Outsourced viewings service Viewber is now doing viewings and taking catalogue pictures for a growing number of UK auctioneers.

David Sandeman, managing director of The Essential Information Group which specialises in auction data, said that Viewber provides a service for auctioneers that between them offer over half of all auction lots in the UK.

He said: “Viewber offers a flexible viewing service for an industry that works to very tight timelines with some lots being marketed for as little as two weeks prior to auction day.”

Sandeman also said that viewing assistants are also taking photographs of auction properties, especially where it is a late or remote lot.

Viewber co-founder Ed Mead said yesterday that where photos are taken for auctioneers, the pictures are for catalogues and are not of marketing quality.

But he added: “We are getting an increasing number of freelance photographers signing up as Viewbers so it is something we’re considering.”