Years after UK Post Office scandal broke, Accenture and OneView Commerce bag contract to replace Horizon

The UK Post Office awarded Accenture and OneView Commerce contracts worth £410 million to replace troubled Horizon systems. Accenture will replace incumbent supplier Fujitsu on a Walk In Take Over basis, stabilizing services and upgrading software while preparing for a complete business transformation and migration to new SaaS. The Accenture deal is valued at £269 million for five years with two optional single-year extensions. OneView Commerce will provide software worth £141 million to transform the Post Office retail technology platform to meet evolving business, operational, and customer requirements. The system is planned to be cloud-hosted in AWS or an equivalent environment, with bespoke customization and features including ePOS, mobile services, customer engagement and insight, and self-service kiosks. Horizon rollout began in 1999, and from 1999 to 2015 about 736 subpostmasters were wrongfully prosecuted and convicted due to computer system errors. A statutory inquiry launched in 2021 remains ongoing, with a July report finding senior Post Office staff and supplier personnel knew or should have known about defects causing errors.

"The UK Post Office has awarded Accenture and OneView Commerce contracts worth £410 million to replace its troubled Horizon systems, which contributed to one of the most serious miscarriages of justice in British history."

"Accenture has won the bidding to replace incumbent supplier Fujitsu - which built the error-prone PoS and finance system starting from 1996 - on a so-called Walk In Take Over basis. It is set to stabilize services and upgrade software as it prepares for a complete business transformation and manages the migration to new SaaS. Its deal is worth £269 million for five years plus two optional single-year extensions, according to a procurement notice."

"The lesser-known OneView Commerce - a provider of retail and inventory management SaaS - has won the £141 million agreement to provide software to "transform [the Post Office's] retail technology platform to meet evolving business, operational, and customer requirements," according to a tender notice. The system is set to be cloud-hosted, in an AWS or equivalent environment, and allows bespoke customization according to the Post Office's needs."

"From 1999 until 2015, around 736 subpostmasters were wrongfully prosecuted and convicted over errors resulting from the computer system, devastating lives in the process. A statutory inquiry into the mass miscarriage of justice launched in 2021 is ongoing. Its first report was published in July last year, finding that senior Post Office staff in the UK - and those working for suppliers Fujitsu and ICL - knew or should have known about the defects causing errors"

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