BizSpace offers virtual tours

The flexible workspace provider is launching virtual tours of each of its 105 locations across the UK, using technology from 3D camera maker Matterport.

This will enable small businesses looking for workspace to tour a 3D model of BizSpace centres without having to visit.

Potential customers can walk around the building, into the meeting rooms, offices spaces, workshops and communal areas – like Google Street View but for indoors.

Users can also switch to a dollhouse view to see the property as a whole or look from a bird’s-eye perspective.

Emma Long, commercial director of BizSpace, said: “Our customers don’t always have the time to visit various sites to find one which one is suitable. It isn’t cost or time effective and the virtual tours is the solution to this problem.

“We’ve rolled this out across 36 sites – it will available in all of our centres by the end of 2019.”

Matterport is often seen as one of the largest proptech companies in the world, used by JLL, Colliers and CBRE, with over 1.6m assets having been scanned and photographed with its cameras and software.

James Morris-Manuel, vice president and EMEA managing director of Matterport, said: “We’re excited to see BizSpace embracing Matterport as it supports its growing customer base. Our immersive media technology is increasingly valuable in the evolving commercial office market, which is particularly relevant to flexible office providers, which have a more flexible leasing structure. The scale of BizSpace’s adoption demonstrates the importance of virtual tours in attracting new occupiers to flexible workspace and we’re seeing an increase of Matterport customers in this vertical as it shifts to a more hospitality focused model.”

BizSpace aims to ease the pressure of starting a new business and supports small companies by providing workspaces which suit them, in regional, suburban locations.