ICS.AI secures £6.3m contract & reports 127% revenue rise
ICS.AI has reported a 127% increase in revenue, national award recognition, and the signing of a £6.3 million contract with Cheshire East Borough Council as part of its recent public sector milestones.
The company, headquartered in Basingstoke, has experienced substantial growth over the past year and is targeting further expansion, aiming to double its size by 2026. This will involve making over 50 new hires and opening additional offices throughout the UK.
Contract with Cheshire East
A key development for ICS.AI is its three-year partnership with Cheshire East Council, which will see the deployment of the company's SMART: AI Unified Platform. This phase of the council's AI transformation programme - designed to serve more than 400,000 residents - is part of wider efforts to address a £100 million budget gap.
ICS.AI's technology will provide AI-powered copilots across Customer Services, Adult Social Care, and Staff Automation, aiming to support the council in delivering services efficiently and securely. The platform operates on Azure OpenAI's GPT-4o and is implemented within the council's own cloud environment.
"This next phase is about turning AI from a point solution into a truly unified transformation," said Martin Neale, CEO of ICS.AI. "Cheshire East Council is showing the UK and the world what responsible, scalable AI looks like. Our mission is to give public bodies the power to sustainably modernise services, improve satisfaction, and unlock financial stability through AI done right."
The company has positioned its unified AI solution as a means to introduce an "always-on" citizen engagement model, promoting efficiency and accessibility while controlling costs at scale.
Expansion and usage in public sector
ICS.AI's solutions are reportedly used in 57% of UK council AI engagement. Its previous work with Derby City Council is credited with facilitating £7.5 million in savings, and the company has recently introduced a £5 million savings guarantee to support local authorities dealing with budget pressures. This guarantee is intended to help councils realise over 300% return on investment, reduce total cost of ownership by up to 60%, and deflect up to 40% of incoming calls.
The SMART: Unified AI Platform from ICS.AI is aimed at enabling full organisational integration, incorporating both public-facing chatbot services and internal automation. The company states that the platform comes with GDPR compliance, ISO 27001 certification, and Cyber Essentials Plus by default.
ICS.AI is extending its services beyond local government, with deployment in the higher education sector and plans to move into healthcare. There is also increasing interest from other governments in Europe.
Industry recognition
The company's growth and public sector focus have led to several industry acknowledgements. ICS.AI has been named in UK Parliament for AI leadership, won the SOCITM Customer and Partner Collaboration of the Year Award, and was recognised at the Enterprise Awards for digital public sector innovation.
Future vision
ICS.AI expects to handle over 10 million AI transactions in 2026 through its SMART: AI Unified Platform. The company emphasises its commitment to ethical AI deployment and states that its services are intended to assist public sector professionals rather than replace them.
"We believe the future of public services lies in AI that enhances human expertise, not replaces it," added Neale. "With our growing client base, rapid expansion, and strong roadmap, we're proud to lead not only the UK, but the world in public sector AI."
ICS.AI maintains that its expansion will focus on providing hyper-personalised, agentic AI across public services, and continues to highlight its aim of delivering significant cost savings at a time of financial pressure across much of the UK public sector.
