What Public Sector Software does

Public Sector Software Ltd (PSS) is a UK-based software company founded in 1989 by Trevor Baker in Leamington Spa to build purpose-built asset and inspection management software for UK public sector organisations. The company serves approximately 140 councils, housing associations, utilities, and play equipment inspection companies through two core products: PSSLive+ for asset inspection, findings, and maintenance workflows, and PSSUltimate for contractor and operational task management. Both products are modular SaaS platforms with mobile applications for iOS and Android, hosted on Azure UK South with Cardiff failover, and incorporate British Standards (BSEN 1176, 1177, 11630, 14974, 15312) directly into inspection logic to support compliance with duty of care obligations and the Lord Woolf Act's 21-year evidence retention requirement.

PSS's technology stack centres on workflow integration of regulatory standards, GPS and What3Words geolocation, offline mobile capture with auto-sync, and a complete audit trail of timestamped, geocoded, photographically-evidenced records. The company operates its own RPII-approved examiner centre for play inspection qualifications and integrates Zoho for bespoke reporting and Trimble for polygon-based geolocation mapping. Security and compliance posture includes Cyber Essentials certification, GDPR compliance, SSL encryption, 2FA as an additional layer, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee (maximum 8 hours 45 minutes 36 seconds downtime per year). The company captures 26% of the UK local authority market share, has recorded 5.5M+ inspections, and reports an 8.3/10 average NPS from independently conducted surveys alongside documented instances of customers using PSS evidence to successfully defend insurance claims.

Revenue is generated primarily through annual subscription licences — PSSLive+ from £7,000 per sector and PSSUltimate core modules from £15,000 — supplemented by usage-based inspection credits at £4.50 per credit for parish councils and independent inspectors, plus professional services for onsite training at £1,500 per day and online training at £100 per person per hour. Distribution is exclusively UK-focused and runs through the Government Commercial Agency G-Cloud framework and Crown Commercial Service G-Cloud 14, which enable direct procurement without tender, combined with a sales-led demo-first motion staffed by specialists who understand inspections and council workflows. PSS became a subsidiary of ETG Group in 2025 while retaining its UK public sector focus and founder-aligned mission, and the company has been bootstrapped without external venture capital investment.

Name

Public Sector Software

Legal name

Public Sector Software Limited

Website

https://pssltd.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Public Sector Software Ltd builds PSSLive+ and PSSUltimate, SaaS platforms used by 140+ UK councils, housing associations, utilities, and inspectors to manage asset inspections, British Standards compliance, contractor workflows, and 21-year audit trails across public assets.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Leamington Spa

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. PSSLive+ Annual Licence: Annual subscription licence for asset inspection and compliance software. Priced per sector with unlimited inspections, users, and free updates included. Data storage for lifetime of licence (up to 21 years).
2. PSSUltimate Annual Licence: Annual subscription licence for contractor and operational management. Core modules (Sites, Programs, Tasks, People, Map & Config) with 50 mobile users included. Additional modules (Equipment, Issues, Attendance, Inspections, Stock) available to purchase separately.
3. PAYG Inspection Credits: Pay-as-you-go credit options for parish councils, independent inspectors and low-frequency users. £4.50 per inspection credit with no commitment.
4. Product Training Services: Onsite training at £1,500 per day (up to 12 users) and online training at £100 per person per hour (up to 4 users). RPII qualification courses also offered.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Public Sector Software (PSS) builds and sells two core SaaS platforms — PSSLive+ for asset compliance and inspection management, and PSSUltimate for contractor and operational management — purpose-built for UK public sector organisations managing public assets such as playgrounds, parks, trees, cemeteries, and open spaces. Both products embed British Standards (BSEN 1176, 1177, 11630, 14974, 15312) directly into inspection workflows, provide complete audit trails, and are delivered with mobile apps for iOS and Android featuring offline capability.

Product overview

PSS Ltd offers two core products for UK public sector asset management: PSSLive+ for asset compliance and inspection workflow, and PSSUltimate for contractor and task control. PSSLive+ provides a modular platform for managing inspections, findings, and maintenance across playgrounds, trees, cemeteries, parks, grounds maintenance, estate management, and stock/equipment — with each module built around sector-specific compliance obligations. PSSUltimate serves as a contractor management system with core modules for Sites, Programs, Tasks, People, Map, and Config, plus optional add-on modules for Inspections, Stock, Equipment, Attendance, and Issues. Both products are available via G-Cloud procurement without tender and include mobile apps for iOS and Android with offline functionality. The company also provides RPII-recognised inspector training and product training services. Founded in 1989, PSS has been building software specifically for UK public sector asset management for over 35 years.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• PSSLive+: Complete workflow for inspections, findings and maintenance. Asset compliance software for teams keeping public spaces safe, compliant and well maintained.
• PSSUltimate

Products and services

• PSSLive+ Asset compliance and inspection management software for UK public sector organisations managing public assets. Provides complete workflow for inspections, findings, and maintenance with mobile apps for iOS and Android featuring offline functionality, GPS and What3Words location capture, and full audit trails. Sold as annual per-sector subscription from £7,000 + VAT per sector per year.
• PSSUltimate Contractor and operational management system providing total visibility across contractors, tasks, and programs for UK local authority and housing association teams. Core modules include Sites, Programs, Tasks, People, Map and Config. Additional modules (Inspections, Stock, Equipment, Attendance, Issues) available separately. Annual subscription from £15,000 + VAT for core modules, includes 50 mobile users.
• RPII Training RPII-recognised training provider for outdoor playground inspection qualifications. Offers Routine, Operational, and Schools playground inspection qualifications plus British Standards introduction courses and bespoke training programs. PSS has been an approved examination centre since the qualification existed.
• Product Training Product training delivered as set courses or tailored to team needs covering getting started, day-to-day use, reporting, advanced features, configuration, or refresher sessions. Available onsite (£1,500 + VAT per day, up to 12 users) or online (£100 + VAT per person per hour, up to 4 users) delivered via Microsoft Teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• 215 hours saved per inspector per year
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Agile OrangecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Software development partner for co-development of PSSUltimate with Islington Borough Council. Agile Orange worked with PSS and Islington over 18 months to build the system.
• ZohocoreTechnology or IntegrationReporting integration for PSSUltimate. Zoho reporting enables bespoke, automated reporting and scheduled report distribution. Includes 5 Zoho users as standard with PSSUltimate, additional users available to purchase.
• Register of Play Inspectors International (RPII)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRPII-approved examination centre for play inspection qualifications. PSS has been an approved centre since the qualification existed. Training methodology is the same as that embedded in PSSLive inspection workflows.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Broad incumbents

• Civica: One of the largest UK public sector software providers, owned by private equity, offering solutions spanning local government, health, education, and regulated industries. Civica's broad portfolio overlaps with PSS in council-facing software and could bundle competing asset management capabilities into its existing council contracts.
• Advanced Business Solutions: UK-headquartered software and services provider serving public sector and mid-market customers with finance, HR, payroll, and document management software. While not a direct playground/parks competitor, Advanced sells into the same UK council procurement channels and represents a broad-incumbent competitive threat as councils consolidate vendors.
• Idox Group: UK-listed software group providing a broad suite of solutions to local authorities including planning, regulatory, land and property, and asset management software. Idox competes with PSS in council asset management and has significantly greater scale and a wider product portfolio, making it the primary broad-incumbent threat to PSS in UK local government software.

Direct peers

• Brightly Software (formerly Dude Solutions): US-headquartered asset management and operations SaaS provider serving local government, education, and commercial facilities. Brightly directly competes in council/government asset management workflows with a similar SaaS delivery model and is increasingly targeting UK local authorities.
• Confirm (Precisely): Asset management and infrastructure software from Precisely (formerly Pitney Bowes Software / MapInfo heritage) used by UK and international public sector organisations for highways, lighting, parks, and grounds asset management. Confirm is a directly comparable best-of-breed asset management peer serving the same council buyer.
• Velocity / AssetWorks (Euna Solutions): Euna Solutions (which absorbed AssetWorks) provides asset, fleet, and facilities management software to municipalities and public sector organisations. Comparable to PSS in serving council/government asset management use cases via SaaS, although with greater North American focus and broader functional scope.
• Yotta (part of Causeway Technologies): UK-based provider of asset management, highways, and street works software to local authorities and infrastructure operators. Yotta directly competes with PSS in council asset management workflows and is a closely comparable peer in target customer, business model, and delivery mechanism.

Emerging players

• Wicksteed Leisure: Historic UK playground equipment manufacturer and inspection services provider offering post-installation and operational playground inspections. Wicksteed overlaps with PSS's playground inspection customer base and competes indirectly for inspection-related scope within councils.
• Playsafety Ltd (RoSPA): UK-based playground inspection services company affiliated with RoSPA, providing BS EN 1176 inspection and risk assessment services to local authorities. Playsafety intersects with PSS at the playground inspection workflow and represents a competitor/adjacent player in PSS's core playground segment.

Others

• Society of Local Council Clerks (SLCC) / Parish Council software vendors (e.g., Parish Online, Apus): Adjacent ecosystem of UK parish and town council software providers and professional associations serving smaller councils that PSS targets via its PAYG inspection credits tier. Comparable because they target the same local authority buyer at the parish council tier with overlapping compliance workflows.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/public-sector-software-ltd-
• Xx.com/psslive

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Public Sector Software