Paul Anastassi has been appointed as the interim chief technology officer (CTO), joining from the gaming and entertainment company Rank Group.

Acting CEO Neil Brocklehurst communicated to staff: “...we are keen to transition to our new Executive Operating Model as quickly as possible in order to deliver on the benefits of the Strategic Review for Postmasters and enable broader change as necessary.”

This decision comes at a crucial time as the organisation grapples with the move away from the notorious Horizon IT system used across all Post Office branches.

The Horizon software, introduced in 1999, has been at the centre of a scandal where subpostmasters were wrongfully blamed for unexplained shortfalls caused by software errors.

Hundreds were convicted of crimes based on flawed evidence from Horizon, leading to what is now known as the Post Office Horizon scandal

Brocklehurst said:  “We have taken the decision to appoint to the CTO role on an interim basis whilst we complete the recruitment process for our permanent CTO, which is now underway internally and externally.”

Andy Nice, the recently appointed chief transformation officer at the Post Office, explained to Computer Weekly, “The interim CTO role was introduced to allow us to increase our technology leadership capability given our extensive and complex plans for this area, as well as enabling me to focus on the delivery of our strategic transformation plan for the business.”

Nice highlighted that Anastassi brings “excellent, relevant experience in creating and executing technology strategies to enable business improvement and growth.”#

The Post Office is in the midst of a significant project to replace the controversial Horizon system. Upon his arrival earlier this year, Nice and his team quickly paused the work on the planned Horizon replacement, the New Branch IT (NBIT) project.

The NBIT project, aimed at building an in-house software platform to replace Horizon, was significantly behind schedule and over budget, with costs having soared by £1 billion. A government report, revealed by Computer Weekly in May, described the project as “unachievable.”

The debate continues within the Post Office regarding the future of the project, with suggestions that the Post Office may buy the Horizon system from Fujitsu and integrate it with in-house developed and commercially available software.