Calderbrook Housing Group / BB-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Calderbrook Housing Group · 2026-06-08 09:15
Craig Oduya, new to the account, says Calderbrook is consolidating on one in-house platform and reviewing every supplier. He asked for exit position, options and contract terms in writing, and committed to nothing.
What was said
What this says
Current to 13 Oct 26Craig Oduya, new to the account, says Calderbrook is consolidating on one in-house platform and reviewing every supplier. He asked for exit position, options and contract terms in writing, and committed to nothing.
What happened: On the 8 Jun 2026 renewal call, Craig set out a mandate of fewer suppliers and one in-house platform. He asked what Calderbrook keeps and how fast it could move.
Customer view: Craig owns the in-house direction and said he is not committing to a renewal. Helen Marsden says the platform timeline is not close to final and call recordings and complaints are not scoped.
Commercial: Tom Ashdown said Growth is from memory £44k a year and a newer price list applies at renewal. Craig wants shorter-term options with exit terms, and Helen asked whether Starter's four connectors would fit.
Watch: The arrears gap may be a legal action flag filter, which is a definition difference, not a broken source.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
In-house platform consolidation
Importance
churn
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Daniel Okafor to send a written note on exit position and data ownership, plus the notice, termination and data return clauses, this week.
- Daniel Okafor to run the arrears figure with and without the filter on the same snapshot and send Helen the queries.
- Tom Ashdown to send renewal options in writing, including a smaller shape and the confirmed figure.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Craig Oduya owns a mandate to consolidate on one in-house platform and is reviewing BB-Demo against it.
- Usage is a small handful of active people against 40 Growth licences, which Craig reads as thin.
- The unresolved arrears and repairs reconciliation gap undermines trust in the brain ahead of the review.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- The in-house timeline is not final and call recordings and complaints are unscoped, so there is a window to show value.
- Helen's interest in a smaller shape and the dashboards could support a right-sized renewal.
Transcript
Tom Ashdown NoneMorning, morning. Can you all hear me alright? I've got a bit of an echo on my side.
Helen Marsden NoneMorning, Tom. Yes, you're fine. No echo here.
Daniel Okafor NoneGood morning, everyone. Thank you all for making the time. Let me just check who's joined. Tom, myself, Helen, and I think that's Craig coming in now.
Craig Oduya NoneMorning. Apologies, I was finishing another call. I'm here.- Tom Ashdown NoneNo drama at all. How's your week been, Helen? Bit grim out there, isn't it? It's been raining in Leeds as well, I take it.
- Helen Marsden NoneIt has, all weekend. We've had a busy start to the week, to be honest. Board pack season, so everything is a little tight.
- Tom Ashdown NoneAh, that time of year. Well, we'll try and be quick and useful. Daniel, I'll hand over, you've been closest to the account.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThanks, Tom. So the purpose of today is simply to talk about the renewal. Your current term with us runs to the first of September, which is 1 Sep 2026 on the paperwork, and the renewal date follows straight after on 2 Sep 2026. It's a good moment to step back and ask how the team is finding it, and what you'd want from here. Craig, I know you're fairly new to the account, so I'm very glad you could join.
- Craig Oduya NoneThank you. Before we go further, let me set out where we are, if that's helpful. Calderbrook is consolidating its data on one in-house platform, built on our existing Microsoft estate. That's the mandate. Fewer suppliers, one platform, and we own it. Every supplier is being reviewed against the platform strategy, and BB-Demo is no different.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat's very clear, thank you. And that's completely fair. I'd rather we have that conversation openly.
- Craig Oduya NoneGood. So the question I'd put is: what's our exit position? If we decided not to continue, what do we have, what do we keep, and how quickly could we move?
- Tom Ashdown NoneCan I jump in on that? Because I think it's a really sensible question, and the honest answer is a good one. Daniel can go into detail, but the brain runs inside your own Snowflake account. It's not sitting in our systems with a key we hold. So the tables, the models, what's been indexed, that's all in your estate.
- Craig Oduya NoneUnderstood. And what sits on your side, versus ours?
- Daniel Okafor NoneSo what we provide is the build and the running of it: the connectors, the nightly refresh, the chat and search layer, the pages and the dashboards builder. The underlying data and the structures live in your Snowflake. If you stopped using the brain, the data stays with you. What you'd lose is the layer on top and the people maintaining it. I can put that in writing so you have it for your review.
- Craig Oduya NonePlease do. That would help. Written, and specific.
- Daniel Okafor NoneOf course. I'll come back to you by the end of this week with a short note on that. Just to close the loop, I'll copy Helen as well.
- Helen Marsden NoneThank you. May I raise something from my side? Because the renewal is one thing, but I've been chasing a discrepancy, and it's why I wanted this call to happen before the summer.
- Daniel Okafor NonePlease, go ahead, Helen.
- Helen Marsden NoneIn the board pack, the arrears section, the figure we produced from the brain for current tenant arrears doesn't reconcile to what the housing management system reports. It's close, but it isn't the same, and the board will ask. I've been through it with my team and I can't tell whether the difference is timing, definition, or something in how the source is loaded.
- Tom Ashdown NoneRight. And is that a new thing, or has that been there a while?
- Helen Marsden NoneIt's been there at least a couple of months. It was small enough to explain away at first. It's less easy now, because the repairs section has the same pattern.
- Daniel Okafor NoneOkay. Thank you for saying that plainly. Can I ask, when the two numbers differ, which one do you trust, and when is the housing system figure taken? Is it end of day, or a snapshot?
- Helen Marsden NoneThat's exactly my question. Can you show me the source? I'd like to see which table the brain's figure comes from and what's been applied to it.
- Daniel Okafor NoneYes. I can do that. Let me share my screen and walk through where that figure comes from. Give me a moment, I'll open the page your team built.
- Daniel Okafor NoneRight, can everybody see that? This is the arrears page. If I click through on the figure, it takes us to the underlying query, and you can see the source here, the housing system connector, and then a filter that your team added.
- Helen Marsden NoneMm. That filter. I don't think I've seen that before. When was that added?
- Daniel Okafor NoneI can see it was part of the original build, so it's been there since the early weeks. It excludes accounts flagged in a particular status. I don't want to guess what that status means in your system, because you'll know that better than me.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat would be the legal action flag, I think. Which the housing system report includes. So there's a definition difference, perhaps. I need to confirm that with my team, but that would explain a gap of roughly that size.
- Tom Ashdown NoneSo, not a broken source, then. More of a definition we all set up together and then lost track of.
- Helen Marsden NonePossibly. I'd like the figures before I agree to that, Tom. I'm not going to the board with a theory.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNo, fair enough. Quite right.
- Daniel Okafor NoneAbsolutely. What I can do is run both versions side by side, with and without the filter, against the same snapshot, and send you the two sets of numbers and the query for each. Then it's down to you which definition the board should see. Would that be useful?
- Helen Marsden NoneYes. That's what I need. Both versions, same day, and the query so I can check it.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThen that's the second thing I'll send. I'll aim to have that with you in the next few days, and I'll tell you straight away if it's going to take longer.
- Craig Oduya NoneCan I step back a little? Helen, this is useful context for me, but I want to understand the usage picture. My view of it is that it's thinner than the licence suggests.
- Daniel Okafor NoneIt's a fair read, Craig. You're licensed for forty users on Growth, and in recent weeks the number of people actually active has been a small handful. It's come down over the last quarter. I'd rather say that to you directly than wait for you to find it.
- Craig Oduya NoneThank you. That's candid. Helen, what's behind that?
- Helen Marsden NoneSome of it is simple. Two of my analysts have been moved onto the in-house platform work, so they're not in the brain as much. And I'll be straightforward, the in-house direction is Craig's, not mine. I brought the brain in to give the board a reliable picture, and I'd still like that picture to reconcile, whichever platform ends up producing it.
- Craig Oduya NoneThat's right. It's the group's direction, and I own it. We're building that capability in-house. What I need to understand is what, if anything, the brain does that we can't reproduce, and on what timescale.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCan I be a bit cheeky and say something, Craig? I don't want to talk you out of your own strategy. That's not my job and it'd be daft to try.
- Craig Oduya NoneGo on.
- Tom Ashdown NoneWhat I'd say is, there's a difference between whether you can build it and when. The tenant calls, the repairs tickets, the complaints, the arrears, all joined and questionable in plain English. If your team can have that live in-house before the first of September, great. If it's going to be winter, you've got a gap, and the board pack doesn't stop in the meantime.
- Craig Oduya NoneThat's a reasonable point. The timeline for the platform is not final. I wouldn't want to commit to a date on this call.
- Helen Marsden NoneI'd say it's not close to final. The call recordings and complaints aren't scoped yet. Those were the hardest bits of what we did with the brain.
- Craig Oduya NoneNoted. That's a useful input for the review.
- Daniel Okafor NoneMay I ask how the team is finding the day to day, outside the arrears question? There have been a few tickets in the last month, nothing urgent from our side, but I'd like to hear it from you.
- Helen Marsden NoneThe tickets were minor. How-to questions, mostly, and one about a refresh that had finished a little later than I expected. Support responded properly each time. I've no complaint there.
- Daniel Okafor NoneI'm glad to hear it. And the nightly refresh, is it landing before your people start in the morning?
- Helen Marsden NoneGenerally yes. The one late morning was the exception.
- Daniel Okafor NoneGood. I'll check that one against the logs and include it in the note, so you've got it all in one place.
- Craig Oduya NoneTom, let me ask the commercial question, because we should be clear about what a renewal would involve. What are we looking at, and what flexibility is there on term?
- Tom Ashdown NoneRight. So from memory you're on Growth at forty-four thousand a year, and I'll confirm that against the order form before anyone relies on it. One thing I should flag honestly: our price book has moved since you signed, and renewals from the summer onwards are priced on the newer list. So I don't want you to assume the renewal is the same number. I'll put the actual figure in writing.
- Craig Oduya NoneUnderstood. I'd want any proposal to include shorter-term options. I'm not in a position to talk about budget, but I want to see the shape.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThat's fine, no drama. Quarterly billing is possible if you ask for it, and I can have a look at what a shorter commitment would look like. I'll come back with options rather than one number.
- Craig Oduya NoneGood. Options, with the exit terms stated clearly. I'm not committing to a renewal today.
- Tom Ashdown NoneWouldn't expect you to. Nobody's asking for that on a Monday morning.
- Helen Marsden NoneCan I ask one more thing? If we did reduce the number of users, say we only needed a handful, is there a lower tier that still gives us the connectors we use?
- Daniel Okafor NoneIt's a good question, Helen. Starter has fewer connectors, a hard limit of four, and you're using more than that today, so I'd want to go through your connectors with you properly rather than guess. If we do that together, we'll know whether a smaller shape actually fits, or whether it would cost you something you rely on.
- Helen Marsden NoneYes, please. I'd like to see that laid out.
- Tom Ashdown NoneLeave that with me. I'll set that out alongside the options so you can compare like for like.
- Craig Oduya NoneOne more point on process. Our review needs the contract terms in front of us. Notice, termination, data return. Can that be sent as well?
- Daniel Okafor NoneYes. We'll send the relevant clauses from the order form and the master agreement, with a plain summary, so nobody has to hunt through the document.
- Craig Oduya NoneThank you.
- Tom Ashdown NoneRight, so, let's get something in the diary. We've got the target in our system of Monday 6 July 2026 for getting the renewal paperwork settled, which I appreciate is a bit ahead of your timeline. Does a catch-up before then make sense? Maybe once Helen's figures are done and you've had a look at the note?
- Craig Oduya NoneA follow-up is reasonable. Not before I've seen the written material. Let's say once it's with us and Helen has reviewed the numbers.
- Helen Marsden NoneThat works for me. Once I've got both versions of the arrears figure, I can say whether the dashboards are something we'd want to keep using, whatever else happens.
- Daniel Okafor NoneThat would be really helpful, Helen. And please do tell your analysts they can raise anything with me directly, even if it feels small.
- Helen Marsden NoneI will. Thank you, Daniel.
- Tom Ashdown NoneLet me read back what I've got, so I don't leave anything out. Daniel sends the note on exit position and data ownership, and the contract clauses, this week. Daniel runs the arrears figure both ways and sends Helen the queries. I send options on the renewal in writing, including a smaller shape and the confirmed figure. Then we get a call booked once you've all had a look. Have I missed anything?
- Craig Oduya NoneThat covers it from my side.
- Helen Marsden NoneAnd I'll send you the board pack section reference and the legal action flag question, so you've got my exact wording on what the board will want.
- Daniel Okafor NonePerfect. Just to close the loop on the late refresh as well, I'll include that. Thank you, everyone, for being so open this morning. It's genuinely appreciated.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, all. Enjoy the rest of your Monday, and good luck with the board pack, Helen.
- Helen Marsden NoneThank you. Goodbye.
- Craig Oduya NoneThanks, all. Speak soon.
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