Calderbrook Housing Group / BG-Demo – Check In
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Calderbrook Housing Group · 7 Apr 2025 10:30
Helen Marsden's arrears count did not reconcile because the brain picked the later status on reopened accounts. Daniel Okafor owns the fix. She asked about the renewal price and flagged IT platform talk.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Helen Marsden's arrears count did not reconcile because the brain picked the later status on reopened accounts. Daniel Okafor owns the fix. She asked about the renewal price and flagged IT platform talk.
What happened: The brain's tenant arrears count wobbled against the housing system. The cause was accounts that cleared and reopened, which the brain treated as one record. Daniel said the fix is on BG-Demo's side.
Customer view: Helen valued a fast reply on a high priority repairs feed ticket but wants to be told sooner when a source goes quiet. Usage is up, though she and one analyst ask the majority of questions.
Commercial: Daniel confirmed Growth at £44k, contracted and invoiced, with the term to 1 Sep 2025. She asked whether the price will change and was given no figure.
Watch: IT talk about the wider data platform, and a request for a value summary by the summer.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Arrears reconciliation, renewal notice
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Daniel Okafor to send a written note with cause, fix and before and after figures, copied to Tom.
- Daniel Okafor to raise with support how customers are told when a source goes quiet, and report back.
- Daniel Okafor to start the value summary for Helen's director, with a plan for a housing manager session after the pack.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Helen asked whether the price will change and has no answer, so an unannounced increase would land badly.
- Questions are concentrated in Helen and one analyst, which is a key-person risk.
- IT group talk about the wider data platform could put the subscription in question.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Housing managers are starting to use the brain, and a trust-focused session could widen use well inside the 40 licensed users.
- A finance connector for cost per void is possible once Helen has spoken to her finance team.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforMorning, Helen. Thank you for making the time. Can you hear me all right?
Helen MarsdenMorning, Daniel. Yes, loud and clear. Apologies, I'm in the small meeting room by the lifts, so if the heating kicks in you'll hear it.- Daniel OkaforNo problem at all. I think it's just the two of us today, is that right? I wasn't sure whether anyone from your team was joining.
- Helen MarsdenJust me. One of the analysts was going to sit in but she's tied up with the pack for Thursday. So you've got me and my list.
- Daniel OkaforAh, the list. Good. How is the week going, though? It was properly grey in London when I came in. Is it any better up in Leeds?
- Helen MarsdenDrizzle. Always drizzle on a Monday, it feels like. Honestly, I'd rather have drizzle than the board pack deadline, but there we are.
- Daniel OkaforWell, that's a good place to start then, because I'd like this to be useful for the pack. Shall I let you go first? You sound like you have something particular in mind.
- Helen MarsdenI do, yes. I'll just say it straight. In the arrears section of the board pack, the figure for tenants in arrears that the brain gives me and the figure in the housing management system don't reconcile. They're close, but they don't match, and the board will ask.
- Daniel OkaforRight. Okay. And when you say close, is it a difference you can see going one way every time, or does it wobble?
- Helen MarsdenThat's the thing, it isn't consistent. Last month the brain was a little higher. This month it's a little lower. If it was always higher I could explain it away as a definitional thing, but I can't explain a wobble.
- Daniel OkaforMm. No, a wobble is more interesting. Can you tell me which day you pulled each of the two figures? Because the nightly refresh finishes early in the morning, and if the housing system was exported in the afternoon you might be comparing two different moments.
- Helen MarsdenI did think of that. I pulled the housing system figure on the Friday morning and I asked the brain on the Friday morning, a bit after nine. So same day, same sort of hour.
- Daniel OkaforOkay. That helps, thank you. Can I ask, did the rent team post anything late that week? Backdated adjustments, a batch of reversals, anything like that?
- Helen MarsdenPossibly. I'd have to ask. Why, would that do it?
- Daniel OkaforIt might. Here's my thinking, and tell me if it doesn't sit right. The brain reads from the housing system overnight and it picks up what's changed. If an adjustment is posted with an effective date in the past, the record can look as though it changed on a different day from the one it applies to. So the count of tenants in arrears on a given date can move after the fact.
- Helen MarsdenRight. But then the housing system would have the same issue, surely? It's the same data.
- Daniel OkaforIt is the same data. The difference is which version of the date each one uses. I don't want to guess beyond that, Helen, because I'd rather show you than tell you. Can you share the two figures with me, and the tenant list behind each? Even a sample.
- Helen MarsdenCan you show me the source, though? That's what I need for the board. I can't put a footnote saying the brain is a bit different.
- Daniel OkaforCompletely fair. Yes. Let me do this properly. I'll go into the arrears page on your brain now, and you tell me whether you're happy with what I'm looking at. Give me a second, I'm just sharing my screen.
- Helen MarsdenTake your time. I'll find my export in the meantime.
- Daniel OkaforRight, can you see that? It's the arrears summary, and underneath is the source record for each tenant, with the system it came from and when it was last refreshed.
- Helen MarsdenYes, I can see it. That last refreshed column is helpful, actually. I hadn't noticed that was there.
- Daniel OkaforIt's easy to miss. Now, your list. Is there a tenant on your side who isn't in mine? Just scan down the reference column.
- Helen MarsdenHang on. Hang on. Yes. There are a handful in the housing system that aren't in the brain's list. And they all look like they were cleared by a payment, then reopened.
- Daniel OkaforThat's what I was hoping you'd say, and I'm sorry that I'm pleased about it. So, that's the reopened accounts. When the balance clears and then reopens within a short window, the brain at the moment treats it as one continuous record and picks the later status. The housing system is showing you the status at the date of the report.
- Helen MarsdenSo the brain is right and the housing system is right, they're just answering slightly different questions.
- Daniel OkaforThat's close. I'd put it as, they're each answering correctly, but not the question you're asking the board. You want the position on the reporting date. So I think the fix is on our side: to ask the brain for the status as at a date, rather than the latest status. I'll come back to you by Wednesday with exactly how, and I'll check it against your export before I tell you it's done.
- Helen MarsdenWednesday would be fine. The pack goes to the chair on Friday. Can I ask you to put the explanation in writing? Something I can attach to my working papers, so that if the audit committee asks, I'm not relying on a call.
- Daniel OkaforOf course. Just to close the loop on that, I'll send you a short note with the cause, the fix and the before and after figures, and I'll copy in Tom so he knows.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. That's what I needed. Right. Sorry, that took longer than I meant it to.
- Daniel OkaforNot at all, it was the right thing to spend time on. And frankly it's the sort of thing I'd rather you chased than quietly worked around. Can I ask about the ticket you raised recently? I saw there was one, and it was marked high priority.
- Helen MarsdenYes, the repairs one. That was the repairs feed stopping. Our contractor system had a change and nothing came through for a day or so. It was sorted quickly, to be fair. I was a bit twitchy because of the pack.
- Daniel OkaforI'm glad it was quick. Was there anything in how it was handled that you'd change? Was it clear who was looking at it?
- Helen MarsdenIt was fine. I got a reply fast and a name. I'd only say, tell us sooner when a source goes quiet. We noticed before you did.
- Daniel OkaforThat's fair, and I'll take that back. When a source goes flat we ought to be telling you, not the other way round. I'll raise it with the support team this week and come back to you on what we can do.
- Helen MarsdenAppreciated.
- Daniel OkaforOkay, so let me tell you what I'm seeing on usage, because it's good news and I like to give some of that when I can. Active users are up by about a quarter compared with the previous quarter. On a typical day you've got around ten people using it. How is the team finding it? Because that looks like more than just your analysts.
- Helen MarsdenIt is. That's been the nice surprise, actually. The neighbourhood housing managers have started asking it things. Not many, but a handful. One of them told me last week she'd stopped phoning the repairs team to ask where a job was, she just asks the brain.
- Daniel OkaforThat's lovely. That's exactly the sort of thing you hoped for when you bought it, isn't it? Joining the tenant calls and the repairs tickets and the complaints.
- Helen MarsdenYes. And the complaints one, that's where my team has got most from it. We can now see a complaint next to the repairs history and the arrears position for the same household, in one go. Before that was three systems and an afternoon.
- Daniel OkaforAn afternoon, right. And who asks most of the questions, would you say? I'm looking at the numbers and I think I know, but I'd like to hear it.
- Helen MarsdenMe, probably. And one of my analysts. I'd guess between us it's the majority. I know, I know. I can see where you're going.
- Daniel OkaforI'm not being critical, honestly. It's only that when a lot rests on one or two people, it's worth thinking about what happens in a holiday fortnight, or if someone moves on. I'd love to see a few more of the housing managers get comfortable. Would a short session help? Thirty minutes, on their own repairs and arrears questions, using their patches?
- Helen MarsdenYes, I think it would. They're a bit shy of it, to be honest. They don't want to ask something daft and get a daft answer. If someone showed them that it points back to the source, I think they'd trust it more. Can you show me the source, that's what I'd say to them too.
- Daniel OkaforI like that, that's a good way of framing it. So the session is about trust in the answer, not about features. I'll draft a plan and send it to you, and you tell me which managers and which week.
- Helen MarsdenAfter the pack, please. Not this week.
- Daniel OkaforOf course, after the pack. Next week at the earliest, and I won't push it.
- Helen MarsdenWhile you've got the screen up, can I ask about the dashboards? My analyst built the repairs one, the one that shows the average time to complete by contractor. Is that something others can see, or is it just in her space?
- Daniel OkaforLet me look. Mm. It's shared with your team group at the moment. If you want the housing managers to see it, you'd change the sharing on the dashboard itself. I can do it with you now if you like, or your analyst can do it, it's two clicks.
- Helen MarsdenShe can do it. I'd rather she owned it. Does it matter that she's the one who built it, if she's off sick or whatever?
- Daniel OkaforGood question. It does a bit, because the owner is the only person who can edit it. What I'd suggest is that you or another admin is added as a co-owner, so it isn't hanging on one name. Same thought as before, really. Continuity.
- Helen MarsdenYes. Fine. I'll get that done today. I'll make a note.
- Daniel OkaforGood. Now, seats. You're licensed for forty on Growth and you've got around ten active on a typical day. I'd sooner say this plainly than let you wonder: you have plenty of room. I'm not here to sell you more. If anything, the question is whether those forty are being used by the right people.
- Helen MarsdenI appreciate you saying that. We did have a bit of a discussion about whether we'd overbought. I think the answer is, we bought for where we want to be, not where we were.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a sensible way to put it. And the housing managers will take that number up quite quickly once they trust it. A lot of customers see a step up a few weeks after a session like the one we talked about.
- Helen MarsdenMm. Good. And we haven't really touched the connectors. Is there anything you think we're missing, anything you'd connect that we haven't?
- Daniel OkaforFrom what I can see, you've got the core ones live: the housing system, the repairs one, the complaints and the call recorder. What I don't see is anything from your finance side, and I'd be careful about saying you need it. It depends whether the board wants arrears next to income and cost. I'd park that until after the pack and then ask what the board keeps asking for.
- Helen MarsdenFair. The board keeps asking about cost per void. But that's a conversation with finance first, and they're protective.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. I won't raise it with anyone but you. When you're ready, just say.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. Can I ask about the contract? I think it's up in the autumn, and I don't want it to be a surprise to me or to my director.
- Daniel OkaforYes. It's a good moment to mention it. The current term runs to 1 Sep 2025, so the renewal falls just after that, on 2 Sep 2025. You're on Growth at £44k a year, and that's what's contracted and what's been invoiced, so no surprises on either. I'll send you the formal notice well ahead, and Tom will pick up the commercial conversation with you nearer the time.
- Helen MarsdenOkay. And is the price going to change?
- Daniel OkaforI don't have anything to give you on that today, and I'd rather not guess a number for you. What I'll do is make sure that when there is something, you hear it from Tom or from me first, and not from an invoice.
- Helen MarsdenRight. That's all I'm asking, really. I'll be straight with you, there's some talk in IT about the wider data platform. It's not my thing, and I don't know where it lands. But I'd rather you heard it from me.
- Daniel OkaforI appreciate that, Helen, genuinely. Thank you. Can I ask what you'd want from us in that conversation? Is it useful if I put together something that shows what your team gets from the brain, in your own board-pack terms?
- Helen MarsdenThat would be useful. Not a brochure. Something that says, here are the questions your people asked, here's what it replaced, here's where the figures reconcile. I'd need it by the summer, if I'm honest.
- Daniel OkaforI can do that. It'll be much stronger once the housing managers are in, so let's treat the session as part of it. I'll aim to have a first version with you well before the summer, and you can tell me what's missing.
- Helen MarsdenGood. That's helpful. I don't want to go to my director with opinions, I want to go with the figures.
- Daniel OkaforWhich is how you work, and it's why the pack is in good shape. Right, just to close the loop on today, so I've got it down properly.
- Daniel OkaforOne. By Wednesday I'll come back to you on the arrears figure, with the cause, the fix and before and after, in writing, copied to Tom. Two. I'll talk to our support team about telling you when a source goes quiet, and I'll report back. Three. I'll send you a plan for a short session with the housing managers, for after the pack. Four. I'll start on the summary of value for your director. Have I missed anything?
- Helen MarsdenThat's all of it. From my side, I'll check whether the rent team posted late adjustments that week, and I'll make my analyst's dashboard co-owned. And I'll send you the export of tenant references, so you can run it yourself.
- Daniel OkaforPerfect. If you send the export to me directly, I'll look at it this afternoon rather than leave it until Wednesday. Then if I find it early, you'll know early.
- Helen MarsdenThat would be a relief, honestly. Because I'll be writing the section tonight.
- Daniel OkaforThen I'll treat it as this afternoon. Is there anything else on your list I haven't got to? You said you had a list.
- Helen MarsdenMm, let me see. No. The rest is just fine. The search is good, the complaints view is good. I'll save the nice things for the survey.
- Daniel OkaforHa, I'll hold you to that. The next review will be a proper quarterly one, and I'd like your analyst there as well if she can, since she's the one doing the building.
- Helen MarsdenYes, she'd like that. I'll bring her. Put it in after the pack, and I'll protect the time.
- Daniel OkaforI'll send a few dates this week. Thank you again for the time, Helen, and for being so clear about what you needed. It makes my job much easier.
- Helen MarsdenThanks, Daniel. And thank you for not telling me it was fine and leaving it there. I'd have been back on at you.
- Daniel OkaforI know you would. Enjoy the rest of your Monday, and good luck with the pack. Speak soon.
- Helen MarsdenCheers, Daniel. Bye for now.
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