In this insightful discussion between Kate Murray (Co-Founder & CEO, Ubrix) & Paul Lancaster (for his ‘SuperConnector Show‘ podcast), the conversation centred on how technology can modernise one of the construction sector’s most critical operational bottlenecks: handover compliance & customer care. Based in the North East of England, Ubrix is building a powerful, intelligent software ecosystem engineered specifically for housebuilders, principal contractors, housing associations & local authorities.
1. Introduction to Ubrix
Ubrix is an AI-driven handover, compliance & aftercare platform tailored to the construction industry. Positioned at the intersection of PropTech (Property Technology) & ConTech (Construction Technology), the software provides developers & site teams with an end-to-end digital environment to manage property sign-offs, customer handovers, defect resolution & long-term buyer relationship management.
By combining compliance workflows with automated snagging & communication tools, Ubrix also helps housebuilders transition smoothly from final build completion to long-term resident satisfaction.
2. The Core Problem: Tackling Lifecycle Inefficiencies
The UK residential housing market has long faced operational friction during property handovers. During the conversation, Kate highlighted several structural pain points that Ubrix addresses directly:
- System Fragmentation: Construction teams, site managers & customer care personnel frequently operate across siloed tools, legacy software, email inboxes & manual spreadsheets.
- Heavy Administrative Burdens: Staff spend excessive hours manually verifying sign-offs, updating paper records & chasing subcontractors for status updates.
- Wasted Contractor Visits: Inaccurate or incomplete defect descriptions cause trade contractors to make repeated, unnecessary site visits due to lack of diagnostic detail.
- Missed Issues & Broken Communication: Crucial handover information frequently drops through the cracks, leading to delayed repair times & unhappy new homeowners.
3. Product Approach & Collaboration
To solve these deeply rooted industry challenges, Ubrix prioritised customer proximity & rapid product iteration over rigid corporate development cycles.
Co-Designing with Housebuilders
From early prototype stages, the Ubrix team worked side-by-side with prospective clients on active building sites. Listening directly to site managers, aftercare teams, & subcontractors enabled the engineering team to ship high-impact features quickly using an agile approach.
Unifying Sales, Build & Aftercare
At the core of the Ubrix platform is the concept of a ‘single operational spine’. Rather than treating post-completion care as an isolated department, Ubrix links the entire asset lifecycle:
- Sales: Capturing buyer preferences, choices & contact histories.
- Build: Tracking construction compliance, audit trails & quality checks.
- Aftercare: Managing defects, contractor dispatch, resident communication & warranty compliance.
This unified approach ensures complete context & transparency from contract signing through the entire guarantee period.
4. Founder Journey: Resilience, Innovation & Growth
Kate Murray’s leadership journey reflects the tenacity required to transform legacy industries with modern technology.
Navigating Early Startup Challenges
Building a tech company within traditional construction comes with distinct hurdles. Kate shared her experience navigating early co-founder changes & realigning the corporate vision to respond dynamically to feedback from housebuilders & technical advisers.
Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award
Kate’s achievements earned national recognition when she won the highly competitive Innovate UK Women in Innovation Award earlier this year. Selected as one of just 100 winners from a pool of over 1,600 applicants across the UK, this accolade validated the strategic potential of Ubrix while providing targeted funding & mentorship to accelerate development.
Building a Lean, Strategic Team
Rooted in the North East England (Gateshead & County Durham), Ubrix has cultivated a lean, agile & strategically focused team. The company prioritises deep domain expertise & focused technical execution over rapid headcount expansion.
5. Future Outlook: Sustainable Scale & User Trust
Looking to the future, Kate & the Ubrix team are focused on delivering lasting value for housebuilding partners rather than chasing vanity metrics. Strategic priorities for the next growth phase include:
- Prioritising Client Success: Ensuring that every client site sees tangible reductions in defect resolution times & administration costs.
- Targeted Growth: Expanding partnerships with regional & national housebuilders across the UK.
- Direct Feedback Loops: Maintaining close, trusted relationships with active platform users to continuously inform feature developments.
To learn more about how Ubrix is modernising compliance & aftercare in housebuilding, visit https://ubrix.co.uk
ps You can also listen to this interview (& more) on Paul’s ‘SuperConnector Show’ podcast which is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, Audible or Spreaker via our ‘Podcasts‘ page.
