Lornefield Pensions Administration / BG-Demo – Win Back
Callcompleted
Lornefield Pensions Administration · 6 Oct 2026 10:00
Douglas Baird says the group standard platform has not served Lornefield on member queries or trustee calls. With the group's Integration Director, Fiona Mackie, he is open to a proportionate return. No budget is committed.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Douglas Baird says the group standard platform has not served Lornefield on member queries or trustee calls. With the group's Integration Director, Fiona Mackie, he is open to a proportionate return. No budget is committed.
What happened: On the 6 Oct 2026 discovery call, Douglas said Lornefield signed notice of non-renewal in February to move to the group platform. He said it has not served them well on member queries or trustee calls.
Customer view: Fiona confirmed the group standard is Signalvane and that member query handling and trustee call history are gaps. Relationship managers are reconciling by hand again, an afternoon's work per scheme.
Commercial: Tom Ashdown pencilled Growth with a placeholder of fifty thousand, all in, and said it is a marker, not a quote. Fiona and Douglas both said no budget can be committed without group sign-off.
Watch: Fiona asked about termination terms and security review. Whether the Snowflake account stays separate is a group decision.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Theme
Win-back after non-renewal
Importance
upsell
Sentiment
mixed
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BG-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Tom Ashdown to send termination terms in plain words and confirm the Growth figure before it is used.
- Daniel Okafor to send a setup note on the old Snowflake arrangement by the end of the week.
- Tom Ashdown to arrange a further conversation including Nell.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Any spend needs group sign-off and sits alongside the group's platform plan, so a win-back could be overruled.
- Fiona wants termination terms in plain words and may treat exposure as a deciding factor.
- The group may fold Lornefield's Snowflake account in, and the security review could slow a rebuild.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Growth at the placeholder marker, with a quantified saving on trustee meeting preparation as the case.
- Fiona says call search and ticket-to-scheme gaps in Signalvane are the group's own concern, giving a group-level sponsor.
Transcript
Tom AshdownMorning, all. Can everyone hear me alright? I've got Daniel here with me, and I can see Douglas, and Fiona, hello. How's everyone's week been so far?
Douglas BairdGood morning, Tom, and thank you. I can hear you clearly. It has been a busy start to the week, but a perfectly pleasant one, I'd say.
Fiona MackieMorning. Just so you know, I've got a hard stop at half past ten, so let's keep this practical.
Daniel OkaforOf course, Fiona. Thank you all for your time. Just to check who has joined: it's the four of us, and nobody else from Lornefield is expected? Lovely.- Tom AshdownNo drama on the time. Douglas, would you mind kicking us off with where things stand from your side? Then we'll ask a few questions, and that's really all today is. Discovery. We're not selling anything this morning.
- Douglas BairdCertainly. Thank you, Tom. In fairness, I think it's worth being plain about the history. Lornefield was a design partner with you from the beginning, and the brain was genuinely useful to our scheme relationship managers. In February I signed the notice of non-renewal, because the group's position was that we should move to its standard platform. That was the right decision procedurally. What I've found since, and why I wrote to Daniel in September, is that the standard platform has not yet served us well on member queries or on trustee calls.
- Daniel OkaforI appreciated that email, Douglas, and I did want to say, just to close the loop, that nobody here took the notice personally. You were with us from the third of April two thousand and twenty three, so we know the team well. How is the team finding things at the moment?
- Douglas BairdMaking do, Daniel. The relationship managers are reconciling by hand again. A trustee will ask what was said on a call last quarter, and somebody has to go looking across the call recorder, the helpdesk and the finance system. We had forgotten how long that took.
- Fiona MackieIf I can add: group standard is Signalvane. It does the group-wide reporting well. It does not do everything. Member query handling and trustee call history are the gaps Douglas is describing. I'm not going to pretend otherwise.
- Tom AshdownThat's really helpful, thanks Fiona. Can I just check, when you say gaps, is that the data isn't getting in, or that people can't ask it anything sensible once it's in?
- Fiona MackieBoth, to a degree. Call content isn't searchable in a way a relationship manager would use. Tickets are there but disconnected from the scheme. That's the integration view. Douglas will have the user view.
- Douglas BairdThe user view is simpler, I'm afraid. They want to ask a plain question about a scheme and get an answer that draws on the calls, the member tickets and the fee invoices together. That is what they had with you, and they have noticed its absence.
- Daniel OkaforRight. And on that, which systems are the relationship managers actually working in now? I don't want to assume it's the same set as when we were live.
- Douglas BairdLargely the same, I believe. The CRM, the helpdesk, the call recorder and the accounting system. The group has asked us to move some of it over time, but nothing has moved yet that I'm aware of.
- Fiona MackieCorrect. Nothing migrated. There's a plan, but it's group-led and it's not near. Which is partly why I'm on this call.
- Tom AshdownOkay, and that's the bit I wanted to ask about, because it matters for how we'd build this. The brain runs inside your own Snowflake account. Is Lornefield still holding its own account, or has that gone under the group?
- Fiona MackieGood question. Lornefield's account still exists. Whether it stays separate is a decision for the group. I'd rather not guess on a call.
- Daniel OkaforThat's fair, and thank you for saying so. I'll come back to you by the end of the week with a short note on what the old setup looked like, so you can judge how much of it is still sitting there.
- Douglas BairdThat would be most welcome, Daniel. In fairness, I think the group will want to see that the earlier work wasn't thrown away, as well as what a fresh start would involve.
- Fiona MackieWhich brings me to the question I'll ask anyway. What are the termination terms? If we sign again, what's our exposure, and how quickly can we get out if the group moves another way?
- Tom AshdownFair, and I'd expect nothing less. I'm not going to quote the clauses from memory, because I'd rather give you them in writing than get them nearly right. Leave that with me, I'll have it over to you in plain words.
- Fiona MackieGood. Plain words, please. Not the full legal document first.
- Tom AshdownNo problem at all. And on scope, so you've got a rough sense, we've pencilled this as Growth, which suits several teams. For the paperwork on our side we've put a placeholder of fifty thousand, all in, implementation included. I'll need to confirm that properly before it means anything, so please treat it as a marker and not a quote.
- Fiona MackieNoted. I can't commit budget without group sign-off, so a marker is all I can take away.
- Douglas BairdNor could I make any promise on the group's behalf, Tom. The group's position is that any spend is considered alongside the platform plan. But I'd welcome a conversation about what a proportionate arrangement might look like.
- Daniel OkaforCould I ask about the trustee calls specifically? Last time, the managers used the brain before trustee meetings. Is that still the moment where it hurts most?
- Douglas BairdIt is. The preparation for a trustee meeting is where we feel it. A relationship manager needs to know every query raised since the last meeting, what was promised, and whether fees are in order. At present that is an afternoon's work per scheme.
- Fiona MackieAnd that's a cost the group can see. It's one of the reasons I asked to join. If Lornefield can show it saves that, it's a practical case.
- Tom AshdownThat's a good way to frame it. So what might help is if we put numbers on the afternoon, with your people, before anyone signs anything. Would the relationship managers be up for a short conversation with Daniel?
- Douglas BairdI believe so. I'd need to ask them first, and I wouldn't wish to hurry it. But I expect they'd be glad to be asked.
- Daniel OkaforThat's all I'd want, Douglas. A relaxed conversation, no preparation needed. I'll send a few questions beforehand so they can see what we're curious about.
- Fiona MackieOne more from me. Security. Anything that touches the group's data needs to go through our review. Is that heavy?
- Tom AshdownDepends what the group needs to see. The brain is built and run inside your Snowflake account, so the data doesn't leave it, which tends to make the conversation shorter. But I'll not promise how it goes down with your reviewers. Daniel, anything to add?
- Daniel OkaforOnly that we've done it before with regulated customers, and we'd support your team through it. I'd rather your reviewers saw the real architecture early than late.
- Fiona MackieFine. Let's keep this practical, then. Actions: you send termination terms in plain words, you send the setup note, and I take the question of the Snowflake account to the group.
- Tom AshdownThat's it exactly. And so everyone's got the picture, we've pencilled a target of Friday 29 January 2027, but that's a plan, not a promise. Nothing moves faster than you're comfortable with.
- Douglas BairdThank you, Tom, that's very clear. Might I suggest we also arrange a further conversation, perhaps with Nell as well, as I understand she looks after our relationship?
- Tom AshdownShe does, and she'd welcome it. Let's get something in the diary. I'll sort it today.
- Daniel OkaforThank you all again. Best wishes, and I'll be in touch by the end of the week.
- Douglas BairdThank you, everyone. Good day to you.
- Fiona MackieThanks. Speak soon.
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