National charted surveying firm Bruton Knowles has officially launched and rolled out its new land referencing application to help its clients make quicker and more efficient land acquisitions.
Following a six-figure investment, Solstice is a bespoke application that has been researched, developed and tested in-house by Bruton Knowles. Over the last three years, around 30 experts have contributed to the application’s design, drawing on more than a century of combined industry experience.
Fully integrated with all core Bruton Knowles systems, Solstice is set to deliver time savings of around 20% on average as it streamlines manual land acquisition processes and supports land rights management for clients.
Incorporating GIS mapping technology and AI-enabled automation, Solstice has already been implemented in the first large-scale UK infrastructure and energy projects. Bruton Knowles’ project teams can now use the digital mapping technology to access real-time land referencing information, including visibility of all interests in land, land ownership and stakeholder engagement to ensure all parties are consulted before any potential work begins.
Alongside the digital mapping capability, the system incorporates AI-enabled capabilities to help boost efficiency when it comes to land registry data and valuation quote handling. AI dramatically reduces the time needed to download and input land registry data onto the system, from days or weeks to minutes. The application also offers greater resiliency with all data encrypted at rest and while in transit.
Paul Martin, IT Director at Bruton Knowles, said: “Bruton Knowles continues to invest in the latest tools and Solstice combines our land referencing expertise with the latest technology. The official launch of our new land referencing system allows our project managers to complete projects faster and more efficiently for our clients.”
Clients can access specific reports and progress summaries to ensure projects are delivered on time. Bruton Knowles plans to rollout Solstice across all of Bruton Knowles’ live projects, with the team also continuing to make refinements with monthly code releases as the application matures. The application has been designed to support complex nationally significant infrastructure projects (NSIPs including customer configuration for Development Consent Orders (DCOs), Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) and many other project types.
Project teams can also monitor progress, identify unresolved issues and forecast project completion using visual reporting tools, with project managers able to access a “progress bar” with red, amber and green status flags. The system also incorporates enterprise-grade security features, including encrypted data storage and secure authentication.
Last year, Bruton Knowles announced its £400,000 investment in digital infrastructure and its adoption of AI to keep pace with the changing landscape of the sector.
James Bailey, Managing Partner at Bruton Knowles, said: “The successful implementation of our land referencing system Solstice supports our commitment to delivering high-quality and efficient land and property consultancy services across the UK. We continue to empower our employees and clients with the latest technologies and innovation.”