Open Fifth, formerly known as PTFS Europe, stands as one of the UK’s leading providers of open source library software. As a Bramble Hub partner, Open Fifth’s technology and expertise are now more accessible than ever to the UK’s public sector. Through Bramble Hub’s role as a thin-prime supplier on government frameworks, public sector organisations can procure Open Fifth’s innovative solutions efficiently, compliantly, and cost-effectively.
Open Fifth: freeing libraries to do what they do best
Founded in 2007, Open Fifth has grown from a two-person startup to a trusted name supporting over 150 UK libraries. The company provides open-source, cloud-hosted solutions such as:
- Koha, the world’s most deployed open-source library management system
- Aspen Discovery, a highly customisable discovery layer integrating catalogues, e-resources, and archives
- Metabase, a business intelligence tool for data analytics and visualisation
- DSpace and AtoM, for institutional repositories and archival access
With ISO 27001 certification and a strong commitment to cybersecurity, Open Fifth provides expert hosting, data migration, implementation, and support, ensuring reliability for public sector libraries operating under strict data integrity requirements.
The customer benefits of open source
By working with open source products, Open Fifth customers benefit not only from the company’s in-house experts, but a global community committed to the innovation and improvement of the software. The products are continuously maintained and enhanced by the communities of developers and librarians behind them – a process that customer libraries can get involved with as much or as little as they like.
Software enhancements and new features can be developed to meet a library’s specific needs, with this work then released to all users of the software, free of charge. This enables libraries to build upon each other’s efforts, as well as inspire and learn from one another. This provides a level of functionality and quality far beyond what any of the technical teams or support companies like Open Fifth could achieve in isolation.
Another key feature of open-source software is that there are no licence fees, the software is available to freely download and use, and no vendor lock-in either. Libraries can choose to pay support companies like Open Fifth for their services for implementation, data migration, hosting, support, and bespoke software development.
Jonathan Field, Open Fifth Managing Director, shared “When we started Open Fifth (then PTFS Europe) in 2007 we wanted to do something different from the other library system vendors. Open source was in its infancy in terms of the understanding by libraries of what it could offer. We saw it as an ethical and technically sound alternative and, thanks to some innovative libraries who lead the charge, it is now a mainstream offering. In fact, open source is often the preferred technology choice over proprietary software based on all the now widely known benefits of adopting open source as a software solution.”
A brand rooted in harmony
The rebrand from PTFS Europe to Open Fifth marked more than a change of name. Inspired by the musical concept of an open fifth – a harmonious interval of the first and fifth notes – the name pays tribute to the company’s founder and Managing Director Jonathan Field and Commercial Director Andrew Auld, who first met in a choir nearly 30 years ago. The rebrand reflects the company’s dedication to openness, collaboration, and shared growth – principles that resonate with both the open-source community and the UK public service.
Serving the UK’s public and academic sectors
While Open Fifth’s clients are predominantly in the public and academic sectors, their products are also widely used in health, government, and museum libraries, each benefiting from open-source flexibility without the constraints of licensing fees. Being open source, the company’s products are widely used globally, with Koha implemented in over 18,000 sites worldwide and Aspen Discovery now used by more than 1,500 institutions.
Enabling innovation through partnership
Together, Bramble Hub and Open Fifth are freeing libraries to spend less time navigating procurement and more time empowering their communities through innovative, open, and sustainable technology.
