Customs transfer held up

An ICL-led consortium has suffered an embarrassing glitch with its £500m deal with the Customs & Excise after one of its partners delayed the transfer of 250 Customs staff to the IT services company.

Download this free guide

Infographic: GDPR - The State of Play

Get the latest information on how GDPR is going to affect your business and how to avoid any unwanted fines with this simple infographic.

Start Download

• Corporate E-mail Address:

  You forgot to provide an Email Address.

  This email address doesn’t appear to be valid.

  This email address is already registered. Please login.

  You have exceeded the maximum character limit.

  Please provide a Corporate E-mail Address.

By submitting my Email address I confirm that I have read and accepted the Terms of Use and Declaration of Consent.

By submitting your personal information, you agree that TechTarget and its partners may contact you regarding relevant content, products and special offers.

You also agree that your personal information may be transferred and processed in the United States, and that you have read and agree to the Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy.

The consortium of ICL, Racal, Mitsubishi and Microsoft is overhauling the agency's entire IT and telecoms infrastructure, including rolling out Windows 2000.

The delay occurred when the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi, which is financing the deal, sought clarification on the terms of staff transfer.

"We were told some 48 hours before the transfer that ICL's bankers had withheld consent," said a Customs spokesman. "However, if the banks are now happy, we take comfort from that."

The transfer was held up for 10 days.

The final deal was not signed until September 1999, including a month of hesitation as the bank pored over the contract.

ICL said negotiations had not moved as quickly as hoped, but "We are in there and working well with HMCE".