Education Software Solutions (ESS) has asked the High Court to intervene in a row that risks disruption at 1,100 state schools in Northern Ireland.
Capita sold the SIMS software to ESS, set up by the private equity firm Montagu, for £400m in 2020 as part of chief executive Jon Lewis’s efforts to reduce a £1.1bn debt burden. The outsourcer continued to provide the software to schools in Northern Ireland under licence, but ESS claims that permission expired in March.
Capita disputes this, telling the court it accepted “commercial terms” for an extension of the licence proposed by ESS during a phone call.
ESS wants the High Court to declare that no valid extension was made and have threatened to apply for an injunction forcing the software to be deleted across Northern Ireland.
Around 1,100 Northern Irish state schools could be forced to delete copies of the software provided by Capita, which ESS claims are effectively pirated.
Further information on this dispute and the court claims/counterclaims can be found on the WhichMIS? website at whichmis.com
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