Each month we meet key stakeholders and business leaders in the social care sector. This month we meet Dean Bennett & Ranjit Singh Bains, Co Founders of Mentor Software —an intuitive platform designed by care professionals to streamline documentation and support safer, more consistent care.
What inspired you to found Mentor Software?
When we worked together in a local authority children’s services team, we saw first-hand how much time staff spent duplicating notes, chasing signatures, and trying to make disconnected systems talk.
We imagined something better—software that makes care easier to deliver and evidence. That idea became Mentor Software. From the beginning, we’ve built it alongside care professionals, Responsible Individuals, and ex-Ofsted inspectors who understand daily pressures. Every feature is shaped by lived experience: simple to use, inspection-ready, and designed to help teams deliver safer care.
How has that founding vision evolved from Mentor’s launch to today, especially with the release of Mentor V3?
The vision hasn’t changed—just grown. What began as a tool to cut paperwork in one children’s home has become a purpose-built platform supporting residential children’s services and supported accommodation.
Unlike generic systems adapted for social care, Mentor was built specifically for it. Everything aligns with Ofsted’s inspection framework and the rhythms of life in a regulated setting.
Our latest version, Mentor V3, brings audits, incidents, staffing, medication, and daily records together in one secure dashboard. It helps leaders spot patterns early, keep compliance on track, and free managers to focus on people—not paperwork.
How do you balance innovation like AI with ease of use for frontline teams?
Innovation should make life easier, not more complicated. Our AI tools support—not replace—human judgement. They help with tasks like summarising reports or flagging missing data, so staff spend less time typing and more time caring.
We test every feature with real care teams before it goes live. If it’s not useful or intuitive, we go back and fix it. Mentor also offers free training and a UK-based Customer Success team.
What strategies have proven most effective in ensuring adoption and ongoing satisfaction?
Every customer gets a dedicated UK-based Customer Success Lead to guide them from setup to rollout. Our trainers all come from care backgrounds, so sessions are practical and jargon-free. We also give teams early access to a safe training area where they can explore the system and build confidence without worrying about breaking anything.
Support doesn’t stop at go-live. We stay in touch, share updates, and listen closely. Most new features in V3 came directly from customer ideas. We’ve always believed the best software is built with the people who use it.
What challenges and opportunities are shaping the children’s social care software sector, and how is Mentor responding?
The biggest challenge is building software that does it all without overwhelming people. There’s no point in feature-packed systems if staff don’t feel confident using them day to day.
We show teams not just how features work, but why they exist—how they help evidence quality, outcomes, and care impact.
“Putting the young person at the centre” is your tagline. How do you live that value?
It’s not just a tagline—it’s how we make every decision. Before we build anything, we ask: does this help improve outcomes for young people?
Each child’s plan, progress, and safeguarding record sits at the heart of Mentor. Many of our team have worked in care, so they understand that behind every log and note is a real young person’s story.
Looking ahead 3–5 years, how do you see Mentor evolving?
We’re excited to keep helping more care providers use secure, intuitive software that puts young people first. The goal remains the same: making life simpler for teams and driving safer, stronger outcomes.
Dean Bennett & Ranjit Singh Bains, Co-Founders, Mentor Software