EXCLUSIVE: Reform UK’s Small Boat Scramble attracted national headlines when it launched. But the party’s own legal documents reveal another story: a little-known technology company is named as the app’s “principal technical provider”, while documents written before the game’s public launch called it something rather less playful: “Stop the Boats”.
When Reform UK launched Small Boat Scramble in September, the reaction was immediate.
The arcade-style game, contained within the party’s Small Boat Watch mobile application, allows players to control a Royal Navy vessel and prevent dinghies from reaching the British coast. Reform promoted a £5,000 prize for the highest-scoring player.
Much of the resulting coverage concentrated, understandably, on the game itself.
But an examination by Just The Facts of Reform UK’s own legal documentation reveals details about the project which received considerably less attention, including the identity of the small technology company Reform describes as its “principal technical provider”.
That company is Softvize Ltd.
And Reform’s documents show that, weeks before Small Boat Scramble appeared publicly under that name, the party’s own paperwork was referring to the game simply as:
“Stop the Boats”.
Before Small Boat Scramble, there was “Stop the Boats”
Reform UK’s Small Boat Watch Privacy Notice, dated 20 August 2026, describes the application as providing information about Channel crossings using published UK Government data.
It then states:
“The app also includes the Stop the Boats game and associated leaderboard.”
The terminology is repeated throughout the document.
Under information collected from players, Reform says that when somebody plays “Stop the Boats”, their score, completion time and leaderboard position can be recorded and associated with their account.
Just The Facts has preserved Reform UK’s Privacy Notice and Terms and Conditions as web archives. Both identify themselves as Version 1.0, last updated on 20 August 2026.
The Terms similarly refer repeatedly to the “Stop the Boats game”, stating that they apply to use of:
“…the Small Boat Watch mobile application, including the Stop the Boats game, leaderboard and associated services.”
Why does the chronology matter?
Google Play metadata records Small Boat Watch as having been released on Android on 21 August, while its version history identifies the 16 September update as introducing Small Boat Scramble.
Reform’s legal documentation therefore shows that a game called Stop the Boats was already contemplated as part of the application before Small Boat Watch itself was publicly released; almost four weeks before Small Boat Scrambleappeared under its eventual public name.
Why the name changed is unclear.
Who is Softvize?
Further down Reform’s Privacy Notice is a section explaining who processes information associated with the application.
It states:
“Our principal technical provider is Softvize, which provides development and technical services supporting the application.”
Reform says the service is hosted primarily on Amazon Web Services infrastructure in London, with other providers including Expo, Postmark, Apple and Google.
Softvize Ltd is a software-development and IT consultancy based at the Knowledge Gateway in Colchester, Essex.
Companies House records show that the business was incorporated on 17 July 2024.
Its director is Jason Moore, born in May 1997, who Companies House records as having at least 75 per cent ownership and voting control.
Softvize’s first micro-company accounts, covering the period to July 2025, were filed in March this year. They do not disclose turnover.
Those accounts record an average of six employees.
The company’s public-facing claims, however, are considerably larger.
Softvize currently says it has served more than 200 clients, completed more than 350 projects, and achieved a 100 per cent client satisfaction rate.
Those figures cannot be independently reconciled with its abbreviated public accounts, which are not required to disclose turnover or a customer list.
Just The Facts asked Softvize whether those figures relate solely to work undertaken by Softvize Ltd since its incorporation in July 2024 or include earlier work undertaken by its founder or staff.
No response or acknowledgement had been received by publication.
NHS branding raises questions among the public
Softvize’s website also prominently associates the company with several major organisations.
Its marketing displays the NHS among organisations presented as trusting the company and publishes a testimonial attributed to Elizabeth Hutton, “SCA @ NHS”.
The testimonial describes bespoke software supplied by Softvize as intuitive, adaptable and capable of integrating with existing systems.
Softvize’s website also carries testimonials attributed to representatives of other organisations, including WHSmith.
None of this establishes that the NHS, or any other organisation displayed on Softvize’s website, had any involvement whatsoever with Reform UK, Small Boat Watch or Small Boat Scramble.
Just The Facts has seen no evidence suggesting that the NHS was involved in the Reform project.
But the juxtaposition prompted questions when we took the story onto the streets.
“I don’t want anyone coming after me”
As part of this investigation, Just The Facts approached members of the public in Newcastle upon Tyne to ask what they thought about Small Boat Scramble.
An unexpected difficulty emerged.
A number of people initially appeared willing to speak but politely declined after being told that the subject was Reform UK’s Small Boat Scramble.
One man, who declined to give his name or comment further, explained simply:
“I don’t want anyone coming after me, mate.”
He did not say who he believed might “come after” him or explain precisely what he feared.
His comment should therefore not be interpreted as evidence of intimidation by Reform UK, its members or its supporters. Just The Facts has no evidence of that.
It is reported simply because it was one of the reactions encountered while attempting to gather public opinion about the game.
Another woman, who also asked not to be identified, was willing to explain her concerns.
After being shown the connection between Reform’s application and Softvize, and Softvize’s presentation of the NHS on its website, she questioned why the health service’s branding appeared there.
“It’s migrants what have kept the NHS afloat, no pun intended, for most of my life,” she said. “Those migrants have saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of Brits and alike, if not millions.”
She added:
“I want to know why their sign is splattered across the front page of a company that’s involved in making anti-migrant games for a horrible bunch, like Reform?”
Her words represent her reaction, not the findings of this investigation.
In particular, Just The Facts has not established that Softvize designed or developed Small Boat Scramble itself.
Reform’s Privacy Notice establishes that Softvize is the application’s “principal technical provider”, providing “development and technical services supporting the application”. It does not attribute authorship of the game specifically to Softvize.
Likewise, the presence of NHS branding on Softvize’s website does not establish any relationship between the NHS and Reform UK.
But the woman’s reaction illustrates why clarity over the relationship Softvize presents with the NHS is important: a member of the public encountering the two associations can draw a connection considerably stronger than the evidence currently supports.
So Just The Facts asked the NHS to clarify it.
What is the NHS’s relationship with Softvize?
On 25 September, Just The Facts contacted the NHS seeking confirmation of the nature of its relationship with Softvize.
We asked whether an NHS organisation had commissioned or purchased software or other services from the company; whether the testimonial attributed to Elizabeth Hutton was authentic and authorised; and whether Softvize had permission to display NHS branding in this context.
The enquiry explicitly stated that Just The Facts was not suggesting that the NHS had any involvement in developing Reform UK’s application or game.
No response or acknowledgement had been received by publication.
That silence is not evidence that Softvize’s claims are inaccurate.
It simply means that, at the time of publication, Just The Facts has been unable to obtain independent confirmation from the NHS of the relationship presented on Softvize’s website.
What information does Small Boat Watch collect?
The involvement of an outside technology provider is also relevant because Small Boat Watch is more than a game.
Reform’s Privacy Notice says users create an account to use the application.
Information collected can include an email address, UK postcode, optional telephone number and display name, alongside account-creation and login information.
Gameplay can generate further information, including scores, timestamps and leaderboard positions associated with a user’s account.
Depending upon the features being used, Reform says technical information can also include IP addresses, an app-generated device identifier, device type and model, operating-system information and push-notification tokens.
Google Play also tells prospective users that the application may collect personal information and device or other identifiers.
There is no suggestion in Reform’s Privacy Notice that Softvize is permitted to use that information independently for its own purposes.
Reform identifies itself as the Data Controller and says service providers may process information only for authorised purposes and subject to appropriate contractual and security arrangements.
Political profiling expressly addressed
Perhaps the most striking section of Reform’s Privacy Notice is headed:
“Political opinions and use for campaigning”.
Reform acknowledges that Small Boat Watch is operated by a registered political party and concerns matters of political debate.
It then states:
“At launch, your Small Boat Watch account information and gameplay are not used to infer your political opinions, create a political profile about you or target you with political campaigning based upon your gameplay.”
The party says Small Boat Watch information is kept separately from its membership, electoral and campaigning records.
There is therefore no evidence that Reform is currently using players’ gameplay to construct political profiles. Its own Privacy Notice expressly says that it is not.
However, the document also anticipates the possibility of a future change.
It says that if Reform proposes in future to use Small Boat Watch information for additional “political campaigning, supporter engagement or profiling purposes”, it will first assess the applicable data-protection requirements and provide appropriate information and choices.
That possibility appears in Reform UK’s own Privacy Notice; it is not an inference by Just The Facts.
Questions Softvize hasn’t answered
On 27 September, Just The Facts sent Softvize a detailed Right of Reply.
Among other things, we asked when the company was first approached by Reform UK; who initiated the relationship; what elements of Small Boat Watch Softvize developed; whether it was involved specifically in developing Small Boat Scramble; and who conceived the game.
We also asked whether the game was originally known internally as Stop the Boats, as Reform’s legal documentation indicates.
Softvize was invited to clarify its published client and project figures and its relationships with organisations whose names and branding appear in its marketing.
No response or acknowledgement had been received by publication.
That silence should not be interpreted as confirmation of any allegation.
Just The Facts has found no evidence of wrongdoing by Softvize or its director.
Nor do Reform’s documents establish that Softvize conceived or designed Small Boat Scramble.
What the documents do establish is that Reform UK identifies Softvize as the “principal technical provider” supporting the application containing the game.
More than a September publicity stunt
When Small Boat Scramble became public in September, much of the political discussion understandably focused on the nature of the game itself.
The documents reveal another part of the story.
Before Small Boat Watch had even appeared on Google Play, Reform had produced legal documentation explicitly referring to a “Stop the Boats game and associated leaderboard”.
That same documentation identified the categories of personal and gameplay information the application would collect, specifically addressed political profiling and potential future uses of Small Boat Watch information, and named Softvize as the application’s principal technical provider.
The evidence does not tell us who came up with the game.
It does not establish why Stop the Boats became Small Boat Scramble.
It does not establish that Softvize designed the game.
And it does not reveal the value or procurement process behind Reform UK’s relationship with Softvize.
Those are questions Just The Facts has put to the company.
For now, they remain unanswered.
What Reform’s own documents establish is simpler.
Small Boat Scramble was not an idea that first appeared alongside September’s publicity campaign.
Weeks earlier, before the underlying application itself was publicly released, Reform UK’s legal documentation already contained the game, its leaderboard and the data generated by its players.
And at that point, it already had a name:
Stop the Boats.
Right of Reply
Just The Facts contacted the NHS on 25 September 2026 and Softvize Ltd on 27 September 2026 with detailed questions relevant to this investigation. Neither organisation had responded or acknowledged the enquiries by the time of publication.
Just The Facts contacted Reform UK before publication and provided detailed questions concerning Softvize’s role as the application’s “principal technical provider”, the pre-launch use of the name “Stop the Boats”, provisions concerning potential future political use of Small Boat Watch information, and the procurement of Softvize’s services. Reform was initially given 24 hours to respond and was subsequently allowed an additional 12 hours. No response or acknowledgement had been received by the publication deadline.
Any substantive response received after publication will be added to this article.
Additional reporting: members of the public quoted in this article asked not to be identified. Their comments represent their individual opinions and should not be interpreted as representative polling of people in Newcastle or elsewhere.
