Sometimes great solutions to tricky problems are conspicuous by their absence. This was certainly what property surveyors Paul Byrne and Mark Sorsa-Leslie discovered when, three years ago, they were challenged by a mutual client to help him understand how his buildings were being used.
The twist was that this person was not a traditional, commercial client. He was an executive director of property at the NHS.
He was after data on space occupancy, use patterns and the service capability of one of the UK’s most important property portfolios and Byrne and Sorsa-Leslie jumped at the chance to help. Little did they know they were about to uncover a huge gap in the market.
“We thought it would be a case of finding a supplier already on the market to help solve that problem,” says Sorsa-Leslie. “In reality we spent 18 months searching for the right solution and didn’t find anything. Then, a year ago, we went to a tech summit in Glasgow and we saw two pieces of tech that made us realise we could do it ourselves if we put the pieces of tech together to create the solution.”
Sensor as a service
And so Beringar was born. It is a “sensor as a service” platform that uses visual sensors to assess room occupancy, environmental conditions and locate moveable assets to help the NHS make better use of its vast, yet underutilised, portfolio.
“The NHS spends 25% of its budget on property and facilities,” says Sorsa-Leslie. “It is creaking at the seams across the country. This is a great property portfolio that isn’t being fully utilised and the idea of using proptech and the Internet of Things to help the NHS turn more of its pounds towards direct patient care seems eminently sensible to us.”
The technology will provide NHS Estate Managers with real time availability for specialised health space and consultation rooms, allowing the estate to be used “more intensively” and will also contribute to the reduced requirement for new bespoke health facilities. The NHS Estate is the largest collection of property in the UK, with more than 2m individual rooms and Beringar estimates that 50% of these rooms are suitable sensor locations. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
“This could be rolled out for other use cases such as the corporate occupier sector,” says Byrne (pictured). “Everyone been really interested in how it can help improve buildings’ utilisation and efficiency.”
Both enabler and disruptor
As to whether they see themselves as enablers or disruptors, Byrne says the Beringar team thinks it is both, depending on which stage of the process you are looking at. “The tech itself is firstly an enabler,” he says. “It will help people do their existing jobs better. Then you start to think about what you can do with the data, it moves into a disruptive phase as it allows you to put a dashboard on the building and you can see how it is performing in real time.”
Set to pitch their idea to the panel of judges at EG’s Tech Talk Academy on 15 November, the Beringar duo hopes the impact this technology could have on the UK will come through loud and clear. And, if they are successful in winning a share of the £150,000 up for grabs, the plan is to use the investment to accelerate high volume production to “ensure we meet demand and invest in additional marketing and sales resources”.
And as for the message they hope the wider audience will leave with after their pitch at the event? “We hope it will have some ‘wow factor’,” says Sorsa-Leslie. “We can rapidly change the way this portfolio is being managed and invested in.”
PI LABS says:
Beringar has developed a novel Internet of Things sensor delivering accurate data on space occupancy, use patterns and service capacity of buildings. It is solving a problem of social significance; the team has relevant experience to execute on such a complex task; and it has a working product in place.
Tune in to a special episode of the TechTalk Radio podcast later this week to hear from all six finalists in EG’s TechTalk Academy. Just a handful of tickets remain for the live TechTalk Academy event on 15 November. Find out how to secure your space by clicking here.
To send feedback, e-mail emily.wright@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmilyW_9 or @estatesgazette
