An online platform described by its Dorset founder as “a shopping centre for the property industry” has been officially launched.

The Landsite – www.thelandsite.co.uk – connects land and commercial property investors, landlords, developers and tenants with a community of professional service providers, centralising it on a digital hub.

The site allows each user to showcase their property or business service on a designated profile with quick and easy access to the property or service users are searching for.

It offers free accounts but charges for listing profiles or property.

Members can share news, information and case studies.

Less than a month after its official launch The Landsite already features 320 businesses including Barratt London, Inland Homes, Savills and Strettons.

Founder Ramsey Assal, who has invested £150,000 in the venture to date, said: “We’re not a Rightmove or like any of the many other property sites that are in existence.

“I liken The Landsite to a shopping centre or supermarket where we own the bricks and mortar, look after the infrastructure and bring in the customers.

“But within that shopping centre, or supermarket, there are individual shops or brands and it’s the same concept with us.

“Our vision is to support the UK’s land and commercial property community by organising information that is relevant to them and make it universally available in one place.”

Mr Assal, who has carried out a number of property developments in Dorset, said he hit on the idea for The Landsite after finding it difficult to locate suitable land for his own property projects.

Initial response to The Landsite had been “very positive and encouraging”, he said.

Mr Assal added: “We’ve got off to a strong start and momentum is building all the time.

“There are no firm figures available but the size of the market we’re aiming at is potentially huge.

“There could be as many as 700,000 individuals and companies when you include surveyors, architects, developers, builders, property investors, planning consultants, solicitors, insurance brokers and other professional advisers.”

The Landsite Online Ltd, which is based in Bournemouth, currently has a six-strong team, including Mr Assal who is the Chief Executive Officer.

His wife, Tracey Turner, is Marketing Director of The Landsite and the business also employs two client service managers, based in Bournemouth, and two business development managers elsewhere in the UK.

Mr Assal, a former Canford School student who worked at a senior level in logistics and food distribution in the Middle East for 20 years, said he regarded Dorset as “the best place on the planet.”

“We believe there’s a gap in the market for the type of service we’re offering. I’m very positive about the future,” he added.