Castleton Technology signs £1.3m deal with Connect Housing Association

Software and managed services provider Castleton Technology has been selected as housing technology partner for Connect Housing Association - a provider of more than 3,000 homes across West Yorkshire - it announced on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm said the agreement, which was valued at £1.3m over a five-year period, would see it deliver a suite of “fully integrated solutions” to support the transformation of Connect's service delivery, and enhance business processes.

It explained that, following an in depth competitive dialogue tender process, Castleton would work in partnership with Connect to deliver an integrated ERP Housing solution, using the entire suite of Castleton's solutions.

The solutions included Castleton's CRM, Housing, Financials, Repairs, Contractor Portal, P2P, EDRM, Reporting, Data Services and Asset Management.

Connect would further invest in solutions that would enhance its digital engagement capabilities with its customers using Castleton's Agile solution, Communication Manager and ‘Castleton.DIGITAL’.

The project was now underway, and was due to be completed with all solutions live in April 2020.

“Having gone through an extensive competitive dialogue procurement process, we are delighted to appoint Castleton as our Housing Technology Partner for the next five years and beyond,” said Connect Housing Association chief executive officer Helen Lennon.

“They engaged with us on a comprehensive basis throughout the process and have invested a lot of time and effort into understanding our organisational needs and growth strategy moving forward.”

Lennon said that was indicative of the relationship that it was now experiencing as the organisation embarked on a “significant” implementation project.

“Working with Castleton, we are confident their solutions will facilitate our passion for a fairer society, where people's homes, health and happiness matter.”

Dean Dickinson, chief executive officer of Castleton, added that the company was “delighted” to have been chosen by Connect to help it achieve its digital transformation strategy, and its “ambitious plans” for growth in the coming years.

“Working in partnership with Castleton, Connect will embark on a major channel shift, which will impact both employees and customers positively.

“Employees will now be able to access information anytime anywhere.”

Dickinson said that importantly, Connect customers would reap the benefits of the partnership and they would now have the ability to communicate with Connect “in a number of ways” on different devices.

“This contract is further testament to the group's ability to deliver on its strategic objectives.”