Brackwell Freight Ltd / BB-Demo – Renewal
Callcompleted
Brackwell Freight Ltd: documents · 2026-09-08 11:00
On the 8 Sep 2026 renewal call Gareth Whitlam said he could not see what Brackwell would be renewing. Daily active users are under three of forty, and the renewal deal shows £50,000 against £44,000 today.
What was said
What this says
Current to 10 Oct 26On the 8 Sep 2026 renewal call Gareth Whitlam said he could not see what Brackwell would be renewing. Daily active users are under three of forty, and the renewal deal shows £50,000 against £44,000 today.
What happened: Marcus Bell reported daily active users under three against forty licensed seats, around half the previous quarter. Joanne Platt confirmed invoices are paid within terms, so Gareth framed it as a value question.
Customer view: Gareth said he inherited the account and was given a brief to cut software spend. He was explicit that he is not minded to agree the renewal figure.
Commercial: Tom Ashdown quoted the renewal deal as showing £50,000 against £44,000 a year now, and said he would set out in writing how it is built. The call does not show what the £50,000 is made up of.
Watch: Marcus accepted that adoption sits with him and that he should have called sooner. Gareth wants usage by Friday, the renewal paper early next week, and a call after he has spoken to the depots.
Themes
Current to 9 Oct 26Theme
Renewal price against low usage
Importance
renewal
Sentiment
negative
Voice
decision-maker
Who was there
BB-Demo
CRMmade from
Them
CRMmade from
Follow-up
Next steps
Current to 9 Oct 26- Marcus sends full usage by team and examples of actual questions and answers by Friday.
- Tom sends the renewal paper early next week, including what the £50,000 is made up of.
- Tom and Marcus book a further call a couple of weeks out, once Gareth has spoken to the depots.
Risks
Current to 9 Oct 26- Daily active users are under three of forty licensed seats, around half the previous quarter.
- The renewal deal shows £50,000 against £44,000 now, and Gareth has said he is not minded to agree it.
- Gareth has a brief to cut software spend and wants a reason for any price rise that he can justify to the board.
Opportunities
Current to 9 Oct 26- Headroom of about forty seats means the right people being in the brain could build the case.
- Tom signalled openness to fewer seats or a different scope if the depots say they do not need it.
Transcript
Tom Ashdown NoneMorning, everyone. Can you hear me alright? Gareth, Joanne, good to see you. How's your week been so far? Busy, I'd imagine.
Joanne Platt NoneGood morning, Tom. Busy, yes, but the usual kind of busy. We're mid payment run so I've only got a short window, if that's all right.
Gareth Whitlam NoneMorning. I've read the renewal note and the usage report that came through. I'm not sure I understand what it is that we'd be renewing. So I'd like to start there.- Tom Ashdown NoneFair enough, no drama, that's what the call's for. Marcus is here too, he looks after the account day to day, so he's the best person for the usage side. Marcus, do you want to share your screen?
Marcus Bell NoneYes, thanks Tom. Morning, both. I'll share my screen and I'd like to cover three things: where usage is, what the contract looks like, and what you need from us. Can you see it?- Gareth Whitlam NoneI see a chart. Is the line going down?
- Marcus Bell NoneIt is, I'll be straight with you. I've pulled the numbers. Your daily active users average under three people at the moment. That's a drop of around half compared with the previous quarter.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneUnder three. Out of how many seats?
- Marcus Bell NoneForty licensed. So you're using a small slice of what you pay for.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneSo what exactly are we paying for? Forty-four thousand a year for under three people. Show me the usage. Properly. Who are they?
- Marcus Bell NoneFair question. It's mainly the revenue operations team now, and a couple of the account managers from the depots who still look at it. A year ago it was much wider, you had depot account managers in there most days, and that's where the fall is.
- Tom Ashdown NoneAnd I'll say, Gareth, that's not something we're going to gloss over. The original idea was the account managers seeing accounts, delivery-exception tickets and calls in one place so they could spot a retail contract going wobbly early. If they're not in there, we're not doing that job.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneThat's rather my point. I inherited this. I didn't choose it. I came in during the spring with a brief to cut software spend, and this is one of the lines I was asked to look at.
- Tom Ashdown NoneUnderstood. No criticism of the people who set it up, it's a good set-up. I just think we have to work out why the depots drifted away.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneDo you know why?
- Marcus Bell NoneNot for certain, and I don't want to guess at it in front of you. What I can see is the pattern, not the reason. There's been no tickets from you in the last month, no high-priority ones, nothing broken that I can see. So it doesn't look like a technical failure. It looks more like people stopped opening it.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneNo tickets. So either it works perfectly, or nobody is using it enough to complain.
- Marcus Bell NoneI'd say the second, if I'm honest. The quiet is not a good sign here, it's a sign of a team that's moved on.
- Joanne Platt NoneMay I say something from my side? I can confirm that all invoices to date have been paid within terms and nothing is outstanding. I only mention it so the record is clear. I'm not able to comment on how the system is used.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneThank you, Joanne. That's useful. It's not a payment question. It's a value question.
- Tom Ashdown NoneWhich is the right way to look at it. Right, so let me put the contract in front of you, and Marcus, jump in if I get it wrong. You're on Growth. Forty-four thousand a year, forty seats, and the current term runs to 30 Nov 2026, so it renews 1 Dec 2026.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneAnd what does it renew at?
- Tom Ashdown NoneSo, I don't like quoting a price from memory, and I'd rather not give you a wrong number on a call like this. What I have in front of me is the renewal deal showing fifty thousand. I'll confirm in writing exactly what that is made up of and how it's built before you have to take anything to anyone.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneFifty thousand. That's higher than forty-four thousand. For a product used by under three people.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneI'm not minded to agree that. I'll say that now so nobody leaves this call thinking otherwise.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCompletely fair, and I'm not asking you to agree anything today. This is just so you can see it. Leave that with me, I'll set out the position properly on paper.
- Gareth Whitlam NonePlease do. And please set out what changed in the price. If the price rises, I need a reason that I can justify to the board. A feature list won't do.
- Tom Ashdown NoneNoted. A reason, not a feature list. I'll do that.
- Marcus Bell NoneCan I add something that might help? There's a lot of headroom in the licence. You have forty seats and use under three. So the question isn't really whether the brain can do the job, it's whether the right people are in it.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneThen why weren't they, Marcus? Whose job is that? Yours, or ours?
- Marcus Bell NoneThat's fair as well. Honestly, I'd say it's partly mine. Adoption sits with me. When usage dropped I should have been on the phone to you sooner, rather than waiting for the renewal conversation.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneAt least that's a straight answer.
- Tom Ashdown NoneAnd it's why we wanted you on this call, Gareth, not just a note. You've got a say in whether this is worth keeping, and we'd rather you had the real picture.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneRight. So let me ask the other question. If I didn't renew, what happens to what's been built?
- Marcus Bell NoneThe brain runs inside your own Snowflake account, so the data stays yours. What would stop is the layer on top, the questions and dashboards and the connectors. I'd want to be careful not to oversell it, but it's worth knowing the data doesn't disappear.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneThat's one useful fact. I'd not realised that.
- Joanne Platt NoneGareth, forgive me, I'll need to drop off in about five minutes for the payment run. Is there anything you need from accounts payable for this?
- Gareth Whitlam NoneOnly the full invoice history against the purchase order, so I can see the total cost since we started. Could you send that to me?
- Joanne Platt NoneCertainly. I can confirm I'll have that with you by Friday. I'll send it against the purchase order so it matches.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneThank you, Joanne. That's all.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThanks, Joanne, really appreciate it. Gareth, shall I say what I'd suggest as the way forward?
- Gareth Whitlam NoneGo on.
- Tom Ashdown NoneThree things. One, Marcus sends you the usage in full, by team, so you can see who's actually in there and who isn't. Two, you or someone you trust asks the depot account managers what they'd need from it, because that's where the drop is. And three, I come back with the renewal paper, including what the fifty thousand is, so you can compare it with where you are.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneAnd if the depot people say they don't need it?
- Tom Ashdown NoneThen we'd have a different conversation, and I'd rather have that one honestly than pretend. We could look at the shape of it, fewer seats perhaps, or a different scope. I'm not going to promise anything on that today, because I'd want to check what's possible before I say.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneI'd want to hear that. Because at the moment, the numbers don't make a case.
- Marcus Bell NoneI understand. One more suggestion if it helps. Could I sit with whoever in revenue operations is still using it, and find out what they'd show you? It might be that there's a story there I'm not seeing from the data.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneDo that. But I want facts, Marcus, not a pitch. What did they ask, what did it answer, what did it save?
- Marcus Bell NoneUnderstood. Facts. I'll bring examples of actual questions and what came back.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneAnd a date. Before the end of the month, ideally, so I'm not left to the last week of November.
- Tom Ashdown NoneSensible. Shall we say usage and examples from Marcus by Friday, and the renewal paper from me early next week? Then we put another call in the diary, a couple of weeks out, once you've spoken to the depots.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneFriday for the usage. Early next week for the paper. And a call after that. That I can accept.
- Marcus Bell NoneThanks, Gareth. I'll send it all to you by Friday. Happy to jump on a call with your revenue operations people too, if you'd like me to.
- Gareth Whitlam NoneI'll let you know. Thank you both. Goodbye.
- Tom Ashdown NoneCheers, Gareth. Speak soon. Cheers, Marcus.
- Marcus Bell NoneThanks, Tom. Bye.
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