Appointment of new private sector partner
The Home Office has appointed PA Consulting and Plexal as the new delivery partners for the Accelerated Capability Environment.
Saj Huq and Carl Roberts.
The Home Office has appointed PA Consulting and Plexal as the new delivery partners for the Accelerated Capability Environment (ACE), marking an important phase in the organisation’s evolution. The partnership came into effect on 1 April 2026 and will build on ACE’s strong foundations to support the delivery of mission driven innovation across government.
Rapid technological change is transforming the landscape of public safety and security. Threats are evolving at speed as criminals, hostile actors and organised networks use new tools and methods. At the same time, powerful new technologies are creating opportunities to understand risk earlier, respond faster and protect the public in smarter ways.
Government has recognised that the country cannot meet these challenges through isolated effort. Scientific, technical and operational expertise from across the UK needs to be brought together so that insight can be shared at pace and promising ideas can be turned into practical solutions. This is why ACE’s work is more critical than ever. ACE provides the collaborative space, trusted environment and specialist capability that allows government, industry and academia to work side by side. ACE enables rapid problem solving and helps the system keep up with the speed of change in the world around us.
Under the new partnership, PA Consulting and Plexal will work with the Home Office to strengthen ACE’s ability to identify shared challenges across government and match them to the best available capability. This will draw on technical consulting expertise access to emerging technologies and a multidisciplinary team that will work alongside officials to deliver rapid and cost effective outcomes for the public good.
ACE will continue to support departments, agencies, policing and wider public services by accepting inbound requests, while also identifying areas where common needs can be addressed at pace.
Quote from Annette Southgate, Deputy Director Homeland Security Science and Technology and ACE
I am genuinely excited to begin our new partnership journey. With PA Consulting and Plexal alongside, ACE customers will benefit from a broader diversity of skills, capability and experience, a faster journey from problem realisation to solution and learning from our network of government collaborators. At the heart of our vision for ACE remains the drive for greater mission impact and maximising positive outcomes for citizens, building on the first nine years of impactful ACE delivery.
Carl Roberts at PA Consulting says:
Ace is a truly unique collaboration with the potential to make a real and lasting impact on people’s lives across the UK. The breadth of work ACE delivers is unmatched - bringing together brilliant minds, cutting edge technology and mission driven innovation to help government respond rapidly to emerging threats and opportunities. We’re looking forward to bringing PA’s expertise in innovation and transformation to support the next stage of the ACE journey along with the Home Office and Plexal.
Saj Huq, Chief Commercial Officer at Plexal says:
We are thrilled to further our work with UK Government as the delivery partner for ACE. By focusing on stimulating breakthrough technology that solves public sector problems, we can enhance sovereign capability while delivering economic growth for the country alongside public good. Along with PA, we are delivering scale ingenuity, innovation, customer engagement and community advocacy that will deliver significant impact for UK citizens, businesses and government.