Calderbrook Housing Group / BG-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Calderbrook Housing Group · 25 Jun 2026 15:30
Craig Oduya said Calderbrook is consolidating onto an in-house platform and is reviewing this contract against it. Helen Marsden wants the brain kept until figures reconcile. Tom Ashdown will bring smaller-scope options.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Craig Oduya said Calderbrook is consolidating onto an in-house platform and is reviewing this contract against it. Helen Marsden wants the brain kept until figures reconcile. Tom Ashdown will bring smaller-scope options.
What happened: Daniel Okafor hosted the renewal call on 25 Jun 2026 with Tom Ashdown, Helen Marsden and Craig Oduya. Craig opened by saying every supplier contract is being reviewed against the platform strategy.
Customer view: Helen's board pack sections four and six do not reconcile with the housing system. Daniel found records indexed for the housing connector flat for a few weeks, and only a handful of the forty Growth users are active.
Commercial: Craig asked for exit terms and said scope reduction is the more relevant option. Helen would keep the housing, repairs, complaints and arrears connectors.
Watch: Craig committed to nothing and said any option goes through a governance review. Tom is moving the 6 Jul 2026 placeholder, and the evidence does not show a new date.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
In-house platform consolidation
Importance
churn
Sentiment
negative
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Daniel Okafor sends Helen the connector findings with figures and the last correct date by the day after the call.
- Tom Ashdown sends Craig the exit terms from the executed order form and written options early the following week, copying Helen.
- Helen Marsden sends Daniel the list of dashboards feeding sections four and six.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Calderbrook is moving reporting to an in-house platform and is reviewing the Growth subscription against that strategy.
- The housing connector has stopped loading and the board pack figures do not reconcile, which weakens the case for the brain.
- Only a handful of the forty licensed users are active, so a reduced scope or lapse is likely.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- A smaller arrangement keeping the housing, repairs, complaints and arrears connectors could retain the account.
- Helen wants the brain running until the in-house figures match the housing system for a full cycle.
Transcript
Daniel OkaforHello, can everyone hear me alright? Good afternoon. Thank you all for your time. Just checking who has joined: I can see Helen, and Craig, and Tom is here as well. Lovely.
Tom AshdownAfternoon, both. Sound's fine this end. How's your week been? Helen, you said last time the board papers were looming.
Helen MarsdenAfternoon. They are rather looming, yes. The pack goes out next week, so I'm a little stretched, but I'm glad this is in the diary.
Craig OduyaAfternoon. If I may, before we get into detail, let me set out where we are. Calderbrook is consolidating its data on one platform, in-house, built on our existing Microsoft estate. That was the mandate when I joined in November. Every supplier contract is being reviewed against the platform strategy, and yours is one of them. So this isn't a routine renewal conversation for us.- Daniel OkaforThat's very clear, Craig, thank you, and I'm glad you've said it plainly. Just so we're all on the same page, the agreement runs to 1 Sep 2026, and Tom has the renewal pencilled in on our side for 6 Jul 2026. That's a placeholder more than anything. Today is really about listening.
- Tom AshdownYeah, no drama at all. We'd rather understand where you're heading than push a form across the table. Leave the paperwork with me, and we'll take it at whatever pace suits you.
- Helen MarsdenCan I add something from my side? The platform plan is Craig's, not mine, and I'd rather be straightforward about that. What I'm chasing is the board pack. Section four, the arrears position, and section six, repairs. These don't reconcile with the housing management system for the last couple of months, and the board will ask.
- Daniel OkaforOkay. Thank you, Helen. Can you say a bit more about how far out they are?
- Helen MarsdenIn section four, arrears is out by a small but visible margin against the housing system extract. In section six, completed repairs is lower in the brain than in the housing system. I need to know whether that's the brain or the source before the pack goes out.
- Daniel OkaforRight. And has it been like that since you went live, or is it something that's appeared recently?
- Helen MarsdenRecently. Which is why I keep asking. Can you show me the source?
- Daniel OkaforOf course. Give me a second, I had it open before the call. Mm. Yes. So the records indexed for the housing connector have been flat for a few weeks. That usually means something changed upstream and the connector hasn't caught up with it. Nobody's fault, it happens whenever a system is tidied or moved. But I'd rather tell you what I can see than guess at the cause.
- Craig OduyaIs that a configuration matter or a product matter?
- Daniel OkaforI'd call it a connector that's stopped loading, and we'd put it right together. There was one ticket from your team in the last few weeks, which gives us something to work from.
- Helen MarsdenThat was mine. I didn't mark it as urgent because I wasn't sure it was a fault. I thought it might be me misreading the source.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a very reasonable thing to think. Just to close the loop on it, I'll come back to you by tomorrow lunchtime with the point at which the housing records stopped moving, and what we'd need from your side to get them flowing again.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. With the figures, please. I won't take an explanation without them.
- Daniel OkaforWith the figures. Understood.
- Tom AshdownAnd Helen, from my end, once Daniel's sent that I'll make sure it's logged properly. I'm not brilliant at tidy notes, but that one I'll do.
- Daniel OkaforCan I be open about usage, Craig, because you'd see it anyway? You're licensed for forty users on Growth, and I'd say only a handful are using it day to day. Questions asked have come down since the spring. How is the team finding it?
- Helen MarsdenMy team uses it. Three or four of us, really. The wider operations people went back to their own reports once the in-house work began. I won't pretend otherwise.
- Craig OduyaThat's consistent with the direction of travel. Wider users are being moved towards the in-house tooling. We're building that capability in-house, and that is where the group's reporting will sit.
- Daniel OkaforUnderstood. Thank you for being so plain about it. It helps us more than a polite silence would.
- Craig OduyaI'd rather be clear. Suppliers should know where they stand.
- Tom AshdownAppreciated, Craig. Right, can I just say a word on the commercial side, so nothing's a surprise? The contract's forty-four thousand a year on Growth, and every invoice has been paid on time, so thank you for that. Honestly, that's made my life easy.
- Craig OduyaI won't be discussing budget on this call.
- Tom AshdownNo, fair enough, I'm not asking you to. I only want to flag that on renewal the price list has moved on. You'll have had a note from us at the start of the year about it. I'm not going to quote you a number from memory, I'll confirm exactly what it is in writing.
- Craig OduyaNoted. Send it, and we'll review it against the platform strategy along with everything else.
- Helen MarsdenCraig, can I come in here? I'm not trying to go around anyone. I just need to say that if the contract ends on 1 Sep 2026, the autumn board cycle has to run on something that reconciles to the housing system. I don't want a gap in the middle of it.
- Craig OduyaThat's a sequencing point, and a fair one. The in-house reporting has to be proven before anything is switched off.
- Helen MarsdenThen I'd want the brain running until the in-house figures match the housing system for at least one full cycle. Section four and section six especially. If they match, I'm content. If they don't, the board will ask, and it will be my team answering.
- Craig OduyaPossibly. I'm not committing to a timeline today. Let's see what options exist.
- Tom AshdownYeah, that's what I was going to say. Let me go away and look at what shape a shorter or smaller arrangement could take, if that's even useful to you. I'm not promising anything until I've checked it internally, but I'd rather bring you options in writing than have you guess.
- Craig OduyaDo that. And I'd like it to be explicit on one thing. What's our exit position?
- Daniel OkaforCan I take the data side of that, Tom? Craig, the brain was built and runs inside your own Snowflake account, so the tables and what's been indexed sit with you. They don't sit with us. Whatever happens to the subscription, that data is already in your estate.
- Craig OduyaGood. That is useful. And the contractual position? Notice, wind-down, anything on exit?
- Tom AshdownI'm not going to recite that from memory, Craig, I'd only get it slightly wrong. I'll pull the terms out of the executed order form and send them as written. You'll have the exit and wind-down wording, not my version of it.
- Craig OduyaGood. That's what I need for the review.
- Helen MarsdenDaniel, while we're on the data. If the connector's flat, are the dashboards my team built affected as well? We built quite a few for the board pack and I'd rather not find out in the middle of the night before it goes out.
- Daniel OkaforThey'll be reading whatever the brain holds, so anything depending on housing records will be as stale as those records are. The ones on repairs tickets and complaints should be fine, because those connectors are still loading. I'll confirm that dashboard by dashboard rather than say it in general.
- Helen MarsdenPlease. I'll send you the list of which ones feed sections four and six, so you're checking the right ones.
- Daniel OkaforThat would be ideal. Thank you, Helen. And if it helps, I can walk your team through where each figure comes from, so you can answer the board with the source in front of you.
- Helen MarsdenThat would help a great deal. Particularly the arrears one. Mm. Yes.
- Craig OduyaLet me be careful about what that implies. If the brain continues to be used for reporting, it's for continuity only. I don't want anyone reading it as a renewal decision.
- Daniel OkaforNot at all, Craig. That's a separate matter from the connector. It's the right thing to do for the figures whichever way the review goes.
- Tom AshdownCompletely agree. The fix and the contract are two different conversations, and I'll keep them apart so nobody feels pressed.
- Craig OduyaGood. What would the options look like, practically? Not price. Structure.
- Tom AshdownWell, thinking aloud, so correct me. Broadly it'd be whether you stay on Growth as it is, whether the term is different, or whether the scope comes down to match the handful of people actually using it. I don't want to sell you forty seats you don't need. That's no good to either of us.
- Craig OduyaScope reduction is the more relevant of those. Fewer users, fewer connectors, a clear end point.
- Helen MarsdenThough I'd want the housing, repairs, complaints and arrears connectors kept. Those four are the board pack. The rest I can live without.
- Daniel OkaforThat's useful, Helen. So the connectors you'd keep are the ones that feed the pack. I'll make a note and I'll check which of the others have actually been loading, so Tom is working from the real picture.
- Tom AshdownBrilliant. Then I've got a shape to work with. Leave that with me.
- Craig OduyaOne further point. Any option has to be reviewed against the platform strategy before I can respond. That's a governance step. It takes a little time.
- Tom AshdownUnderstood. Then the sixth of July is clearly too early, and I'll move that in our system so it doesn't sit there looking like a deadline. How much time do you need, roughly?
- Craig OduyaLet me see the written options first. I'll then tell you the process.
- Tom AshdownFair enough. No drama.
- Helen MarsdenDaniel, one more thing, if I may. When you do come back with the source, can you include the last date the housing records were correct? If I can tell the board the figures were right up to a particular day, that's something I can stand behind.
- Daniel OkaforYes, absolutely, that's exactly what I'll give you. The last date the records moved, and the count of what's missing since. If I can't be sure of anything, I'll say so, rather than round it.
- Helen MarsdenThank you. That's all I ask.
- Craig OduyaI think we've covered the ground. Let me restate where we are. Calderbrook is moving to an in-house platform. The reconciliation issue needs closing regardless. Options and exit terms will come to me in writing, and I'll review them against the platform strategy. No commitment from me today.
- Daniel OkaforThat's a fair summary, and thank you for making it so easy to follow. Just to close the loop on the actions. I'll send Helen the connector findings by tomorrow lunchtime, with the figures and the last date the records were correct. I'll check the dashboards once Helen sends the list for sections four and six.
- Tom AshdownAnd from me, the exit and wind-down terms out of the executed order form, plus written options for a smaller arrangement, with the renewal price confirmed properly rather than from memory. I'll aim to get that to Craig early next week, and I'll copy Helen so she sees it too.
- Craig OduyaCopy Helen, yes. Send it to me first for the review.
- Tom AshdownWill do. And let's get something in the diary for a short call once you've had a read. Doesn't need to be long.
- Helen MarsdenThat works for me. I'll send the dashboard list this afternoon, so Daniel has it first thing.
- Daniel OkaforPerfect. Helen, how is your team coping with the pack in the meantime? Sorry, I don't mean to tack that on at the end, I just want to make sure they've got what they need.
- Helen MarsdenWe're managing. It's the late nights before the pack goes out, as ever. If I have the housing figures straight, they'll be fine.
- Daniel OkaforThen we'll do everything to get those straight. Thank you all again. It's been a really honest conversation, and I'm grateful for that.
- Tom AshdownCheers, everyone. Good luck with the board papers, Helen. Speak soon.
- Craig OduyaThank you. We'll wait for the paperwork.
- Helen MarsdenThank you both. Speak soon.
- Daniel OkaforBest wishes, all. Take care, and I'll be in touch tomorrow.
Callsmade from