Viewber
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Guest Blogs
Tech control of your business
During my 38 years working as an agent I learned to appreciate why many smaller agents are resistant to change; if you’re not a corporate, trying new ideas can seem risky. But I’m worried that the 80% of the industry who are small businesses are missing out on the new ideas coming out of the current growth in tech and online, and that too many small agents instead just put on their tin hats and fire well-rehearsed ripostes. Historically, agents have pandered to sellers and landlords – those that pay the bills. But the whip hand is with, and the demand from, buyers and tenants. My argument is that without the tech to reach and service the new generation of millennials, existing agents could well become invisible to them. Without the tech to reach and service the new generation of millennials, existing agents could well become invisible to them.” And it’s the larger agents – including the much-criticised Countrywide – that are moving to take advantage of new tech. No surprises there as they have the advantage of economies of scale, and the ability to swallow mistakes. Back in the noughties, this enabled the bigger and corporate agents to benefit…
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Latest property news
Ex-M&P CEO Rollings invests in Viewber
If you’ve been wondering what Peter Rollings was going to do after exiting Marsh Parsons last year as CEO, then an answer is now forthcoming. Rollings (pictured, below), who before helping grow Marsh & Parsons had a 20-year career at Foxtons including a seven-year stint as Managing Director, has now ploughed some of his considerable wealth into digital start-up Viewber. Established by former Douglas & Gordon executive director Ed Mead, Viewber offers an outsourced property viewings service to agents for both lettings and sales. ”When I first read about Viewber I was intrigued and rang Ed asking to hear more about it,” says Rollings. “We had coffee and by the time the bill came I told him I wanted to be part of it and was prepared to invest in the business. It’s the first proptech I’ve seen which genuinely understands the way the [property] business works; they’ve looked at a problem within the industry and provided a viable solution.” Viewber launched last summer with backing from Mead and digital innovator Marcus de Ferranti but Rollings is the first external investor to plough funds into the business. “I’m delighted to have Peter involved as his experience and insight, as one…
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Features
The next big things for lettings tech in 2017
Organising viewings for potential tenants demands a lot of an agent’s time. Nigel Lewis looks at two new and very different, digital solutions.
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Movers & Shakers
Ed Mead moves on from Douglas & Gordon
Ed Mead has left Douglas and Gordon to run Viewber, a radical new support service for the high street and online estate agency sector.
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