Scaling Site Sourcing: 500+ Sites a Month with Searchland

VirginLand connects landowners with the right development partners, spanning everything from commercial projects to EV charging sites, care facilities, student housing, and more. With a data-driven approach, they tailor their sourcing process to meet the diverse and often complex needs of their clients.

We spoke with Freddy Hoare (Operations Director), and Sam Bedford (Land Manager) at VirginLand to learn how Searchland supports their site-sourcing operations.

Challenges before Searchland:

● Slow data updates from other sourcing platforms

● Poor user interface from alternative platforms 

● Limited filtering options, restricting their ability to serve clients with unique criteria

‍

"We're using Searchland to source around 500 opportunities monthly across the team"

Searchland empowers VirginLand to handle large volumes without sacrificing precision.

“I personally assess about 100 sites monthly, and others in the team are doing double that,” Sam explains. “Altogether, we’re probably finding around 500 sites a month.”

This scale is supported by Searchland’s advanced filtering, real-time data, and comprehensive datasets.

‍

"The range of features and real-time updates set Searchland apart from the competition"

VirginLand operates across multiple sectors, making a flexible and powerful sourcing solution essential.

“Searchland plays an important role across our team, helping us support a wide range of clients in sectors that include commercial, EV, roadside, industrial and care. Having flexible and reliable tools like Searchland helps us move quickly.”

With access to powerful filters, Traffic Data, Grid Connections, Energy & DNO Data and Local Demographics, VirginLand can quickly and confidently identify, assess, and appraise viable development sites. 

"The breadth of tools and filtering capabilities, plus real-time data updates, are really useful. Other solutions were slow to update new local plan policies," Sam explains.
‍

‍

Responsive support and continuous innovation

VirginLand has benefited from Searchland's proactive customer success approach, particularly in accessing analytics and new features.

"Ben from the Searchland customer success team has been really helpful. When we wanted analytics on how our team was using Searchland daily, they were able to pull reports together for us, which we still review monthly.”

The team also incorporates Searchland's regular webinars into their training, with the whole team joining lunch-and-learn sessions to help them get more from the platform.

‍

Growing with Searchland's expanding capabilities

As Searchland continues to evolve, VirginLand is well-positioned to keep leading in land sourcing and development consultancy.

"We work across so many property sectors that we need a huge amount of data. Searchland is constantly adding more into the platform and the last two years of product development have helped us deliver a better service to our clients."

From all of us at Searchland, we’re proud to be powering VirginLand’s multi-sector success and excited to support their growth in the years to come.

― Quotes from Freddy Hoare, Operations Director, and Sam Bedford, Land Manager at VirginLand.

‍

Want to see how Searchland can help you source ideal sites for your business? Book a demo with our team to see how.