Barfly

If you do the X / Bluesky thing, follow me at @HousingITguy or LinkedIn here https://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy

There is something properly refreshing about seeing a software company do something a bit different and actually mean it. 

Too much of the social housing (or maybe ‘Real Estate’ 🤔) systems world still feels like it is run from the same old script. Same polite corporate waffle. Same safe office parks. Same legacy thinking with a bit of new AI branding chucked on top and called transformation. So when the Rubixx folks, a UK software house decides that the right next step is not some identikit glass box, but an ex-country club in Staffordshire, and the FT writes about it    that gets my attention straight away.

And honestly, good on them.

There is a confidence in that sort of move. It says we are not trying to cosplay Silicon Valley from a business park off M6 junction 15. Doing our own thing, in our own way, on our own patch. In proper potbank oatcake land too, which only adds to the charm. Stoke-on-Trent City Council apparently seem to like the mood music as well, and fair enough. If you are trying to bring jobs, energy, innovation and a bit of life into an area, you could do a lot worse than backing a growing UK software business that is clearly not short of ambition and attitude.

What I particularly like is that this is not style over substance. It would be easy enough for some firms to get attention with a quirky office and then have nothing behind the curtain except a beanbag, company strapline on the backwall, a neon sign and a waterfall product roadmap held together with hope. But that is not the story here. In about three and a half years they have produced three genuinely modern SaaS browser-based products across Housing, Finance and Support Planning. Full cloud. Proper Responsive Browser. Modern delivery. Over 30 live customers. And, from what I keep seeing & hearing, a very decent number of them are not just live, but actually happy. In housing software, that is not a small thing. That is the bit worth pausing on.

Because as we know, anybody can sell the dream in a demo. Plenty do. The trick is in migration, delivery, cutover, support, stabilisation and whether the customer still sounds cheerful once the consultants have gone home and the final invoices have landed. That is where things get real.

Over Easter I was involved in helping a good-sized and complex provider in Scotland get live with Rubixx housing and finance. That sort of go-live does not happen by accident. It takes nerve, hard graft, responsiveness, teamwork, supplier effort, customer effort, and a willingness to deal with the awkward realities rather than just admire the PowerPoint. So when I see a supplier building momentum and getting complex organisations live successfully, I take that seriously. It matters more than polished sales patter ever will.

And perhaps that is the bigger point. The housing sector does not need more fake modernity. It does not need another tired old platform with a thin browser wrapper and a fresh logo pretending to be born in the cloud. It needs suppliers who can think differently, build properly, implement competently and support customers like they matter. It needs suppliers that feel like they are moving forwards, not just charging annual maintenance on yesterday’s architecture while telling everyone “to be patient”.

So yes, the country club thing made me smile.

In truth it gave me a slight flashback to the 1980s, when work culture in some places still involved the odd liquid lunch and a level of informality that would send today’s HR departments into cardiac arrest. I am not necessarily recommending a full return to three pints and a prawn cocktail before a finance workshop, but there is something appealing about a software business whose workplace has a bar on site. It beats the usual modern corporate bribe of a sad fruit bowl, a branded hoodie and the once-a-month Friday pizza session that everyone is expected to be wildly grateful for. If they are really serious, they will make sure the bar includes some proper real ale and not just the usual fashionable fizzy nonsense. As a CAMRA member, I feel duty bound to mention that. Of course if getting Cask Marque certified might be one step beyond, maybe just some interesting bottles & cans might suffice. As Frank Cartwright told Brian Potter in Phoenix Nights, “they are the future” !

But beyond the humour, there is a serious point here too. Culture matters. Environment matters, standing by your promises matters. The physical place a company chooses says something about how it sees itself. A former country club is not just a gimmick if it helps attract staff, gives customers a memorable experience, creates a bit of buzz and reflects a business that is prepared to be bold. In a sector where too many suppliers still feel like they were assembled by committee, a bit of personality goes a long way.

And I suspect customers notice that difference.

Housing providers have spent years being told to make do with legacy platforms, sluggish development, shrinking dev teams, expensive change requests still on hold and the general sense that they should be grateful for whatever turns up in the next release cycle. So when they encounter a supplier that feels more modern, more human and more switched on, it stands out. When they then go live and start seeing benefits, the contrast with older, almost Mesozoic Era supplier experiences becomes even sharper.

That is why this matters beyond one interesting office move. It is a sign, perhaps, that some parts of the housing software market are growing up a bit. Becoming bolder. More confident. More willing to challenge the old order. Not by shouting loudly, but by building, delivering and steadily winning contracts and trust.

There is room for that in this sector. More than room, actually. There is a need for it.

So yes, fair play. A growing UK software house, no offshoring, modern cloud products, strong customer momentum, and an HQ that sounds more like somewhere you might actually want to visit than a beige office cube with bad coffee and worse acoustics. That is different thinking. And in a housing systems world that can still be painfully conservative, different thinking done well is something to celebrate.

Now then, if the next customer briefing starts with a decent pint of real ale in the clubhouse bar, or a bottled Impy Stout rather than a curled-up sandwich and a stale biscuit, I may start insisting all software procurement's are run that way. Some old traditions are worth keeping.

Are you lumbered with legacy solutions & unsure whats out there ? 

Give me a call, I will drop in for a brew & bring the Tunnocks Teacakes ☕

       Related Post: Remember that soft-market exploration is a great way to see whats out there.

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I would be pleased to connect with you on LinkedIn - http://uk.linkedin.com/in/tonysmiththathousingitguy Message me with any issues or queries, you would like to be explored in this blog. We generally receive a couple of suggestions each month.

Ray LaMontagne - Barfly

(c) Tony Smith, Acutance Consulting www.acutanceconsulting.co.uk 07854-655009


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