BELFAST IT group Kainos has landed one of its biggest ever government contracts just days after appointing its first new chief executive in 22 years.
The UK Home Office has awarded the software firm a deal potentially worth up to £75 million over the next five years.
Kainos has been selected as a delivery partner for the ‘Civil Registration Digital Product Family’ programme.
The Belfast firm will be responsible for establishing a modern registration service for births, deaths and marriages/civil partnerships in the UK, replacing the current legacy systems.
The Home Office tender, awarded on Friday, came one day after Kainos secured another contract worth around £9.5m to support home testing for NHS England.
The deals were announced one week after Russell Sloan took over as the new chief executive of Kainos at the company’s AGM on September 21.
He replaced Brendan Mooney, who led the company for 22 years as CEO, helping building it into one of the biggest businesses in Northern Ireland.
The London-listed tech company is now worth around £1.4 billion, employing around 3,000 people worldwide, including around 1,100 in Northern Ireland.
Read more:
- Kainos on course to raise profits by up to 15 per cent this year
- Kainos to submit plans for student accommodation with redrafted Belfast office scheme
- Kainos' incoming CEO planning for a subtle and seamless succession
- One of Belfast's most expensive student schemes sold as part of £300m deal
- Kainos land £35m contract to improve driver theory test system in Britain
Government digital transformation contracts remain a major focus for the company.
Kainos was recently awarded a £35m tender from the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency to improve the theory test system in the UK.
Its latest Home Office contract involves an initial three years of work, with two 12-month optional extension periods.
Kainos has a high pedigree in the area. It was awarded the contract a number of years ago to digitally transform the UK passport system for Her Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO).
Other big government contracts landed this year include a £11.6m digital project with the UK Pensions Regulator and a £9m deal with the UK Ministry of Justice.
The Belfast IT services group recently relaunched its bid to develop a new headquarters in the city.
Four years after paying around £7m for the former Movie House cinema's Bankmore Square site on the Dublin Road, Kainos has unveiled what its new head office will look like.
Despite announcing a scaled down 85,000 sq ft office scheme last month, the online public consultation website launched by Kainos in recent days outlines a 120,000 sq ft office tower, up to 12 storeys, with a retail/restaurant space on the ground floor.
Kainos has also announced a £6.2m deal to sell 60 per cent of its Bankmore Square site to Queen's University.
The university has proposed a 15-storey 460-unit student accommodation development next door to the new Kainos HQ.
In August, Kainos also agreed a deal to sell its site at Mount Charles to Queen's University for £1.5m.
Mount Charles is located between the university and Kainos' current headquarters at Upper Crescent.