Open Fifth name announcement – FAQs
Last updated on: 8th April 2025| 26th March 2025 | Open Fifth
More resources:
Press release: ‘PTFS Europe announces company name change to Open Fifth’
YouTube: Introducing Open Fifth, the new name for PTFS Europe
Q: Why have you changed the company’s name?
A: The company was founded in 2007. Over the last 18 years, the team behind the company has grown and the products and services offered have evolved too. We have expanded our presence geographically beyond Europe, with the global nature of open source development, and the Koha and Aspen communities. Furthermore, we pride ourselves on our reputation as a friendly and personable team, a key consideration reflected in the 2022 rebrand.
The name ‘PTFS Europe’ no longer seemed to capture everything the company represents now, and it increasingly felt like we had outgrown it. We believe that our new name better reflects our vision and reputation. We also wanted a name that was easy to use and more memorable, which we believe we have achieved.
Q: What does ‘Open Fifth’ mean and why did you choose it?
A: It has a meaningful connection to the company’s primary directors.
‘Open fifth’ is a musical term, a chord that consists of a first note and fifth note, with no third. This relates to primary company directors and owners Jonathan Field and Andrew Auld, who met nearly 30 years ago in a choir where they often sang a fifth apart in their respective vocal parts.
It better reflects our values.
We only implement and support open source software because we believe in its cost-effectiveness, collaborative approach and transparency; principles that are shared with libraries. Openness in our operations is also a key foundation in how we do business. With ‘open’ in our name, we are putting these commitments front and centre.
It works with the existing look and feel from the 2022 refresh.
The logo, website and brand redesign in 2022 received fantastic feedback, with support from the team, customers and community. The redesign was developed with the knowledge that we wanted to change the company’s name in future, and for these elements to complement one another.
Q: Are you a new company?
A: While our name is new, we’ve been providing open source library software throughout the UK since 2007. In 2025, we changed our name from PTFS Europe to Open Fifth, but remain the same experienced company delivering the same friendly service.
Q: Are you being acquired or merging with another company?
A: No. We remain an independent company and our leadership, ownership, team structure, and company values remain exactly the same. Jonathan and Andrew are still the primary directors and owners, and our mission of ‘freeing libraries to do the things they do best’ continues to guide everything we do.
Q: Are you changing the products or services that you offer?
A: Our commitment to open source software, our role in development communities, and delivering a quality product and service to our customers remains unchanged. In fact, having ‘open’ in our name reinforces our dedication to the open source community and the collaborative approach we share with our library partners. All planned developments and upgrades will continue as scheduled and we will continue to offer the same products and services.
Q: I’m a current customer or supplier, will this affect my current contract, system or service?
A: No. All contracts, agreements, and services will continue without interruption and all existing terms remain in effect.
Your Account Manager or key contact will be in touch with any necessary documentation, instructions, and updated contact details.
Q: I am a current customer, how do I access support services?
A: Open Fifth offer four methods of contact for the support desk:
You can email support requests to support@openfifth.co.uk. This will automatically log a ticket on the support portal on your behalf. You will receive a response with a ticket number which you can track on the portal or you can continue to update your request via email.
- Online webform
Use the web form to log tickets.
- Telephone
Our phone number has not changed, +44(0)1483 378728. You can phone us during UK business hours 08:00-18:00, Monday to Friday.
- Web portal
Use your existing account details to log in.
Q: Do I need to update any settings, URLs, or bookmarks?
A: Contact information and our online presence, including the company website and team email addresses, has been updated to the ‘openfifth.co.uk’ domain. Existing PTFS Europe email addresses and the website will remain active to redirect to Open Fifth during this transitional period. Our email address format will remain the same with the updated domain, e.g. support@openfifth.co.uk.
Where ‘PTFS Europe’ has been included in OPAC / directory web addresses, we will be updating this in the future by mutual agreement, so there will be no disruption to your service. You will be notified in advance of this change to give you time to update any links or bookmarks.
Your Account Manager will be in touch with any necessary documentation, instructions, and updated contact details.
Please update your saved contact information to ensure that you can continue to receive our communications.
Q: What will happen with the old domain URLs?
A: These will still be in place for the foreseeable future. We will give at least a year’s notice before we deprecate them. We appreciate that you often publicise these domains so we will work with you to put redirects in place and then move you across at an appropriate time.
So, for example, we can redirect xxx.koha-ptfs.co.uk to xxx.openfifth.net in the first instance, and then remove xxx.koha-ptfs.co.uk when you feel comfortable doing so.
This will mean that any integrations that are in place, e.g. OAI endpoints for EDS etc. will continue to work. If your SIP2 units are using a DNS entry rather than IP address (typically using a PTFSE.net domain) then these will also continue to work.
We will not be changing the IP address of your application unless we are specifically working with you to migrate hardware for some other reason.
It should be noted that maintaining the old domain for a long period isn’t a huge issue – so we won’t be being pushy about it. It’ll very much be at our mutual convenience.
Q: Why has your domain changed from ‘.com’ to ‘.co.uk’?
A: Unsurprisingly in 2025, half of the craft when devising a new company name is finding one that is not already in use and has a domain available! We were delighted to make the connection with Open Fifth, and for it to be available!
We are a proudly UK-based company and are confident that having a .co.uk identity and domain reflects this and is relevant to all of the markets that we serve, at home and overseas. We also own a variety of other Open Fifth domains which we will utilise where appropriate, such as .net for our SaaS service.
Got a question that hasn’t been answered here?
Please reach out:
Lauren Purton
Marketing Executive
M: +44 7444 865324 | T: +44 1483 378728 ext. 1016
PTFS Europe announces company name change to Open Fifth
