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.
