Zoopla.co.uk Ltd welcomes Lawrence Hall as Head of Public Relations
5th May 2009
Zoopla.co.uk, the UK's leading residential property market resource is pleased to announce the appointment of Lawrence Hall in the new role of Head of Public Relations.
Joining the Zoopla.co.uk team with over eight years of corporate and consumer public relations experience, Hall most recently held the position as Head of PR for three years at property consultancy GVA Grimley.
Hall will be responsible for developing the company's consumer, trade and business media strategy and building its online presence and profile through relevant social media sites. He will manage retained consumer agency Mischief PR and promote Zoopla.co.uk as the number one website for UK residential property information for consumers, property professionals and the media. Hall will report into CEO Alex Chesterman.
Zoopla.co.uk, which provides free value estimates on all 27 million UK homes as well as over 15 million sold price records and lists hundreds of thousands of properties for sale and rent across the UK, was launched in January 2008 by former LOVEFiLM co-founder Alex Chesterman.
During his time at GVA Grimley, Hall managed a £40m investment from Lloyds TSB Development Captal (LDC), the conversion from LLP to Ltd Coo status and several mergers and acquisitions as well as day-to-day responsibilities for six PR agencies servicing the firm's 12 offices. Previously account director at consumer and science agency mission21, Hall brings a wealth of experience from clients including NBC Universal's Sci-Fi Channel, BBC TWO, English Heritage, The National Archives and Science Museum.
Hall said: "PR plays a major role as a source of traffic to Zoopla.co.uk as well as assisting SEO and I am very excited to be joining the team and raising the broader appeal of Zoopla.co.uk to a variety of audiences.
"The PR opportunities for Zoopla.co.uk are endless and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead and working with the team to position Zoopla.co.uk as the leading source of UK property market information."
Commenting on the appointment, Zoopla's CEO Alex Chesterman said: "We are delighted to welcome Lawrence during such an exciting time for Zoopla.co.uk. As the site continues to gain momentum as the UK's fastest growing property website, his extensive property experience stands us in good stead to develop our progression and innovation as the online property market leader."
Lawrence Hall can be contacted on: lawrence.hall@zoopla.co.uk / 020 8453 4521 / 07890 078 945
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For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.
Notes to editors
About Zoopla.co.uk
Zoopla.co.uk is a unique property website offering users information and tools to help them make better-informed property decisions. Our aim is to provide the most comprehensive source of residential property market information in the UK to help buyers, sellers, owners and estate agents alike and give them an advantage in the property market.
In 2007, following the success of bringing DVD rental to the web with LOVEFiLM.com, Zoopla founders Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain realised that the UK property market had yet to fully enjoy the benefits of the internet in terms of its ability to deliver transparency and efficiency. They set out with the mission to transform the property market for both professionals and consumers by:
- offering users FREE access to instant value estimates, sold house prices and local information and trends
- enhancing estate agents' marketing efficiency by providing exposure/leads on a pay-for-performance basis
- helping users find local agents and other property professionals to assist them in the transaction process
- letting buyers make offers on ANY UK home and owners test interest in their homes before choosing to sell
- creating an environment where anyone can ask/answer questions and share their knowledge about homes
We have started by providing FREE value estimates, sold prices and local information as well as letting users add content by editing information and uploading photos. We are the UK's fastest growing property website and by far the largest and most active property community in the UK, with over a million user contributions to our website in 2008 alone. We have already launched some unique features, like TemptMe™ and AskMe™, which allow consumers to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won't find anywhere else. Our estate agent directory, FindAnAgent and our unique AskAnAgent feature allow users to contact local professionals directly for their expertise. Very soon we will begin accepting estate agent listing feeds and delivering buyer leads to agents on a no-risk, performance-based model, making Zoopla.co.uk the most cost-effective way for agents to gain exposure and develop their inventory pipeline.
Our value estimates are calculated using a proprietary algorithm (a secret formula) that we have developed by analysing millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics throughout the UK. The algorithm works by comparing relationships between home prices, economic trends and property characteristics in given geographic areas. Our estimates are constantly refined, using the most recent data available from public sources combined with our proprietary used-generated data and a variety of statistical methodologies, in order to provide the most current information on any home.
Zoopla Limited is a privately held company with a highly experienced and proven management team, backed by well-respected angel investors and leading venture capital firms Atlas Venture (atlasventure.com) and Octopus Ventures (octopusventures.com).
Zoopla.co.uk Awards
- Winner: 'UK's Most Promising Internet Company 2008' (First Tuesday)
- Winner: 'Best Property Website - Gold Award' (Web User Magazine)
- Winner: 'Best Real Estate website 2008' (Websiteoftheyear.co.uk)