Property marketing specialist sees virtual tours boom during pandemic

A property marketing specialist is eyeing a push into the events and exhibition sectors after seeing its virtual tour business boom during the pandemic.

A hi-tech Matterport camera, used by Scottish firm Property Studios to create realistic 3D walkthroughs of properties which are being sold.

Property Studios, which has offices in Edinburgh and Kinross-shire and works with properties across Scotland, has also recruited an additional eight staff, bringing its headcount to 32.

Founder Michelle Milnes said the business responded to the pandemic restrictions by developing a suite of products to support its clients – leading to a 50 per cent increase in revenues.

Recent growth means the firm now has national contracts with more than 30 major estate agents as well as a dozen housebuilders.

Every month it completes an average of 100 3D tours, 50 live virtual viewings and 50 virtual projects, as well as 500 photo-shoots, creation of 500 floorplans, 350 brochures, 100 films, five full CGI projects and five drone films.

Since it was founded in 2014, the firm has become a key player in the Scottish property scene, particularly in Edinburgh’s housing market.

Milnes said: “We’ve worked hard for this success and the irony isn’t lost on me that it’s now coming as a result of the pandemic which has left so many other jobs and businesses flattened. It’s pleasing that our technology kept a number of smaller property agents from going out of business.

“The various lockdowns have played to our strengths, while the housing market has remained buoyant.

“Our remote video tours and other services were already part of the buying and selling process, but as add-on marketing tools. Now restrictions mean house hunters realistically need to take virtual tours first. Then they can arrange a socially distanced property viewing.”

While the increased demand for property services and the need for staff to work remotely curtailed the firm’s plans to develop services for other sectors, it has been contacted by organisations in hospitality and the arts.

“Our focus had to be on servicing the increased demand from our existing clients and making sure we could deliver everything being asked of us,” added Milnes. “However, we are now we are in a very strong position with a stable platform from which we can launch into new markets.

“We are already working with a number of venues and exhibition spaces. Being able to let potential guests view dining areas, bedrooms or other event spaces and even to take measurements is a potential game changer, by letting them plan their events remotely.

“Venues which may have dabbled with this technology are now likely to see it as a serious and important tool to help them out of lockdown and to increase business revenues. Just like the property sector, we expect there will now be an acceleration of adoption of this.

“Likewise, exhibitions have been totally shut down. We can allow them to reopen virtually and reach potential visitor across the globe. That’s before we even start talking about the potential value of having exhibitions captured and archived forever in incredible detail – or additionally to generate extra income by selling these online tours to an international audience.”

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