as agreed between the Parties. Additional upgrades to address legacy technical debt issues estimated at £21,000,000 is also included in the modification value. NB: Any investment will be subject to POL agreeing suitable work orders with FSL., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: This notice relates to the modification of an existing contract under regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("PCR"). The modification has become necessary because delays to Post Office Limited's ("POL") New Branch IT ("NBIT") project meant that it would not be possible to transition from its legacy system, Horizon - provided by Fujitsu Services Limited ("FSL"), to the new NBIT system before POL's contract with FSL expires by effluxion of time on 31st March 2025. By the time significant delays to the NBIT project had become apparent in October 2023, any alternative tendered solution to replace Horizon would not have been mobilised and transitioned to prior to 31st March 2025. It was, therefore, necessary to extend POL's contract with FSL for ongoing support of the Horizon system. A change of contractor cannot be made for technical reasons. The existing Horizon system is a highly complex legacy platform, written in outdated versions of software languages, and incorporates five 'systems' in one (i.e., financial services, banking, government services, mails, and retail). "Horizon" is an aging platform and has an inflexible monolithic architecture that makes technology change difficult. It would not be possible to simply hand this system over to another supplier. A change of contractor would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in implementation as well as operation and maintenance. Furthermore, while there are other similar systems to Horizon available on the market, there are no alternative systems that currently meet all of Post Office's business needs without significant development or customisation. It would not, therefore, be technically possible to mobilise a replacement system before 31 March 2025. On that basis, there are technical reasons why a change of contractor cannot be made. Changing contractor would cause significant inconvenience and duplication of costs. It would cause service disruption, cause significant data migration issues, require substantial business change at short notice, threaten continuity of service and create risk in the transfer of know-how. Furthermore, changing contractor would result in sunk costs, including an increase in run costs, dual running costs, and additional exit/transition costs. The modification is less than 50% of the original contract value. The Horizon support agreement was originally valued at approximately £846,700,000. The maximum value of the extension, if all options are called on during its term is approximately £63,000,000. The increase is, therefore, approximately 7.4% of the original contract value. In summary, a change of contractor cannot be made for technical or economic reasons and would cause substantial inconvenience and duplication of costs for the Post Office. The value of the extension is substantially less than 50% of the original contract value. Accordingly, Post Office is satisfied that the modification can be made under regulation 72(1)(b) of the PCR.

• Contract 032026-2024-1 · KPMG

  Signed

  1 Aug 2024

  Value

  £12,000,000

  Status

  active

• Contract 034447-2023-N/A-1 · Fujitsu Services Ltd

  Signed

  3 Nov 2023

  Value

  £2,375,000,000

  Period

  1 Apr 2024 – 31 Mar 2025

  Status

  active

  • Change The following key amendments will be made to the Horizon Agreement. A 1 year extension of the Data Centre Operations and Central Network Services (including Test Infrastructure)., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: This Notice relates to the modification of an existing contract that has been necessary due to the following reasons: The existing Horizon System is a highly complex platform, written in legacy versions of software languages and which incorporates five "systems" in one i.e. financial services, banking, government services, mails and retail. As an aging platform, the inflexible nature of the construction of the architecture of "Horizon" itself makes technology change challenging. Accordingly, the Program to transfer the services to the Cloud encountered fundamental technical challenges that Post Office could not economically and technically overcome, and the business has taken the decision to pivot back to the existing Data Centres until the successful transfer of services out of Horizon and into its replacement NBIT ("New Branch IT"). The Data Centre Operations and Central Network Services cannot be transferred away from the original contractor in the short term because of the specific interoperability requirements, compounded by the highly complex nature of the existing infrastructure and the Post Office's business model and operating procedures. A change of contractor would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in implementation as well as operation and maintenance at this time. Awarding the services to a different contractor would also cause significant inconvenience in terms of service delivery, reliability and continuity of service including because of incomplete transfer of know-how. Therefore, Post Office has modified the contract in accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The increase in price as a result of the modified contract is less than 50% of the original contract value. The Data Centre Operations and Central Network Services have thereby been extended for an additional period of 1 year from the 1st April 2024.

• Contract 010251-2023-N/A-1 · Fujitsu Services Ltd

  Signed

  1 Apr 2023

  Value

  £2,339,000,000

  Status

  active

  • Change The following key amendments will be made to the Horizon Agreement. A 1 year extension of the Data Centre Operations and Central Network Services., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: This Notice relates to the modification of an existing contract that has been necessary due to the following reasons: The existing Horizon System is a highly complex platform, written in legacy versions of software languages and which incorporates five "systems" in one i.e. financial services, banking, government services, mails and retail. "Horizon" itself is an aging platform constructed on an inflexible monolithic architecture that makes technology change difficult. Accordingly, the Program to transfer the services to the Cloud encountered fundamental technical challenges that Post Office could not economically and technically overcome, and the business has taken the decision to pivot back to the existing Data Centres until the successful transfer of services out of Horizon and into its replacement NBIT ("New Branch IT"). The Data Centre Operations and Central Network Services cannot be transferred away from the original contractor in the short term because of the specific interoperability requirements, compounded by the highly complex nature of the existing infrastructure and the Post Office's business model and operating procedures. A change of contractor would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in implementation as well as operation and maintenance at this time. Awarding the services to a different contractor would also cause significant inconvenience in terms of service delivery, reliability and continuity of service including because of incomplete transfer of know-how. Therefore, Post Office has modified the contract in accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The increase in price as a result of the modified contract is less than 50% of the original contract value. The Data Centre Operations and Central Network Services have thereby been extended for an additional period of 1 year from the 1st April 2023.

• Contract 009752-2021-1 · Fujitsu Services Ltd

  Signed

  30 Apr 2021

  Value

  £42,500,000

  Status

  active

• Contract 009753-2021-N/A-1 · Fujitsu Services Ltd

  Signed

  30 Apr 2021

  Value

  £2,322,500,000

  Status

  active

  • Change The following key amendments will be made to the Horizon Agreement: Extension period: Additional period of up to twenty-four months post-31st March 2023 to assist transition of services as per description below. Services during the extension period: o In line with the development and modernisation of the HNG-X system, on-premises hosting and data centre operations services and central network services will not be extended and will expire on 31 March 2023 (to be replaced by a separately procured cloud hosting solution). It is anticipated that Post Office will exercise its existing rights in the Horizon Agreement to terminate these services prior to that date and that amendments will need to be made to the ongoing operational services to reflect this change. o Certain digital development services and Post Office's obligation to purchase the services of a standing team of IT developers will also expire on 31 March 2023. Financial matters: Certain financial matters, and in particular relating to charges, financial savings and spend commitments, will be amended to reflect the above changes in the scope of service. Arrangements for exit: o A process will be added to facilitate access to specified Fujitsu intellectual property so as to assist the Post Office on its development and modernisation of the HNG-X system and exit from the Horizon Agreement. o A structured process will be added for addressing the replacement of end of life hardware and software components. o As part of the transitional support, Post Office has requested that Fujitsu Services provides certain termination services and cooperation to facilitate the orderly transfer of responsibility to a new supplier(s)., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: This notice relates to the modification of an existing contract that has been necessary due to the following reasons. The existing Horizon system is a highly complex, legacy platform, written in outdated versions of software languages, and incorporates five 'systems' in one i.e. financial services, banking, government services, mails, and retail. "Horizon" is an aging platform, and has an inflexible monolithic architecture that makes technology change difficult. It was not designed for multi-channel digital operations. The services cannot for economic and technical reasons be provided by a contractor other than the original contractor before the expiry of the Horizon Agreement because of the specific interoperability requirements and the highly complex nature of the existing infrastructure and the Post Office's business model and operating procedures. A change of contractor would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in implementation as well as operation and maintenance. Awarding the contract to a different contractor would also cause significant inconvenience in terms of service delivery, reliability, and continuity of service, not least because of risk of incomplete transfer of know-how. Changing the original contractor would result in a number of sunk costs, including an increase in run costs, dual running costs, and additional exit/transition costs for a 2-year service term. There would also be significant service risk as a result of engaging in two transitions of service provider within the relatively short time period of 2-3 years whereas an extension with the original contractor would just require one such transition. In summary, a change of contractor cannot be made for technical or economic reasons and would cause substantial inconvenience and duplication of costs for the Post Office in accordance with Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The increase in price as a result of the modified contract is less than 50 % of the original contract value.

• Contract 006992-2021-1 · Fujitsu Services Ltd

  Signed

  6 Apr 2021

  Value

  £42,500,000

  Status

  active

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• Royal Courts of JusticeReview body London