Seats on board at Zoopla for big three agency chains

News Category: Industry News

The UK’s three largest estate agent groups – Countrywide, LSL and Connells – have signed up their long-term support to Zoopla.

In return, the three respective chief executives – Grenville Turner, Simon Embley and David Livesey – have all been given places on the Zoopla board of directors.

The corporates’ move to support Zoopla would have been unthinkable a few years ago, when Rightmove’s founding shareholders were Countrywide, Halifax (now part of LSL) and Connells.

Under the agreements with Zoopla, the groups will advertise all their properties on and provide additional marketing and advisory support to Zoopla as it strives to win the battle of the portals.

Between them, the three chains operate more than 2,000 high street branches across the UK under a variety of brands including Hamptons International, Bridgfords, Reed Rains, Your Move, William H Brown and Barnard Marcus, and have combined annual revenues in excess of £875m.

Since its launch only two years ago, Zoopla has grown at a swift pace, buying both Propertyfinder and Thinkproperty, and reaching an audience of almost 5m visitors per month.

Each of the agent groups plan to work closely with Zoopla on a variety of initiatives to maximise the online opportunities for all Zoopla agent members and the industry.

Grenville Turner, CEO of Countrywide, said: “Zoopla has become an important player and leading innovator in the online property sector. This partnership further enhances our online strategy and will serve to maximise the benefits for each of our brands online.”

David Livesey, group CEO of Connells, said: “We look forward to helping Zoopla to build on its success to date.”

Alex Chesterman, Zoopla’s founder and CEO, said the decision of the big chains to endorse Zoopla as a business partner was testament to what his company had achieved in the last two years.

Asked how independent agents would react to the involvement of the big corporates, he said: “Our focus remains on ensuring that we are the best place for consumers to find property online and are the most efficient online marketing partner for all our agent members, whether groups or independents.

“These partnerships will allow us to better understand and serve the needs of the agent community and maximise the online opportunities for the industry as a whole.”


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