A Cardiff-based proptech company is behind new technology that will allow thousands of estate agency offices across the UK to automate the management of For Sale boards directly through their existing CRM systems.
Fast-growing Cardiff firm openmoove has partnered with National Independent Board Services (NIBS), a newly formed national network of independent board companies, to launch a system designed to remove one of the property sector’s most repetitive administrative tasks.
The technology allows estate agents to order, move and remove property boards automatically, without having to use a separate platform or manually update their board supplier.
The service is being made available at no cost to agents and is already integrated with Alto, Street, Rex, Loop and Apex27, with further CRM integrations planned.
For openmoove, the partnership represents another step in the Cardiff company’s ambition to use technology to remove friction from the home-moving process.
Once an estate agency connects its CRM, openmoove’s technology reads changes in the status of individual properties and automatically triggers the appropriate action. As a property progresses from instruction through to completion, the physical board follows the same journey.
That means staff no longer need to separately order boards, request changes or arrange their removal.
The technology is being deployed through NIBS, whose network collectively serves more than 5,000 estate agency offices and installs hundreds of thousands of boards each year.
The group brings together independent operators including Cannell Signs, SD Boards, The Board Guy, The Boardman, CH Signs, Signsense, The Board Company and JT Display.
The partnership aims to combine the local knowledge and service of independent board companies with the technology and infrastructure needed to operate as a nationwide network.
It could also help tackle the longstanding problem of For Sale and Sold boards remaining outside properties after transactions have completed. By linking board collection directly to the property’s status within the agent’s CRM, removal can be triggered when a sale completes, allowing boards to be returned to stock and reused.
Sue Low, Director of Cannell Signs and member of NIBS, said:
“Independent board companies have always given agents a better service, with local teams, our own print and our own vans. What held us back was not having the systems to work as one nationwide.
“Now, an agent updates their CRM and NIBS takes care of the board, from the day it goes up to the day it comes down, wherever they are in the country.”
Agents using the network can also access photographs confirming when boards have been installed, alongside live reporting, stock control and consolidated invoicing across multiple branches.
The partnership extends beyond board management. Agents connecting their CRM can receive free material information from openmoove for properties at the point of instruction, designed to support their responsibility to make relevant information available to prospective buyers.
Ross McKenzie, Co-Founder of Cardiff-based openmoove, said:
“Every home sale in the country starts with a board, yet ordering one has always meant keying the same details twice and logging in to another system.
“We’ve made it automatic, inside the CRM agents already use, and it costs them nothing. The board is the first step. Our aim is a home move where nobody has to chase anybody for an update.”
The collaboration gives the Cardiff proptech business a role in connecting thousands of estate agency offices with a national network of independent board suppliers, while demonstrating how technology developed in Wales is being applied to a routine part of the UK property market at scale.
