Let's not forget this system is at the heart of a scandal that saw hundreds of innocent subpostmasters prosecuted for phantom accounting losses.
Chris Brocklesby, the organisation’s chief transformation officer, is leaving on 6 September after his one-year contract ends. Andy Nice (pictured), who was transformation director at Camelot, the company that ran the National Lottery until January 2024, will replace him on an interim basis. Nice starts on 23 August. The Post Office’s current interim chair, Nigel Railton, was also previously chief executive of Camelot. Coincidence? I think not.
According to an email sent to employees by Post Office acting CEO Owen Woodley last week, Nice will bring “extensive experience of leading complex change and business transformation” from his time at Camelot. According to his LinkedIn profile, Nice has a “proven track record” in “managing a diverse and challenging set of shareholders, stakeholders and suppliers throughout”. How reassuring.
The company is also looking for a non-executive director to oversee technology. According to an advert, the Post Office is "looking for an experienced leader who brings a track record in designing, developing and delivering complex large-scale digital programmes involving new system implementation."
One of the incoming IT chief's biggest headaches will be the programme to replace Horizon, the retail and accounting system that played a fundamental role in the Post Office scandal.
Subpostmasters were accused of accounting losses that a 2018/19 High Court case proved were caused by bugs in Horizon. Unprecedented legislation passed in May exonerated hundreds of scandal victims.
A Post Office spokesperson said: “Chris Brocklesby joined us on a one-year contract and has helped reshape our technology function, providing a strong foundation for the work to replace Horizon and setting up the wider business for long-term success. Working in collaboration with postmasters, we have recently expanded our pilots for introducing a new IT system to five branches and have been showcasing the system directly to postmasters in their local region.”
The Post Office has asked HM Treasury for nearly £1bn in extra cash to fund the project to develop a replacement for Horizon. The total bill will be £1.1bn – a staggering increase from the £180 million forecast initially when the project kicked off in 2021.
The new system was supposed to be completed in 2025, but it will not be fully in place until 2030. Supplier Fujitsu will likely receive another five-year contract worth up to £180 million to continue supporting Horizon.
“Post Office and the Department for Business and Trade are working on this request and as and when an agreement is reached, we will inform our postmasters. In the meantime, we are also investing to ensure the successful operation of our existing technology, including extending commercial relationships with suppliers where this is required,” the Post Office said.
Government auditors were brought in earlier this year to assess progress on the Horizon replacement project. They rated it as the highest “red” warning, which meant “successful delivery of the programmes to deliver the Horizon replacement to time, cost and quality appear to be unachievable”.
The review concluded: “There are major issues which, at this stage, do not appear to be manageable or resolvable entirely within POL [Post Office Limited]. The programme/project may need re-baselining or its overall viability reassessed.”
The Treasury does not normally approve additional funding for a business case given a red rating unless it is confident the project will improve. As a result, the Post Office has to convince the Labour government it can get the new system back on track if it is to receive the funding it requires.