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Product Journey Engine (PJE) Development and Configuration Services

Post Office Limited

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

07 Aug 2026 at 15:26

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

07 Aug 2026 at 15:17

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Post Office Limited procured Year 1 development and configuration services for Escher’s Product Journey Engine (PJE), a standalone software module supporting its Horizon Replacement Services transformation programme. The PJE enables complex postal-retail transactions to be configured, adapted and deployed within the Post Office’s architecture and wider programme. It includes Escher’s proprietary framework, tools and library of postal-retail customer journeys: three journeys preconfigured for mail-related transactions, ten to be configured by Escher, and the remaining journeys to be configured by the Post Office. The requirement covers software programming and consultancy services, delivered across the United Kingdom. The wider transformation replaces the legacy Horizon IT system used across the Post Office branch network.

This procurement is complete and was awarded on 7 August 2026 to Escher Software Services UK Limited through a direct award under section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023. The award value is £12,000,000 excluding VAT (£14,400,000 including VAT), for a contract running from 20 August 2026 to 19 August 2031, with a maximum end date of 19 August 2033. The authority may use two discretionary 12-month extensions for service continuity. The award was made on the basis that Escher owns the PJE intellectual property, source code and development environment, and is the only supplier with the necessary technical capability and no reasonable alternative exists. The requirement was a single lot, considered suitable for SMEs, and is above threshold.

This award demonstrates demand for specialist software development and configuration within a large-scale public-sector IT transformation, particularly where complex retail or postal transactions must be deployed quickly across a branch network. A credible future competitor would need strong capability in configurable transaction platforms, software architecture, integration and implementation at operational scale. Experience of postal, retail or point-of-service environments would be relevant, as would a proven library of reusable customer journeys and the ability to adapt them to an organisation’s processes. Suppliers would also need robust development tooling, secure handling of source code and intellectual property, and the capacity to work alongside major transformation partners and incumbent systems. The Post Office’s requirement places particular weight on unique technical knowledge, proven deployment capability and continuity of service.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Product Journey Engine (PJE) Development and Configuration Services

Notice Description

Post Office Limited ("POL") is undertaking the "Horizon Replacement Services" transformation programme to replace the legacy Horizon IT system used across its branch network. The programme was procured via a competitive flexible procedure published on Find a Tender (procurement identifier OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-050efb) and comprises two lots: * Lot 1 (Replacement Service Provider): awarded to Accenture (UK) Limited. * Lot 2 (COTS-EPOS-SaaS): awarded to OneView Commerce, Inc.. As part of the programme, POL has identified a requirement for Escher's proprietary Product Journey Engine ("PJE") - a standalone, independently licensable software module incorporating Escher's proprietary framework, tools and a library of postal-retail customer journeys, comprising three journeys preconfigured for mail-related transactions, a further ten journeys to be configured by Escher, with the remaining journeys to be configured by POL. The PJE is required to enable complex transactions to be configured, adapted and deployed rapidly within POL's architecture and broader transformation programme. This notice relates specifically to the Year 1 development and configuration of the PJE (estimated value PS12,000,000). POL has awarded this contract directly to Escher under section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023. The separate PJE licence (Years 1-7) and Year 2 support elements are intended to be procured via POL's existing call-off arrangements under Crown Commercial Service framework RM6098 (Technology Products and Associated Services 2) and are not the subject of this notice. POL considers that a direct award is justified because Escher is the sole owner of the intellectual property, source code, technical know-how and development capability in respect of the PJE.

Procurement Information

Post Office Limited ("POL") intends to award a contract for Year 1 development and configuration of the Product Journey Engine ("PJE") directly to Escher under section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023. POL considers that the direct award justification in paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 to the Act applies (single supplier - intellectual property or other exclusive rights, with no reasonable alternatives). In addition and/or in the alternative, POL considers that the direct award justification in paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 applies (absence of competition for technical reasons, with no reasonable alternatives). More specifically, POL considers that: * Escher is the sole owner of the intellectual property rights in the PJE, including all relevant source code, the proprietary framework, associated tooling and the preconfigured postal-retail customer journey library. * Only Escher is able to develop, configure and customise the PJE. * Escher has confirmed in writing that, subject to any agreed software escrow arrangements, it will not grant any other supplier access to its code base to develop, customise or configure the PJE (core Standard Business Applications). * The PJE development and configuration services can therefore only be provided by Escher by reason of Escher's intellectual property and exclusive rights within the meaning of paragraph 5 of Schedule 5; and/or * For technical reasons, Escher is the only supplier able to provide the required PJE development and configuration services. * Specifically, the PJE incorporates Escher's proprietary framework, tools and preconfigured postal journeys, and requires specialist knowledge of Escher's code base, architecture and development tooling that only Escher possesses. * No other supplier has the technical capability, source code access or development environment necessary to configure, adapt and deploy the PJE, within the meaning of paragraph 6 of Schedule 5. POL is also satisfied that there are no reasonable alternatives to awarding this contract directly to Escher. In particular, POL has concluded that publication of a tender notice would not trigger more competition or a better outcome. This conclusion is based on the following factors: * Escher is the only company globally with a proven library of customer journeys specifically designed for postal retail point-of-service - comprising three journeys preconfigured for mail-related transactions and a further ten journeys to be configured by Escher - implemented across dozens of postal operators worldwide; * The PJE is a standalone, independently licensable module that incorporates Escher's proprietary intellectual property. * No other supplier holds the relevant source code, technical know-how or development capability; * POL has confirmed with Escher that Escher will not grant any third party access to its code base to develop, customise or configure the PJE. POL has therefore tested and recorded that no third-party route is available; and * There is no alternative product or supplier on the market that could deliver equivalent preconfigured postal-retail customer journeys with the same speed of deployment and proven track record. In accordance with section 41(4) of the Procurement Act 2023, POL has assessed whether Escher is an excluded supplier or an excludable supplier and is satisfied that Escher is neither excluded nor excludable.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06df56
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075403-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£12,000,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
7 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
7 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
20 Aug 2026 - 19 Aug 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Post Office Limited
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
EC2V 7ER
Postcode Area
Central London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
City of London
Electoral Ward
Bassishaw
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

ESCHER SOFTWARE SERVICES UK LIMITED

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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