Member Article

Newcastle VR firm in London expansion under new umbrella

Newcastle-based Digital Surveys, and sister companies Digital VR and Digital Architecture, has expanded to London under a newly-formed umbrella group.

Rebranded under Luminous Group, a pioneering 3D technology solutions provider, the digital and surverying provider which now has 15 staff members across two offices.

Maintaining its headquarters in the Toffee Factory in Newcastle’s Ouseburn, its new London operations are located on Winsley Street, in the heart of the capital’s West End.

The company, which provides 3D digital solutions to the likes of Google, Land Rover, BAE Systems and Balfour Beatty, has created three new senior roles across the two offices.

Experienced BIM manager Justine Gray will head up Newcastle operations, while Luigi Rosso arrives from Naples in Italy. He has a strong background in architecture, but more recently has specialised in games engine design and real time rendering.

Humphrey Hardwicke has also been installed as creative director in Luminous’ London site and will head up all new VR projects for the group.

Hardwicke has worked across varied fields, including film production and distribution for Working Title, as well as for global ad and marketing agency, Ogilvy, and will help new clients to understand VR capabilities, especially those who haven’t had previous exposure to the technology.

Luminous Group’s digital director, Ben Bennett said: “We’ve been operating three very distinctive strands to the business for quite some time. They will continue in their own rights, but the core specialities of Digital Surveys, Digital Architecture and Digital VR are now much better aligned under the Luminous Group brand.

“We have a long history of early adoption of new technologies in the surveying sector and this is the next step in our evolution into a rounded 3D technology solutions provider across a wide range of industries.

“The opening of our London office is reflective of the level of work we’re servicing, not just in the south of England, but it also offers us the necessary global gateway to our international projects.”

Digital Surveys was launched more than 25 years ago by Ben Bennett’s father, Peter Bennett, as a forward-thinking supplier to the surveying industry. But through an ever growing team of 3D and virtual reality experts, the operations has broadened its appeal across numerous sectors and has developed traditional VR gaming platforms to provide immersive solutions to organisations in industries such as tourism, motoring and even historical attractions.

Peter added: “We’ve been at the forefront of tech developments in surveying for almost three decades, and by staying ahead of the curve in those developments, we have discovered our solutions, especially in VR and 3D mapping, are transferrable across a wide range of sectors.

“Rebranding under Luminous Group and opening our London operations is the next natural step and will enable us to operate with far greater agility across all sectors and geographies.”