Lornefield Pensions Administration / BG-Demo – Discovery
Callscheduled
Lornefield Pensions Administration · 13 Oct 2026 16:00
Douglas Baird, Chief Operating Officer, asked whether the brain could return after the group-standard tool fell short on member queries and trustee calls. The group side said no decisions were made and group systems stay the default.
What was said
What this says
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Douglas Baird, Chief Operating Officer, asked whether the brain could return after the group-standard tool fell short on member queries and trustee calls. The group side said no decisions were made and group systems stay the default.
What happened: The call is dated 13 Oct 2026. Douglas said the arrangement ended at the start of the year as the group required, and the group-standard tool has not served member queries and trustee calls.
Customer view: Fiona Mackie, speaking for the group, framed the brain as filling a gap, not replacing the group standard. She wants facts, the termination terms and a recurring price line that is exact.
Commercial: Nell Ashcombe suggested Growth. She gave the deal as fifty thousand, a total that includes implementation and is not an annual price.
Watch: Group approval is needed for any spend, and Fiona said it stays a lead until she has seen the paperwork. The 29 Jan 2027 target was described as a plan, not a promise.
Themes
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Who was there
BG-Demo
Them
Follow-up
Next steps
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Nell Ashcombe sends the proposal, the order form with term and notice, and the one-page data note by the end of the week.
- Daniel Okafor walks Douglas's people through what was asked of the brain before.
- Fiona Mackie takes the proposal into the group approval process.
Risks
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- The group must approve any spend and group standard systems remain the default.
- A figure could be repeated as an annual price when fifty thousand is the deal total including implementation.
- The group wants termination terms and notice period set out plainly before the next conversation.
Opportunities
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026- Growth tier for relationship managers and operations, joining calls, member-query tickets and fee position in one place.
- The brain runs inside the customer's own Snowflake account, which answers the group's data concern.
Call prep
As at Fri 9 Oct 2026Lornefield left Growth on 2 Apr 2026 for Signalvane. Douglas Baird has reopened talks, and a £50k win-back lead is open. This call tests whether a return can clear group approval on exit terms and scheme-level value.
Context: The account is Lost, with contracted ARR at £0. Invoices were always paid within terms, so the loss came from a group standardisation, not money or service.
On 6 Oct 2026, Douglas and Fiona Mackie said the group tool falls short on member queries and trustee calls. Neither can commit budget without group sign-off.
Approach: Nell Ashcombe should test the gaps Douglas sees and how often they cost his relationship managers time. Then she should walk through a Growth return as a new agreement, with plain termination terms.
The £50k figure is a deal total that includes implementation. Nell should say so every time and never present it as an annual price.
Watch for: Fiona is not on the invite, so agree how the one-page case reaches her and the group. The evidence does not show whether the proposal and termination paper went out before the call. The evidence also does not show any group decision date.
Booked
Updated 9 Oct 26Transcript
Fiona MackieGood afternoon. I should say upfront that I have a hard stop. Let's keep this practical.
Nell AshcombeUnderstood, Fiona. Afternoon, Douglas. Before anything else, what do each of you need to leave this call with?
Douglas BairdGood afternoon, Nell, and thank you for making the time at the end of the day. By way of summary: we ended our arrangement with you at the start of this year, as the group's position required, and in the months since, we've found that the group-standard tool does not serve the member queries and trustee calls as we had hoped. I'd welcome a conversation about whether the brain could return.- Fiona MackieTo be clear from the group's side, no decisions are made today. Group standard systems remain the default. What I need is facts. What are the termination terms, and what is the exposure?
- Nell AshcombeFair. Say what happened, say how you know. The order form for any new arrangement would carry the notice period and the term plainly, and I'll send it with the proposal so you can read it, not take my word. I won't quote clause wording from memory.
- Fiona MackieGood. Send it before the next conversation, not after.
- Nell AshcombeAgreed. Can I say first, Douglas, that the way things ended wasn't a failure of anyone's. You did what was needed at the time.
- Douglas BairdThat is kind of you. In fairness, it was a decision I took with some reluctance, and I'd rather look forward.
- Nell AshcombeThen forward. What's the gap, specifically? What would the brain be asked on a Monday that the current tool can't answer?
- Douglas BairdTwo things principally. When a trustee rings with a question about a scheme, the relationship manager needs the recent calls, the open member queries and the fee position in one place, quickly. And the member-query tickets: the current tool cannot join those to what was said on the call.
- Fiona MackieI'd add, the group tool does a great deal. It doesn't do everything. The relationship managers have said so. That's the part I'm interested in. Not replacing the group standard. Filling a gap.
- Nell AshcombeThat's a useful way to frame it, and it's honest. I'd say the same: we shouldn't pretend the brain replaces what the group has chosen. It sits over the sources, inside your Snowflake account, and answers across them.
- Fiona MackieInside our Snowflake. Meaning the data does not leave. Please confirm that in writing as well.
- Nell AshcombeYes, in writing. It's built and run inside the customer's own account. I'll put it on one page.
- Douglas BairdMight I ask about the shape of what you would propose? Last time we were on Starter and then discussed Growth, but I confess I'd lost track of where we stood.
- Nell AshcombeGrowth is the tier I'd suggest now, because it's built for more than one team, and you'd want the relationship managers and operations both on it. The deal as it sits on our side is fifty thousand. I want to be careful: that's the deal value, the total, and it includes the implementation. It isn't an annual price.
- Fiona MackieSo fifty thousand is the total, including the one-off work. What is the recurring element?
- Nell AshcombeIt will be on its own line in the order form. I'd rather give you the document than a number off the top of my head, because I don't want a figure to be repeated up the chain as something it isn't.
- Fiona MackieThat is sensible. Cost synergies are part of what I'm measured on, so I need the recurring line to be exact.
- Douglas BairdAnd I should be candid, the group would have to approve any spend. I cannot make a promise on its behalf.
- Fiona MackieCorrect. I can't commit budget either without sign-off. What I can do is take a clear proposal into that process.
- Nell AshcombeThat's all I'd ask. So, the shape of it. We're targeting the end of January, 29 Jan 2027, as the date to have this settled. That's a plan, not a promise, and it moves if the group's process needs longer.
- Douglas BairdI think that's reasonable. I would not wish to hurry it.
- Fiona MackieLet's say it stays a lead until I've seen the paperwork. Fine by me.
- Nell AshcombeThen next steps, so I've got them right. I send the proposal, the order form with the term and notice, and the one page on data staying in your account. Daniel Okafor, who knows how your teams used the brain, can walk Douglas's people through what's been asked of it before. Fiona, you take it to the group.
- Fiona MackieAgreed. I have to go. Send it by the end of the week please.
- Nell AshcombeIt'll be with you by then. Thanks, both.
- Douglas BairdThank you, Nell. I appreciate the frankness. Kind regards.