Major services firm headquartered in the US has won a contract with the Cabinet Office to help deliver a programme intended to increase trust and accelerate the use of AI
The Cabinet Office has signed up professional services firm Guidehouse Europe to help deliver the cabinet secretary’s Future Civil Service programme.
Guidehouse, which describes itself as “a global AI-led professional services firm delivering advisory, technology, and managed services to the commercial and government sectors”, has won a £1.7m contract which lasts from 3 July to 26 October.
The contract contains little detail on exactly what is being provided, describing it only as “services furnished by specialist organisations”. Supporting documents do however state that the contract includes three sub-contractors: global consultancy firms Korn Ferry, Newton Consulting and Eden McCallum.
Led by Dame Antonia Romeo, the Future Civil Service programme aims to build a “world class” civil service that is “famous” for excellence in delivering for ministers and the public, its use of tech and AI, and is “trusted by the people we serve”.
The cab sec first publicly outlined the programme in a blog in May, calling for a new mindset from civil servants to deliver on it: “Make it happen. Make it better. Make it count.”
More recently, the programme’s first concrete reforms were revealed on a GOV.UK website, which said success profiles would be removed from the recruitment process, cross-cutting capability reviews would be launched, and a review of the Civil Service Fast Stream would be undertaken. The website also invited civil servants to have their say by setting out the one change they would introduce to the civil service to make it better.
A cabinet secretary review of the “organisation, performance and transformation of the permanent civil service” is set to report its findings in early 2027. The Cabinet Office has appointed Jerome Glass as director general, future civil service, to lead Romeo’s transformation agenda.
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PublicTechnology sister publication Civil Service World asked for more details on what the contract is for.
A government spokesperson said: “We have an ambitious agenda to transform the civil service, to build capability, improve talent management and ensure staff have the skills and tools they need to drive government priorities in every postcode of the UK. All contracts are awarded in line with relevant guidance.”
The Cabinet Office also recently signed a £70,000 contract with JH Coaching and Advisory, the coaching firm of former Defence Equipment and Support director general Jill Hatcher for a “review of the current civil service approach to talent identification and development”.
The review aims to provide an “independent assessment of current arrangements and generate evidence-based recommendations to inform future policy”.
Hatcher left her role as DG for strategy and organisational effectiveness in May 2025 after 23 years in the civil service to set up her own coaching firm.