Paul Whitehead has been appointed Chief Executive at Zoopla, taking over the role from Charlie Bryant who will continue to serve as Chief Executive of parent company Houseful.
Whitehead (main picture) had been working with Zoopla in an advisory capacity over the last three months and rejoins the portal having previously served as its Chief Strategy Officer.
He brings a wealth of digital and marketplace experience to Zoopla and has a well-established reputation for delivering strategic growth, operational excellence and strong leadership.
He was previously at Cazoo where he held roles as CEO and COO. Prior to this, and as well as his time at Zoopla (ZPG) until 2018, he was the Commercial Director of uSwitch, before it was sold to ZPG.
COMING HOME
In the past month, three major customers have signed new contracts with Zoopla, taking Zoopla’s total estate agency branch wins in Q1 2025 to 450.
And as Property Soup revealed last week one of these new customer wins includes Leaders Romans Group, which has chosen to return after a year with OnTheMarket.
So far the number of ‘for sale’ leads Zoopla is delivering to agents is up 7% year on year, while a viewing or valuation request is sent to an estate agent from Zoopla every 1.5 seconds.
TEAM BOOST
Meanwhile Sam Fletcher has also been appointed as Chief Finance Officer. Fletcher has worked in the Houseful family of brands for over four years but she will now focus solely on Zoopla and work closely with Whitehead to execute the strategy.
Rich Hayes, Chief Operating Officer will continue to lead the day-to-day operations of the business while Alex Rose has been appointed Commercial Director and will lead a dedicated Zoopla commercial team.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Whitehead says: “My focus is on building upon the clear competitive advantage that Zoopla has in delivering high-quality buyers and vendors to our customers. Our customer wins this year speak volumes about the results Zoopla consistently delivers, as well as exceptional value and access to a powerful audience of serious home movers.
“We have a long history of innovation in the property industry, which we’ll continue to build on as we further develop the leading platform for people looking to move home.
“I am also pleased to welcome Sam Fletcher to Zoopla. She is already very familiar with our business and I look forward to us working closely together. I am privileged to be leading an exceptional and dynamic team and I am hugely excited for what we will achieve together.”
