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Ben KingBusiness reporter
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The European boss of Fujitsu, the company which built the IT system at the heart of the Post Office Horizon scandal, is to step down in March.
Europe chief executive Paul Patterson, 60, will become non-executive chairman of Fujitsu's UK business, where he will "continue managing the company's response" to the inquiry into the scandal.
The announcement is part of a long-planned transition, and Patterson is expected to stay with the company until the inquiry process is complete.
Patterson has played a prominent role in Fujitsu's response to the Horizon scandal, representing the company at the public inquiry into the affair, and at House of Commons select committee hearings.
He has been criticised for the firm's decision not to pay compensation to victims until the inquiry has published its final report.
The Horizon IT system, which began operating in 1999, falsely created shortfalls in Post Office branches for which sub-postmasters were held liable.
More than 900 people were prosecuted, and some went to prison, in what has been called the one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history. Some died while waiting for their names to be cleared and compensation paid.
The first report from the official inquiry into the scandal found it may have led to more than 13 people taking their own lives.
Fujitsu has agreed in principle to contribute to compensation for victims, but it has consistently refused to agree a sum or make any payment until the final report from the inquiry is published.
This is expected later this year.
Former sub-Postmaster Tim Brentnall from Pembrokeshire was wrongly convicted in 2010 of false accounting after Horizon made a shortfall appear in his branch accounts. His conviction was overturned in 2021, but he is still waiting for final compensation.
Paul Patterson "tries to say all the right things but does nothing," he said.
"It seems they are waiting for the inquiry to see what they have to do, rather than doing what they should do," Brentnall added.
He welcomed the fact that Patterson is staying on to deal with Horizon issues.
"It's good to have that continuity regardless of what you think of his performance," he said.
"The last thing anyone wants is something like this to cause further delays."
Patterson joined Fujitsu in 2010 and became Europe chief executive in 2019, the same year Alan Bates and the sub-Postmasters won their landmark case at the High Court.
Speaking to the Inquiry in 2024, he apologised on behalf of Fujitsu "for our part in this appalling miscarriage of justice".
He admitted there were "bugs, errors and defects" in the Horizon system which were well known "right from the very start".
Earlier this month, Patterson defended the fact the company had been given £500m worth of extensions on government contracts, despite its decision not to bid for new work in the wake of the scandal.
"We are not a parasite, the government has got an option as to whether they wish to extend those contracts or not," he said.
Patterson will be replaced by Mikihito Saito, the company's current head of international business. The current UK boss Anwen Owen will report to him.
