Postal services

Tender description

The renewal of the leasing of Horizon On Line (HOL) systems from Post Office Ltd (POL). This allows the British Forces Post Office to operate UK — equivalent standard postal services in its Forces Post Offices worldwide. Through it’s network of Forces Post Offices (FPOs) worldwide, HQ BFPO is mandated to provide, for service personnel, families and entitled staffs, postal and banking services equivalent to that available in a high street Post Office in the UK. An electronic system via a networked terminal operated at each FPO, known as a Horizon On Line (HOL) terminal, facilitates the provision of these services. Single-source contracting shall be employed for this requirement, as HOL is wholly owned by Post Office Ltd (POL). There is no other system in existence that has the features and capabilities of HOL and further, HOL is the only system recognised by the Royal Mail Group, who licence BFPO to operate as a formal mail moving authority. The HOL systems are leased from POL via a 10-year contract and as already stated, the HOL terminals are unique to POL, meaning that the services they provide cannot be met by any other supplier.