Zoopla unveils new CEO and strengthens leadership team

Zoopla, one of the UK’s leading property websites, is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Whitehead as Chief Executive Officer, alongside a number of other changes to strengthen its leadership team, including the appointment of Sam Fletcher as Chief Finance Officer.

Paul rejoins Zoopla having previously served as its Chief Strategy Officer. Over the last three months, Paul has been working with Zoopla in an advisory capacity, embedding himself in the business to develop the company’s strategy and operating plan. This focuses Zoopla on providing UK home movers with the tools and confidence they need to ‘win at moving’ whilst connecting estate agents and home builders to highly qualified movers.

Under Paul’s leadership, Zoopla is already yielding exciting results. 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. One of these new customer wins includes Leaders Romans Group, which has chosen to return after a year with OnTheMarket. The decision to return is a clear testament to Zoopla’s unmatched ability to deliver high-quality leads. It solidifies Zoopla as the go-to portal for agents, giving them unrivaled access to its powerful audience of serious home movers.

The performance of the business is also going from strength to strength. The number of ‘for sale’ leads Zoopla is delivering to agents is up seven per cent year on year, while a viewing or valuation request is sent to an estate agent from Zoopla every 1.5 seconds.

Paul 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.

 

Bolstering the leadership team

Zoopla is also delighted to announce the appointment of Sam Fletcher as Chief Finance Officer. Sam has worked in the Houseful family of brands for over four years, but she will now focus solely on Zoopla and work closely with Paul to execute the strategy.

Rich Hayes, Chief Operating Officer will continue to lead the day-to-day operations of the business; meanwhile, Alex Rose has been appointed as Commercial Director and will lead a dedicated Zoopla commercial team.

Commenting on his appointment, Paul Whitehead, CEO at Zoopla said:  “I am delighted to return to Zoopla, a UK digital business with an incredible brand and consumer experience built over the last 17 years that attracts millions of consumers each month. 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.”

EAN Breaking News

Breaking News from the team at Estate Agent Networking. Have a new story to share with us? Then please get in contact today! When and where we can we will refer to third party websites with a 'live link back' where news was released first.

You May Also Enjoy

small house bird box
Breaking News

Downsizing out of debt

The best way to become debt free in retirement The latest research from over-50s property specialists, Regency Living, reveals that over-50s can release themselves from financial debt, and all of the physical and mental health issues that can bring, by choosing to downsize to a park home. Financial debt is a common yet difficult burden…
Read More
Breaking News

UK Property Market Bounces Back After Stamp Duty Slump

The latest research from GetAgent.co.uk reveals  that the UK property market has already bounced back from the momentary slump that followed the expiry of the stamp duty holiday at the end of March, with transaction volumes climbing 42% in May, reversing a sharp -66% drop in April. The research from GetAgent.co.uk analysed Gov data on residential transaction…
Read More
Breaking News

Fall-Throughs Hit UK Market For Over £275m

Fall-Throughs Cost UK Homebuyers and Sellers Over £275m in Q1 as West One Loans Reports Growing Use of Bridging Finance to Prevent Collapse The latest analysis by West One Loans, a leading provider of property finance and specialist mortgages, has revealed that there has been a significant increase in bridging market activity driven by homebuyers and…
Read More
Breaking News

Industry Reaction to Halifax House Price Index – June 2025

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, comments: “Today’s news suggests that house prices have dropped quarterly and that there has been no monthly increase in house prices, which demonstrates that the UK housing market has faced considerable upheaval in response to a turbulent global economy and Stamp Duty thresholds in England and Northern Ireland increasing from…
Read More
Breaking News

Halifax House Price Index for June 2025

House prices hold steady as market activity picks up pace • House price growth flat in June at 0.0% vs dip of -0.3% in May • Average property price now £296,665 compared to £296,782 last month • Annual rate of growth edges down to +2.5% from +2.6 in May • First-time buyer numbers have returned…
Read More
how to present your property for sale
Breaking News

Half of renters say homeownership impossible without financial support

Growth in mortgage and rental spending slows for fourth consecutive month while heatwave eases utility bills   Consumer spending on rent and mortgages grew 4.3 per cent in June, slightly below the 4.6 per cent recorded in May Confidence in the UK housing market fell 3 points to 27 per cent as the Base Rate…
Read More