An East Yorkshire drone business is flying high after it received funding to help propel it to the next level.
Dee4Drones, based in Hornsea, was launched in 2015 when founder Richard Dee visited a photography show at Birmingham’s NEC.
Mr Dee said he was stood watching an exhibitor give a drone demonstration, and decided to add aerial images to his existing photography business.
Four years later, and Dee4Drones is flying high.
Earlier this year, the company also received support from the Humber’s Regional Growth Fund, spearheading a remarkable 60 per cent growth since the start of 2019.
Mr Dee said: “I took all the qualifications I needed, and started out doing aerial shots of farms.
“I have done a quite a lot of quarry work, doing drone images and flyovers. I recently also did some work at the largest industrial estate in Europe, down in Slough.
“That was a 500-acre project, which involved taking around 5,000 images.”
While running the drone side of his business, Mr Dee said he spotted another opportunity to expand the services he could offer.
“The business was doing well, but the problem I was finding was when the weather was wet or windy, you cannot fly a drone,” he explained.
“I went to the trade show at the NEC again this year, and saw someone selling a specialist camera which can do virtual tours of inside properties.
“I decided to add that to what I can already offer with the drone photography. It means I can now handle both the exterior images, as well as virtual tours of the inside.
“I can also then upload the images onto Google Maps, which is brilliant for businesses and restaurants to be able to display.”
Mr Dee said he was currently working on images for Bert’s Pizzeria in Hull’s Fruit Market, alongside other projects.
His business is now split into two sections.
Dee4Drones handles the exterior, aerial images of quarries, farmland, industrial estates and other areas, while 3Dee specialises on virtual tours and mapping of inside premises.
Mr Dee earlier this year received support from the Humber Regional Growth Fund, to help take the business to the next level.
“The funding I received I used to purchase a new laptop for the business, as well as some time-lapse cameras,” he said.
“The business I would say has grown by about 60 per cent since I got the grant. It has been brilliant.
“My old laptop was slowing me down, and when I go out and do shots of a quarry, I can easily come back with thousands of images, which was taking a long time to process.
“I am currently really pushing the virtual tours side of the business, and am trying to show companies that I can offer a full package of both interior and exterior.
For more information on Mr Dee’s businesses, visit dee4drones.co.uk or 3dee.co.uk.
