Covid difficulties driving ‘huge’ demand for digital tenant referencing
Sheffield-based Vouch says the pandemic has disrupted the traditional referencing industry and ushered in a demand for digital.
A proptech company founded in Sheffield by a former letting agent says it has doubled its workforce over the past year as demand for its tenant referencing service has surged during the Covid pandemic.
The company now employs 23 people, up from 11 a year ago and charges £5 per report.
Vouch, which was established by Simon Tillyer three years ago with his wife Jaime, says it has resisted the temptation to move down south to join London’s tech community and instead is championing the ‘growing proptech sphere’ in the north of England.
The company says the spike in demand for its tenant referencing service is, in part, due to the government-enforced social distancing measures designed to contain coronavirus.
Complications
These, it says, have caused a number of delays and complications for letting agents attempting to retrieve information from tenants via traditional sources such as employers, banks and credit agencies.
“Our huge success over this period couldn’t have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our team,” says Simon Tillyer.
“We’ve poured our efforts into growing our team meaningfully this year, and I’m proud to retain the fact that we’re staffed entirely by people from Sheffield, where we were founded and remain headquartered today. “Aside from setting us apart from others in the proptech industry, our strong roots serve as a perfect example of the innovation coming out of the North.”
Vouch digitises the referencing process and also offers rent protection insurance and a utility service that earns revenue for agents.
