Leading proptech consultant Eddie Holmes (pictured, below) has told The Negotiator he believes the UK’s proptech sector “isn’t really innovative”, despite the mini-industry often touting itself as a world-beating centre of new ideas and pioneering tech, and containing 10% of the worlds’ proptech firms.
“There’s no question that it is a hotbed of activity but whether that activity is innovative or not is a different question,” he said. “Our UK resi market isn’t really innovative, nothing truly game changing by and large.”
His comments came as he and his colleague James Dearsley from leading industry consultancy Proptech Consult rubbed shoulders at a global gathering of tech firms from the residential and commercial sectors in Paris organised by MIPIM.
Finishing yesterday after an exhausting three days of partying and networking events organised by MIPIM, it transpires only a handful of UK proptech and property figures were at the event including Sammy Pahal (pictured main pic, presenting), MD of the UK PropTech Association, Chris Grigg, CEO of British Land and Michael Ewert from JLL, all of whom also spoke at the jamboree.
Dearsley and Holmes also spoke at the conference after revealing their research into the European property industry, which revealed that a third of management within property companies across Europe are clueless about tech and how to use it.
Disruption
Of the 100 industry professional the duo interviewed, 82% said technology was due to disrupt their business soon.
“The property market appears to be one of the last industries to go through a digital transformation, and it appears from this research that we still have some way to go,” says James Dearsley (pictured, left)
This, he says, is despite half of all the executives he interviewed saying their business models will be rendered irrelevant by technology over the next five years.
“The results of this survey give a fascinating insight into the ways in which technology is disrupting the property industry,” MIPIM Protech Europe organise Filippo Rean.
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