Zoopla.co.uk signs strategic partnerships with the UK's three leading estate agency groups
8th July 2010
Leading property website, Zoopla.co.uk, has today announced that it has signed long term strategic partnerships with the UK's three largest estate agent groups - Countrywide, LSL Property Services plc and Connells Group. Under these agreements, each of the agent groups will advertise all of their properties on and provide additional marketing and advisory support to Zoopla.co.uk.
These partnerships signal a strong endorsement of Zoopla.co.uk by the country's leading estate agency chains, which between them 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.co.uk has grown at an unrivalled pace in the online property sector to become the UK's second most-visited property website (Nielsen/UKOM), reaching an audience of almost 5 million visitors per month.
Each of the agent groups plan to work closely with Zoopla.co.uk on a variety of initiatives to maximise the online opportunities for all Zoopla.co.uk agent members and the industry and the services offered to consumers searching for property online. The agreement is a testament to the growing strength of property portals, and in particular Zoopla.co.uk, which continues to play an ever-increasing role for agents in terms of both exposure and enquiries.
Grenville Turner (CEO of Countrywide), Simon Embley (CEO of LSL) and David Livesey (Group CEO of Connells) have each been appointed to the Zoopla.co.uk board as Non-Executive Directors with immediate effect.
Grenville Turner, CEO of Countrywide said, "Zoopla.co.uk has become an important player and leading innovator in the online property sector over the past two years. With the vast majority of consumers searching for properties and related information online, this partnership further enhances our online strategy and will serve to maximise the benefits for each of our brands online."
Simon Embley, CEO of LSL Property Services plc commented, "Zoopla.co.uk has been one of the fastest growing websites in the UK over the past two years and now accounts for a significant share of the enquiries we get from both house hunters and sellers. We are looking forward to working more closely with Zoopla.co.uk to make the most of the online opportunity for our businesses."
David Livesey, Group CEO of Connells added: "We are delighted to be working more strategically with Zoopla.co.uk who have an impressive team and track record and have shown a strong interest in working in partnership with the industry to help maximise the online business opportunities for all agents. We look forward to helping Zoopla.co.uk to build on its success to date."
Alex Chesterman, Founder and CEO of Zoopla.co.uk said: "The decision of the leading estate agency groups to endorse Zoopla.co.uk as a long-term strategic partner for each of their businesses is great testament to what we have achieved over the last two years and the innovation that we bring to the market. These partnerships will help us to better serve the needs of our website users, all of our agent members and the industry as a whole. We are looking forward to continuing to innovate and develop products that make us the best place for consumers to search for property and the most efficient marketing partner for estate agents."
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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 the UK's most comprehensive property website, focused on empowering consumers with the resources they need to make better-informed property decisions. We help our users make sense of the residential property market by combining property listings with market value data, local information and community tools.
Zoopla.co.uk was founded on the principles of transparency and efficiency and everything we do aims to make the market more effective for both property consumers and professionals alike. By combining free, instant value estimates for every UK home with sold prices, local market information and hundreds of thousands of properties available for sale and to rent, Zoopla.co.uk has rapidly become the ultimate destination for property consumers to search for property and do their market research. Our unique features allow users to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won't find anywhere else. And, as a result, we have become one of the most valued sources of both applicant and vendor leads for UK estate agents.
Launched in 2008, we are the fastest growing property website in the UK, now attracting over 12 million visits per month and are proud to have been awarded numerous accolades including being listed in the Top 10 UK Tech Companies (Guardian) and the Top 10 Most Innovative UK Companies (Smarta 100) as well as being voted the UK's Best Property Portal (Web User, Daily Mail Awards, Website of the Year).
Zoopla Limited is a privately held company with a highly experienced and proven management team, led by Founder and CEO, Alex Chesterman, and backed by well-respected angel investors and leading venture capital firms Atlas Venture (atlasventure.com) and Octopus Ventures (octopusventures.com).
About Countrywide
Countrywide is the UK's largest and most successful estate agency and property services Group, operating approximately 1,300 branches across England, Scotland and Wales.
Countrywide's network of expertise helps more people move than any other business in the UK and is a leading provider of estate agency, lettings, mortgage services, land and new homes, franchising, auctions, surveying, conveyancing and corporate property management services. Visit www.countrywide.co.uk to find out more about Countrywide's integrated services and local expertise.
About the Connells Group
Founded in 1936 and comprising of 464 branches nationwide, the industry-leading Connells Group is the second largest and most profitable UK estate agency network. Last year, the Group generated £54.2 million in pre-tax profits making it the most successful estate agency Group in the UK.
In addition to operating under the Connells brand, the Group trades under other well-known local names including Allen & Harris, Bagshaws Residential, Barnard Marcus, Brown & Merry, Fox & Sons, Jones & Chapman, Manners & Harrison, Roger Platt, Shipways, Swetenhams, William H Brown, Sharman Quinney and Pattison Lane.
As well as residential property sales and lettings, the Group has a comprehensive range of B2C and B2B services including new homes, mortgage services, conveyancing, EPCs, surveying, corporate lettings, asset management, land & planning, LPA receivers, auctions and relocations.
The Connells Group is consistently named Best Large Estate Agency at the Estate Agency of the Year awards, winning the top prize for four of the past six years. It is also highly acclaimed in the New Homes category, wining Gold five times in the last six years, and in the Financial Services category for which it currently holds the Gold prize. For more information, please visit www.connells.co.uk
About LSL Property Services Plc
LSL is one of the leading residential property services companies in the UK and provides a broad range of services to its customers who are principally mortgage lenders, as well as buyers and sellers of residential properties. LSL's main operations are its surveying business, which operates under the e.surv, Chancellors Associates and Barnwoods brands, its estate agency business, which operates under the Your Move, Reeds Rains and Intercounty brands, its corporate client services operating under brands LSL Corporate Client Department, St Trinity Asset Management and Templeton LPA and its financial services business incorporating Linear Financial Services and the First Complete network.
In January 2010 LSL completed the acquisition of the Halifax Estate Agency (HEA) business from Lloyds Banking Group which saw LSL increase in size to become the second largest estate agency network in the UK today. In May 2010 LSL also acquired leading mortgage network Home of Choice - a multi tied specialist mortgage network provider - now operating as First Complete, which also makes LSL one of the leading mortgage distributors in the UK today. For more information please visit www.lslps.co.uk