Third-party start-ups are trying to take the lost and found process online. In late May, Arriva Trains Wales, supported by the UK’s Rail Delivery Group (RDG), completed a two-month trial with FindMyLost, a nascent lost property business that puts the internet at the heart of reuniting owners with their belongings.
As they await the results, FindMyLost CEO and founder Elena Bellacicca explains how the company is now on its way to carving out a niche as the social network of lost property. “We established the company in February 2016,” explains Bellacicca. “I realised that there was no [online platform] to give people the chance to find an item.” FindMyLost, which requires individual users to register but has business accounts for the likes of Arriva, acts as a social network – the posting of pictures, comments and engagement with others, although the difference being that it might be a picture of a lost handbag with a description, rather than a selfie with an untold number of filters applied.
This process works for those who have lost something and those who have found an item, resulting in two-way conversations. A cash reward can also be applied and the service is available online and through an app.
FindMyLost does have competition. MissingX describes itself as the world’s largest lost and found platform and started life in Bodø, Norway, back in 2001. It works by asking people the basic information, such as the date when the item was lost, the country, and one word that can explain what it is – bag, bike, and so on. It then has an option of searching by airport/airline, train/station, or other location. If the user selects train/station, they are then asked to select the train operator and departure and destination location. It’s the same process for someone who has found lost property. MissingX works with the likes of Heathrow Airport, Olso Airport, MTR Express, and Great Western Railway (GWR).
Over at Transport for London (TfL), the head of the lost property office Paul Cowan works with a bespoke system, which last year had to deal with approximately 321,000 items from across the network.