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| Source: | Find a Tender Service (FTS) |
| Notice Type: | Award notice |
| Buyer: | Post Office Limited |
| Main Category: | — |
| Procurement Method: | Direct award |
| Method Rationale: | 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. |
All 2 notices for this procurement, oldest first.
Product Journey Engine (PJE) Development and Configuration
Product Journey Engine (PJE) Development and Configuration Services
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Awarded to
| Award value: | £12,000,000 |
| Award status: | Pending |
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 transparency notice relates specifically to the Year 1 development and configuration of the PJE (estimated value £12,000,000). POL intends to award 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.
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Book a free consultation →| Tender Status: | Closed |
| Estimated Value (ex. VAT): | Not specified |
| Release Date: | 7 August 2026 |
| Application Deadline: | — |
| Contract Start Date: | 19 August 2026 |
| Contract End Date: | 19 August 2031 |
| Contract Duration: | 5.1 years |
| Procurement ID (OCID): | ocds-h6vhtk-06df56 |
| Notice Reference: | 075393-2026 |