Boss of company linked to Post Office scandal gets 50% pay rise

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favorite tales on this weekly e-newsletter.The pinnacle of the UK arm of Fujitsu, the expertise group on the centre of the Put up Workplace Horizon scandal, obtained a 50 per cent pay rise final yr as its mum or dad firm injected contemporary capital to offset falling orders and reputational injury.Accounts for UK-based Fujitsu Companies, a subsidiary of the Japanese IT providers firm, present its highest-paid director — understood to be UK head Anwen Owen — earned £591,000 within the yr to March 2025, up from £388,000 a yr earlier. Owen, a former senior civil servant who joined the UK firm’s board in 2022, beforehand held roles on the Treasury and Cupboard Workplace.Based on the accounts, Fujitsu’s mum or dad injected £80mn into the enterprise to “strengthen the stability sheet” and assist operations, following a £200mn capital infusion the earlier yr. Revenues fell 9.2 per cent to nearly £1.1bn, whereas revenue recovered to £15mn from a loss the yr earlier than. Nevertheless, the corporate’s order pipeline contracted by a fifth to £904mn, with administration warning that the “lack of future new enterprise resulting from reputational injury arising from the Horizon inquiry stays a key danger”.Greater than 900 sub-postmasters have been wrongly prosecuted between 1999 and 2015 resulting from faults within the Horizon laptop system, which was developed by Fujitsu and falsely confirmed accounting shortfalls. Greater than 230 sub-postmasters have been jailed, and no less than 13 are believed to have taken their very own lives.In its newest filings, Fujitsu stated it “continues to assist the inquiry course of till its conclusion” and is “participating in discussions with the UK authorities concerning an applicable and proportionate contribution” to compensation for victims. The corporate stated forward of the inquiry’s closing findings, “it’s not doable to estimate the quantity of a future monetary contribution” and due to this fact no provision has been made in its stability sheet.The pay rise and money injection have been first reported by the Occasions and the Sunday Telegraph.Fujitsu has suspended bidding for UK authorities contracts till the conclusion of the general public inquiry into the Horizon system. The corporate instructed the Monetary Occasions that it continued to work with the federal government “to make sure we adhere to the voluntary restrictions we put in place concerning bidding for brand new contracts” and was “engaged with authorities concerning Fujitsu’s contribution to compensation”.It added that “improved working margins and the profitable supply of strategic value discount measures” had helped increase pre-tax income. “We stay targeted on supporting our UK clients, via the supply of progressive IT providers and options,” the corporate stated.The UK authorities final week pledged to enhance the compensation schemes for victims of the Horizon scandal. Enterprise secretary Peter Kyle stated ministers would create an appeals course of for sub-postmasters who accepted fixed-sum funds beneath earlier settlements, permitting them to pursue full, evidence-based redress.The primary report of the general public inquiry, launched in July, discovered that each Put up Workplace and Fujitsu workers have been conscious of significant flaws within the Horizon system however “maintained the fiction” that it was dependable. The federal government has accepted all however one of many inquiry’s 19 suggestions, together with proposals for an impartial physique to supervise redress in future circumstances.Fujitsu’s accounts additionally disclose a £4mn damages declare filed by a former sub-postmaster in July. Fujitsu doesn’t establish the claimant, however media reviews have linked the case to Lee Castleton, whose story featured in ITV’s Mr Bates vs the Put up Workplace. The corporate stated it was “not but doable to foretell the end result” of the case.