Electronic Data Systems Corp, the US services giant, failed to secure a huge contract to wire up UK courthouses after government experts judged that EDS would not be able to complete the job in the time it promised. The award of a 183m pound contract went instead to a consortium led by ICL and Unisys (CI No 3,569). The EDS bid was substantially cheaper at 120m pounds. An official for the Lord Chancellors department, which managed the bidding process, confirmed that the EDS submission had been given a category A risk factor – indication that officials thought they would be unable to deliver on time. He said that EDS could have come back with a revised submission but instead chose to withdraw – leaving ICL and Unisys with the only submission.
