Harcastle Environmental / BG-Demo – Kickoff
Callcompleted
Harcastle Environmental · 28 Apr 2026 11:00
Kickoff on 28 Apr 2026 for bringing Tolmere's customers into the brain: two new connectors and twenty more users on top of Growth. Both customer leads back it but neither holds the budget, so the commercial route goes through Lewis.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Kickoff on 28 Apr 2026 for bringing Tolmere's customers into the brain: two new connectors and twenty more users on top of Growth. Both customer leads back it but neither holds the budget, so the commercial route goes through Lewis.
What happened: Marcus Bell hosted the 28 Apr 2026 kickoff for the work that comes with Tolmere: a routing connector, a billing ledger connector and twenty more users. He confirmed Growth with forty licensed users and a term to 10 Apr 2027.
Customer view: Claire Ackroyd, new since April, and Nicola Brearley want the Teesside team on the same view as Nicola's people, fast. Both said they do not own the budget and must go past the budget holder.
Commercial: Twenty more users takes Harcastle well above the 40 Growth includes. Marcus offered add-on users or a different tier, both through Lewis, and asked that new users line up with the existing term. Connector headroom against the eight included was to be confirmed in writing.
Watch: the ledger format is unknown and Laura Penhaligon would not promise a date before seeing a sample. Claire needs to know by the end of next week.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Tolmere onboarding, extra users
Importance
upsell
Sentiment
positive
Voice
champion
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Marcus Bell to confirm connector headroom in writing the same day and send Claire and Nicola a short summary for the budget holder.
- Laura Penhaligon and Imran Hussain to review a ledger export sample next week and tell Claire whether it is straightforward.
- Marcus to diary check-ins at about a month and at three months, sent to Claire and Nicola.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Neither Claire nor Nicola owns the budget, so the extra users need sign-off from someone who was not on the call.
- The billing ledger format is unseen and may be slower or faster to connect than hoped.
- Connector headroom on Growth was not confirmed on the call and may fall one short.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Twenty more users above the 40 included on Growth opens an add-on users or tier upgrade conversation.
- A third source, the skip hire spreadsheet, is parked for later and could need an additional connectors add-on.
Transcript
Marcus BellMorning all. Can everyone hear me alright? Claire, I think you're on mute.
Claire AckroydSorry, morning. Yes, that's better. I've got the integration plan up, can you see it?- Marcus BellWe can, yeah. Slightly small but we can see it.
Nicola BrearleyMorning. Sorry, I'm in a room with a view of a lorry that's been reversing for ten minutes. If you hear beeping, that's me.
Imran HussainMorning. Can you hear me? I've got the headset on today, so I should be clearer than last time.
Laura PenhaligonMorning everyone. Laura here, I'll be doing the hands-on side of the build. Nice to finally put faces to names, Claire, I don't think we've met.- Claire AckroydNo, I only started in April, so I'm still catching up on what's already in place. That's partly why I wanted this call set up properly. Thanks for making time.
- Marcus BellNo problem at all. So, I'll share my screen in a second, but let me say what I want to cover so we're all aiming at the same thing. One, a quick recap of where Harcastle is today on the brain. Two, the new work that comes with Tolmere: the two connectors and the extra users. Three, who does what and by when. Does that sound right to everyone?
- Claire AckroydThat's right. And I'd add a fourth, which is what happens to Tolmere's customers while all this is going on. What's day one, what's day ninety?
- Marcus BellHappy to add that. Okay, sharing now. Can you see the account summary?
- Nicola BrearleyYep, I've got it.
- Marcus BellRight. I've pulled the numbers. You're on Growth, forty-four thousand a year, that's what's on the order form and it's what's been invoiced, so no surprises there. Forty licensed users. The term runs to 10 Apr 2027 and the renewal date is 11 Apr 2027. Nothing overdue, and nothing raised with support in the last month, which for me is a good sign.
- Nicola BrearleyWhich, to be fair, is because it just works for us. My account managers open one screen and see the collections, the missed-collection tickets, the calls and the invoices. Nobody rings me asking where something is.
- Claire AckroydThat's exactly the thing I want for the Tolmere customers. Same view, same night, no gap.
- Marcus BellYeah. Usage is up a little on the quarter too, a handful of regular people asking questions most days. Nothing dramatic, but it's the right direction.
- Imran HussainCan I add something? I'll say what I've changed since last time, because it matters for this. I tidied up the customer ids in the routing connector. There were a few sites with two records, one from an old depot code. I merged those, and I kept a copy so I can restore them.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's really helpful, Imran. One customer record per site makes the next step a lot easier.
- Imran HussainThat's the plan. I'd rather not have to do it twice.
- Claire AckroydOkay, so let me say what the group is trying to do, then you tell me where it's unrealistic. Tolmere comes in as a business with its own routing system, its own billing ledger and its own account managers in Teesside. Eventually we want one set of systems. But that's not this quarter. This quarter we want those customers visible in the brain, and the Teesside team working from the same view as Nicola's people.
- Nicola BrearleyAnd I want that fast, honestly. The Teesside lot are still working from spreadsheets and a shared inbox. Whose customers are these now? Ours. So they should see what we see.
- Marcus BellRight, and that's the bit I'd like to pin down. From what I've been told, there are two connectors: Tolmere's routing system and its billing ledger. Is that still it? Nothing else sneaking in?
- Imran HussainThat's what I've scoped. Routing and billing. There's a third thing, a spreadsheet the depot supervisors keep for skip hire, but I'd leave that out for now. I'd rather not switch on a source I haven't tested.
- Claire AckroydAgreed. Let's not try to boil the ocean. Skip hire goes on the list for later.
- Marcus BellGood. Imran, the question you always ask, so I'll answer it before you do: how many connectors have you got left. Growth includes eight. I want to check exactly what's live on your side against what we've got recorded, so I'll confirm in writing today rather than guess.
- Imran HussainI think I have room for two, but I'd like to see it in writing too. Because if we're one short I want to know now, not halfway through the build.
- Marcus BellFair. And if it turns out you're short, the answer is an add-on for more connectors. That's a conversation with Lewis, not me, but I'll flag it quickly so it doesn't hold anything up.
- Laura PenhaligonCan I ask about the routing system? Is that something Tolmere still runs in their own estate, or has it moved?
- Imran HussainStill in their own estate. I've had one call with their systems person. They can give us a read-only service account, but they want to know exactly what we're reading before they set it up. I'll write that down for them.
- Laura PenhaligonThat's fine, I can give you a list. What I'd like is the table names, the refresh frequency and whether there's any personal data. Customer contacts, drivers, that sort of thing.
- Imran HussainDrivers, yes. Rounds have driver names against them. I'd want to think about whether we need those at all.
- Claire AckroydLet's not pull anything we don't need. If the account managers don't need driver names to answer a customer, leave them out.
- Nicola BrearleyThey don't. Which depot, which round, that's all they need. Not who was driving.
- Laura PenhaligonPerfect, that simplifies it. So routing: rounds, stops, completion status and the depot code. And I'd pull collection timestamps so you can see when a missed collection was logged against when it was due.
- Imran HussainYes. And the depot codes are where it will go wrong, honestly. Tolmere's codes won't match ours. Some of them clash. I'll need a mapping before I switch anything on.
- Laura PenhaligonRight, so a mapping table first, you own that, and I'll check it against what lands. Then a first load into a test area, not the live view.
- Imran HussainThat's how I'd want to do it. Test it, look at it, then switch it on.
- Claire AckroydHow long is that, realistically? I need something with a date I can put in the plan.
- Laura PenhaligonRouting, if the service account arrives by the end of next week, I'd say a couple of weeks to a clean test load and then a few days to check it with Imran. The billing ledger depends on what it is. Imran, what's the ledger?
- Imran HussainIt's an older system. I haven't seen it myself. I know it can export nightly, so I'd guess a file drop rather than a live connection. I'd need to look.
- Laura PenhaligonOkay. That might be slightly slower then, or it might be quicker, depends on the format. I won't promise a date for that one until I've seen a sample. Is that alright, Claire?
- Claire AckroydIt's alright, I'd rather have an honest date than a fast one. But I do need to know by the end of next week whether it's a problem, because the group wants to tell Tolmere's customers about the new invoicing at a particular point, and I don't want anyone finding out from an invoice.
- Marcus BellUnderstood. So action: Laura and Imran look at a sample of the ledger export next week, and Laura tells you whether it's straightforward. I'll make sure that's written down.
- Laura PenhaligonYes. I'll book thirty minutes with Imran as soon as the sample exists.
- Imran HussainI'll ask Tolmere for it today.
- Nicola BrearleyCan we talk about people? Because the connectors are one thing but if the Teesside team can't log in it's pointless.
- Marcus BellYeah, go on. How many are we talking about?
- Nicola BrearleyTwenty more. The Teesside account managers and the depot supervisors. The supervisors matter more than you'd think, because they're the ones who take the call when a lorry doesn't turn up. They need to see the complaint at the same time the account manager does.
- Marcus BellThat makes sense. So you've got forty licensed now, and twenty more takes you well above what Growth includes. I'll be straight with you, that isn't something I can agree on this call. There are two routes: add users on top of Growth, or look at whether a different tier fits better. Both go through Lewis.
- Claire AckroydAnd I need to be clear that I don't own the budget for it. I can say it's needed, and I can say it's part of the integration plan, but someone else signs it.
- Nicola BrearleySame from me. I'll back it, but it has to go past the budget holder. I'm not going to commit money I don't control.
- Marcus BellNo, that's completely fair. What would help is if I give you something to take to them. How many users, what they'll use it for, and what it does to the renewal date. I'd rather the extra users line up with the existing term, which ends 10 Apr 2027, so you're not running two sets of dates.
- Claire AckroydYes, please. One date for everything. Let's not have the acquired customers on a different cycle from ours.
- Imran HussainOne practical thing on users. If they're added in a rush I end up setting up logins one at a time. Is there a way to do them in bulk?
- Laura PenhaligonYou can load a list, yes. Send me names and email addresses and which team each person sits in, and I'll set them up in one go. Teams matter because what they see depends on it.
- Nicola BrearleyI can do that list. Account managers, supervisors, and I'd split Teesside from the rest of the North East so the Teesside people only see their own accounts at first.
- Claire AckroydWhy only their own?
- Nicola BrearleyBecause the data won't be perfect for a while. I'd rather they see a smaller clean set than all of it and lose trust in it in the first week.
- Imran HussainI agree with that. Smaller and clean first.
- Claire AckroydFine. That's day one. What's day ninety? I want to know when the Teesside team is working entirely in the brain, and whether we can say which customers are fully joined up.
- Marcus BellI'd say day ninety is both connectors stable, everyone logged in and asking questions, and a check-in where we look at usage by team and see whether Teesside looks like the rest of you. I'm happy to put a check-in in the diary for that now.
- Claire AckroydPlease. And that's a real review, not a courtesy call. I want numbers on who's using it.
- Marcus BellYeah, that's what I'd want too. Shall we book thirty minutes for roughly a month in, and then a bigger one at the three-month point?
- Claire AckroydYes. Send them to me and Nicola.
- Nicola BrearleyAnd Imran, he'll want to be there for the first.
- Imran HussainI will. I'd like to see the load results with everyone looking at them.
- Laura PenhaligonOne thing I'd flag on the billing side, so it's out in the open. When the ledger lands, the account managers will see invoices for Tolmere customers alongside the collections. Some of those invoices will look different, different layouts, different naming. Is anyone going to tell the customers anything before they get one?
- Claire AckroydThat's my job, and it's the part I won't let slide. There'll be a letter, and the account managers will have a few lines to say on the phone. But they can only say it if they can see what the customer sees. That's why the ledger matters.
- Nicola BrearleyLet's see it from the customer's side. If a Tolmere customer rings about an invoice, the account manager should be able to see the invoice and the missed collection on the same screen, and say what's the fix and who owns it.
- Marcus BellThat's the whole point of it, really. Okay, let me play back what I've got, and shout if I've got something wrong.
- Marcus BellOne. Two new connectors, Tolmere's routing system and its billing ledger. Routing first, with a read-only account from Tolmere, depot code mapping from Imran, test load before it goes live. Ledger depends on seeing a sample next week.
- Marcus BellTwo. Twenty more users, Teesside account managers and depot supervisors. Nicola sends the list with teams, Laura loads them. The commercial side goes to Lewis, and Claire and Nicola take it to whoever holds the budget. I send you a short summary to take with you.
- Marcus BellThree. I confirm connector headroom in writing today, and diary a check-in a month out and another at three months. Anything missing?
- Imran HussainOnly that I'll send Laura the list of what I'm asking Tolmere for, so she can check it before I send it. I don't want to ask twice.
- Laura PenhaligonGood, that's the right order. I'll turn it round the same day.
- Claire AckroydNothing from me. I'll put the dates into the plan once Laura confirms the ledger. And Marcus, thank you for not just saying yes to everything.
- Marcus BellHa, no, I'd rather be useful than quick. Anyway. Thanks everyone. Speak soon.
- Nicola BrearleyThanks all. Right, that lorry's finally stopped.
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