IUA Circular 027/26
Blueprint Two Update
Date: 26 March 2026
Interest Groups: IUA member contacts, digital transformation interests, Strategy, Operations, Transformation and Innovation Group
Subject: Future plans following the halting of Blueprint Two
IUA Contact: Kim Darrington, Director of Market Operations and Transformation ( 44 (0)20 7617 4452 or 44 (0)79 4780 3877)
IUA Members will have received communication from Velonetic which reframes the transformation efforts that were previously being conducted under the Blueprint 2 banner. Many will also have seen a similar communication from Lloyd’s last week on the same subject. It stands to reason that members may be questioning what this means for Transformation in the London Market and how the IUA and its members will be involved going forwards.
The IUA were consulted in advance of the communications issued by Lloyd’s and Velonetic and subsequently circulated a public comment (available to view here on the IUAwebsite) in support of the new proposals to implement an incremental transformation that seeks to ensure all relevant parties are engaged and that each proposed initiative is subject to rigorous governance, costing and technical analysis.
The IUA retains its’ shareholding in Velonetic and representation on the Velonetic Board, thereby ensuring our member’s views are taken into consideration when reviewing the technical merit of any transformation initiative.
Velonetic remain committed to delivering a robust, cloud-based platform which is capable of supporting process improvement. However, in acknowledgment of how critical the Velonetic services are to London Market processing, the approach will be to ensure that existing systems are sufficiently resilient to allow for a gradual introduction of new technology and services along with any interaction that will be required between them. This incremental delivery will reduce the intensity in market testing requirements whilst also reducing stress on the existing Velonetic services.
More widely, whilst the Blueprint moniker has been retired, the market continues to work towards its objectives under decentralised governance. The LMG Data Council has developed several variants of the Core Data Record specific to different business types. In collaboration with ACORD these have been translated into functional data standards. The IUA and its members are represented in the Data Council and ACORD governance and continue to provide valuable input as this work progresses.
The original plan to switch from heritage to digital services in a single cutover event meant that the contract for Velonetic services would also switch from the heritage contract (FERN) to a brand-new digital contract in a single event. It will now be necessary for the heritage contract to evolve with the introduction of new technology and services. In addition, the Exit Plan, which details the conditions to be met in order to prove readiness to cutover will need to be reviewed as it caters to a scenario which is no longer relevant. Both of these pieces of work have been commenced with early discussions taking place between Velonetic, the IUA and the LMA and we will be bringing findings to our members and asking for feedback throughout 2026. We recognise that this creates the potential for a notably changed contract which could require a Mandatory Outsource Notification to the regulators for certain members and we are conscious that this needs to be built into timelines for completion.
Delivery of the new technology elements into the heritage estate will be governed through the existing cross market committees on which both the IUA and its members have representation.
Further to Velonetic’s commitment to provide ACORD standard outputs in their new service offering, the IUA and its members who sit on both Velonetic and ACORD governance will need to align in order to ensure that the requirements of all parties are met.
In all cases the principal forum for sharing information on these topics is the IUA Strategy, Operations, Transformation and Innovation Group (SOTIG). If you are interested in finding out more about how you can get involved, please contact our Kim Darrington, Director of Market Operations and Transformation, via the details at the top of this circular.
Escalation of critical issues and notification of progress will be to the IUA Board.