The department responsible for prosecuting criminal cases has picked a specialist provider for a three-year agreement covering a comprehensive range of fulfilment and operational services for the agency’s software needs
The Crown Prosecution Service has signed a £25m-plus deal with an IT reseller to fulfil its needs for software products in the coming years.
On 28 April, the CPS entered into an initial three-year contract with IT and services firm Phoenix Software. The engagement, which can be extended for two further terms of one year each, will be worth up to £26.4m to the supplier, inclusive of VAT. About £10m of this is forecast to spent during the deal’s opening year.
Throughout the course of the agreement, Phoenix will provide the CPS with a comprehensive range of software products and services, a newly published commercial notice indicates.
“[CPS is] appointing an experienced software reseller to be responsible for [the] end-to-end process of procuring and managing CPS’s software licences,” the notice adds.
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Based in York – and owned by fellow IT reseller Bytes – Phoenix is one of the biggest software providers, with annual revenue of £685.4m in its 2024 financial year. The company has partnerships with a wide range of software and tech vendors, including Microsoft, Adobe, IBM, Dell and NetApp.
Phoenix holds hundreds of public-sector contracts, with other significant wins so far in 2025 including a £5m deal with the Student Loans Company, a £7m agreement with Coventry City Council, and a pair of £8m contracts – with the Forestry Commission and the British Transport Police.
Operating as a non-ministerial department, the Crown Prosecution Service is responsible for prosecuting criminal cases brought by the police and other formal investigative bodies. CPS employs about 7,000 staff – around half of whom are lawyers.
