Arcus Global is seeing rising demand from UK councils as they replace older technology systems, a trend it links to Local Government Reorganisation in England.
The GovTech supplier has recorded 26 per cent compound annual growth in recurring revenue since 2022 as local authorities shift to newer cloud-based systems. Nearly 50 per cent of its annual recurring revenue growth this year has come from existing customers expanding into more departments and functions.
Pressure on council technology teams is increasing as authorities prepare for structural change across parts of England. The reorganisation programme will replace two-tier local government structures with larger unitary authorities, creating a need to combine separate systems for planning, licensing, environmental health and citizen services.
Nearly 20 million people live in areas affected by the overhaul, with the first new authority structures confirmed in Essex, Hampshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. For councils involved in mergers, this means consolidating multiple systems while maintaining day-to-day public services.
At the same time, the sector faces a shortage of digital expertise. Arcus Global cited Local Government Association data showing that 48 per cent of councils report skills gaps in management teams supporting digitalisation and the use of technology.
This combination of organisational change and limited in-house expertise is pushing councils to simplify technology estates built up over many years. Older systems often store information in separate formats and applications, making it harder for authorities to share data across departments or introduce new tools.
Market shift
Arcus Global provides systems of record to more than 60 UK public sector organisations, including Westminster Council and West Sussex County Council. Its products cover environmental health, licensing, planning, building control and citizen services through a single data model built on Salesforce.
The company says this approach is attracting councils that began with one module and later expanded their use of the platform. It reported gross customer retention of 98 per cent since 2020, alongside an "outstanding" result in its latest customer survey on product and service quality, with 88 per cent of respondents saying they would recommend them.
The drive to modernise also intersects with government ambitions for wider use of artificial intelligence in the public sector. But councils will struggle to apply AI tools effectively if data remains fragmented across legacy systems, according to Arcus Global.
The issue has become more pressing as central government has identified the public sector as a priority area for AI deployment. For local authorities, the practical obstacle is less access to AI software than whether core records are structured and consistent enough to support it.
Denis Kaminskiy, Co-founder of Arcus Global, said: "Legacy systems are holding back services and making it harder, not easier, to modernise, and Local Government Reorganisation has made this a deadline rather than an aspiration.
"We built Arcus Global to give councils a single, modern platform across their core regulatory and citizen services, one that works from day one, not after years of integration. Because the data is structured and unified from the outset, councils are better placed for AI adoption and automation, saving valuable time and budget."
Council uptake
One customer cited by Arcus Global is Wokingham Borough Council, which first used its Land Charges system before extending the relationship into other services.
Graham Vaughan, Systems Integration Manager at Wokingham Borough Council, said: "Arcus Global has transformed the way our team works. We came on board as a Land Charges customer, and the implementation went smoothly. The system performed well from day one, and the support we had through go-live gave us real confidence in the product.
"That's why, when we looked at modernising the rest of our service, expanding with Arcus was the obvious choice. We've since procured the full Built Environment suite and Regulatory Services, and are now implementing them to replace several disconnected legacy systems."
The company's figures suggest demand from councils is increasingly tied not only to first-time procurement but also to broader standardisation programmes among existing customers. That pattern reflects the scale of technology consolidation facing authorities as reorganisation reshapes council structures and service teams replace disconnected legacy systems.