The UK's Post Office chief transformation officer, Chris Brockleby, has stepped down amid delays in replacing the controversial Horizon IT system.
First reported by The Telegraph, Chris Brockleby will depart from the Post Office on September 6, with Andy Nice set to take on the role on an interim basis.
Nice was previously the transformation director of Camelot, the company previously behind the National Lottery, and will join the Post Office on August 23.
The changes come as the Post Office awaits funding to replace the Horizon IT system, which led to hundreds of innocent postmasters being wrongly prosecuted and convicted. In May, over 700 wrongful convictions were overturned. Post Office bosses have been accused of covering up the technical issues.
The Post Office has been attempting to move away from the Horizon system since 2021, with an original completion date of 2025. Despite this, the migration has been faced with several delays. In June 2024, the Post Office signed a £180 million ($230m) deal with Fujitsu - the provider of the Horizon IT system - for a further five years, bringing the planned implementation date to 2030.
The Post Office also requested £1bn ($1.3bn) of extra public funding to get the program to replace Horizon running again.
Should the business need to extend its Fujitsu contract again - which is due to expire in March 2025 - the costs will continue to ramp up.
Chris Brockleby's exit is just the latest in a series of senior executives stepping down. Henry Staunton was sacked from his role as chairman after being accused of making sexist and racist comments about a female job applicant.
In July, we saw chief executive Nick Read step back from his duties to focus on the ongoing Horizon inquiry. Acting chief executive Owen Woodly is also set to leave the Post Office in Autumn citing personal reasons.
A Post Office spokesman told The Telegraph: “Earlier in 2024 Post Office submitted a long-term request to the Department for Business and Trade to ensure funding is available to continue investment in replacing 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.”
