~1,000
users at national scale
ACAS: the system that ran the entire business.
A bespoke CRM built from first principles for the UK government's workplace dispute resolution service - serving nearly 1,000 users at national scale, unreplaced for over 20 years.
20+
years unreplaced
1992
engagement started
Competitive tender
won against established providers
The problem
A national service with no system to run it.
ACAS - the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service - is the UK government body responsible for resolving workplace disputes. From unfair dismissal claims to collective bargaining, ACAS handles some of the most complex and sensitive employment cases in the country.
In the early 1990s, ACAS needed a system to manage its entire operation: case management, conciliation tracking, arbitration scheduling, reporting, and compliance - all at national scale across multiple regional offices.
No off-the-shelf CRM could model ACAS's processes. The organisation's work was unique - part legal, part mediation, part advisory - and the system needed to reflect how ACAS actually operated, not force it into a generic template.
The solution
Understand the organisation. Then build software that lasts.
Rubicon won the competitive tender against established providers by demonstrating a deeper understanding of what ACAS actually needed - not a CRM with customisations bolted on, but a system built from first principles around how the organisation worked.
Bespoke CRM
Built from the ground up to model ACAS's unique processes. Case management, conciliation workflows, arbitration scheduling, and outcome tracking - all designed around how ACAS staff actually worked, not how a generic CRM thought they should work.
National deployment
Rolled out across ACAS's regional offices nationwide, serving nearly 1,000 users. The system had to work reliably at scale, across locations, handling the full volume of ACAS's caseload.
Operational backbone
This wasn't a support tool or a reporting add-on. It was the system that ran the business - the central platform through which ACAS delivered its core mission of workplace dispute resolution.
What was delivered
A system so right it wasn't replaced for two decades.
Complete case management
Every case that came through ACAS - individual disputes, collective disputes, advisory work - was managed through the system. From initial contact to resolution, every step was tracked and recorded.
Conciliation and arbitration workflows
Purpose-built workflows for ACAS's core functions. Conciliators and arbitrators had tools designed for their specific work - not generic forms repurposed from a sales CRM.
National reporting and compliance
As a government body, ACAS had strict reporting requirements. The system provided the management information and compliance reporting that ACAS needed to demonstrate accountability and effectiveness.
20+ years of service
The system Rubicon built was not replaced for over 20 years. Not because ACAS was slow to change, but because the system worked - it modelled the business accurately, it scaled with demand, and it remained fit for purpose as the organisation evolved.
Why it matters now
Software that lasts is software that understands.
The ACAS engagement demonstrates what happens when you take the time to truly understand how an organisation works before writing a line of code. Off-the-shelf systems impose their model on the business. Bespoke systems model the business as it actually is.
ACAS's work is complex, sensitive, and unique. No generic CRM could have served it for 20 years. But a system built from first principles - designed around the real workflows, the real users, the real operational requirements - could, and did.
This is the Rubicon approach: invest in understanding, build with precision, and create systems that become so embedded in the organisation that replacing them is harder than evolving them.
Nearly 1,000 users. National scale. Over 20 years. That is what understanding the problem looks like.
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