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The Post Office faced a reported exposure of more than £80,000 a week for DXC engineers who could not carry out planned installation work on its troubled New Branch IT (NBIT) programme. Computer Weekly reported on 2 October 2024 that replacement power-supply units were expected to take 16–20 weeks, creating a potential exposure of about £1.6 million. The Post Office said the engineers were redeployed to branch surveys and other work, so the figure should not automatically be treated as a confirmed loss or as proof that every engineer was idle for the whole period.
What happened to the engineers?
DXC engineers were brought in from around mid-June 2024 to support NBIT hardware deployment. The rollout encountered problems with power-supply units. Available units could not be used as planned, while replacement units were expected to take 16–20 weeks.
An internal progress update reportedly said the engineers had no work under their immediate assignment. Computer Weekly calculated that the contracted engineering capacity represented more than £80,000 a week and could amount to approximately £1.6 million over the stated waiting period. The report is available at Computer Weekly.
That is a measure of potential exposure, not a published audited loss. It does not establish how many engineers were affected, whether every contractor was paid for every week, or how much was recovered through alternative work.
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The Post Office said the DXC resources were redeployed, including to surveys of 775 branches covering 2,150 counters. It said those surveys would help plan the rollout of new HP devices and PIN-entry devices (often called PEDs).
What NBIT was supposed to replace
NBIT—New Branch IT—was intended to modernise branch technology and provide a route away from Fujitsu’s Horizon system. It was not simply a software rewrite. The programme combined:
- Point-of-sale computers and HP branch hardware.
- PIN-entry devices and card terminals.
- Network, data-centre and other infrastructure changes.
- Software, operational processes and branch deployment.
- A transition from Horizon to a replacement platform across a large, varied estate.
That interdependence explains why a hardware problem could stop installation work. Device quantities, counter layouts, power arrangements, branch ergonomics and network readiness all had to line up before engineers could complete a visit.
How the projected cost changed
Different documents and reports use different cost bases. They should not be read as a single audited series of actual spending.
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|---|---|---|
| About £330 million | Earlier NBIT estimate cited in inquiry evidence | Witness and document evidence; not necessarily a final approved budget. Inquiry evidence |
| About £840 million | Higher expected cost reported to have been reached by June 2023 | Attributed to inquiry evidence reported by Computer Weekly. |
| Approximately £1 billion | Later overall programme figure discussed in reporting | Scope, funding request and accounting basis are not identical to the earlier estimates. |
| More than £80,000 a week | Reported cost of DXC engineering capacity during the hardware delay | Potential exposure; not proof of a final £1.6 million loss. |
The Post Office’s board evidence also shows that the replacement programme had to be considered alongside continuity of Horizon operations. Relevant board material is published at the Post Office Horizon Inquiry evidence site and in this inquiry document.
Why the programme was burning cash
The engineering episode was a symptom of wider project-control problems described in inquiry evidence and contemporaneous reporting.
Complex scope and weak visibility
NBIT had to coordinate hardware, software, infrastructure, contracts and thousands of branch deployments. Evidence reported to the inquiry indicated that senior decision-makers did not always receive a reliable picture of scope, cost and delivery risk. Former chairman Henry Staunton described the expected cost moving from roughly £330 million to £840 million by June 2023. Former chief financial officer Alisdair Cameron described governance arrangements as ineffective. These are attributed witness accounts, not a court finding that the board was deliberately misled.
Hardware and procurement uncertainty
Reported internal concerns included uncertainty over how many PIN pads and counter terminals branches needed, whether equipment was ergonomically suitable, and whether unused devices should be removed or not replaced. Suppliers’ contracts did not necessarily cover all additional work that emerged. Redesigns, new specifications or delayed components could therefore leave contractors mobilised before the installation sequence was ready.
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Governance changes
Inquiry material refers to changes to executive and steering arrangements, including the shutdown of an executive committee around November 2022 and concerns about how the project was being governed. The practical question is whether those arrangements gave directors timely information and clear authority to stop, rescope or renegotiate work when assumptions changed.
Was the £80,000 a week actually wasted?
There are several different concepts behind the headline number:
- Contracted capacity: the weekly cost of keeping specialist DXC resources available.
- Unusable assignment time: work that could not proceed because the required hardware was unavailable.
- Redeployed work: branch surveys and other tasks that may have delivered value.
- Final invoices: the amount actually paid, which was not published in the report.
It is therefore accurate to describe the episode as more than £80,000 a week of potentially underused or blocked engineering capacity. It is not accurate to state, without payment records, that the Post Office definitively wasted £1.6 million or paid every engineer simply to sit idle.
Why Horizon could not simply be switched off
The replacement could not be rushed into live branch operations while it remained incomplete. Horizon was a complex legacy platform, but it was the system on which branches depended. Ending Fujitsu support before a tested replacement was ready would have created a direct operational risk.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →A procurement notice records that NBIT delays made it impossible to move away from Horizon before the existing Fujitsu contract expired in March 2025. The notice is available at Find a Tender. Separate service extensions also covered data-centre and network arrangements; see the relevant procurement notice.
This created an expensive trade-off: continue paying for specialist Horizon support while funding a replacement, or attempt a premature migration that could disrupt branch transactions. Keeping Horizon in place prolonged dependence on the system at the centre of the scandal, but it also provided operational continuity while NBIT was not ready.
What happened after the October 2024 report?
| Date | Development |
|---|---|
| May 2022 | NBIT was publicly announced as the intended Horizon replacement. |
| June 2023 | Inquiry evidence later indicated that the expected cost had risen from about £330 million to £840 million. |
| 2 October 2024 | Computer Weekly reported the more-than-£80,000-a-week engineering exposure. |
| 2025 | The Post Office moved away from an entirely in-house replacement approach and began a new procurement process. |
| 21 May 2026 | The Post Office announced the selection of Accenture and OneView Commerce. |
| 30 July–18 August 2026 | Reported delays continued over signing the OneView contract. |
The supplier announcement is at the Post Office’s 21 May 2026 update. The later delay was reported by Computer Weekly on 30 July 2026.
Who is now responsible for the replacement?
Accenture
Accenture was selected as the replacement service provider. Its role includes taking over operation of Horizon and associated services during the transition, then supporting the move to the future branch platform.
OneView Commerce
OneView Commerce was selected to provide commercial off-the-shelf electronic point-of-sale software for the replacement system.
The procurement was divided into roles rather than assigning one supplier every responsibility. A public procurement record describing the lots is available at Public Supply.
Published contract totals also need care. One tender notice records a combined awarded value of £410 million, while other coverage and the Post Office’s announcement refer to figures approaching or exceeding £500 million. Differences can reflect contract lots, options, VAT treatment or the distinction between an awarded value and a wider programme commitment. They should not be presented as directly comparable totals.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Has the Post Office escaped Fujitsu and Horizon?
No—not on the latest information available for 18 August 2026. Supplier selection is not the same as a completed migration. The earliest reported date for signing the OneView contract had moved to 22 August 2026, and no confirmed full Horizon exit date was established in the available update.
Until the contracts are signed, the replacement software is tested, branch hardware is ready and rollout is proven at scale, the Post Office must continue operating and supporting Horizon. The new supplier choices show a strategic pivot; they do not demonstrate that the old system has already been retired.
What remains unresolved
- Whether DXC invoices covered the entire 16–20-week period and how much value was recovered through redeployment.
- How many engineers were affected and what caused the power-supply-unit failure or delay.
- Whether the hardware had been fully tested before engineers were mobilised.
- How much of the cost increase reflected scope changes, redesigns, procurement failures or technical problems.
- What happened to equipment already purchased but unused, unsuitable or superseded.
- Whether the approximately £1 billion figure was ever an approved final budget.
- How much further interim support is being paid to Fujitsu.
- What independent controls, branch consultation and testing safeguards will govern the new programme.
The government publishes broader inquiry and redress information through its Horizon inquiry page and, for financial redress, its 26 June 2026 data release. Those figures concern redress and legal costs, not the NBIT engineering exposure.
What the episode says about public-money control
The central issue is not simply whether a contractor was temporarily underused. Large technology programmes routinely carry contingency costs, and redeploying engineers can preserve some value. The accountability question is whether the Post Office had enough control over scope, hardware readiness, supplier obligations and governance to avoid mobilising expensive specialist capacity before the work could start.
NBIT also shows why the Horizon replacement could not be judged only by its headline budget. The organisation was simultaneously funding a delayed transformation, extending legacy-system support and managing branch-by-branch hardware decisions. That combination made poor information and weak governance especially expensive.
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