Mark Goddard, managing director of property at Zoopla’s parent company ZPG, is to leave the business.
Goddard, who is head of both Zoopla and ZPG’s property software businesses, has been in his role for just under two years, having previously worked as chief executive of the Property Software Group, which is also owned by ZPG.
He will leave in early May, staff were told late this afternoon.
Goddard will be replaced by Charlie Bryant, currently MD of Hometrack, who will take over as MD of the combined property marketing, software and data division.
A spokesperson for ZPG said: “Mark joined the business in 2016, as part of the acquisition of Property Software Group (PSG), and we are grateful for his hard work and support during the integration of PSG into the wider ZPG business.”
Meanwhile, a top investor and non-executive director of Zoopla’s parent company ZPG has bought shares in the business worth nearly £200,000.
Kilda Investments, a business associated with Robin Klein, made a deal earlier today for 58,496 shares at an average price of just under 340p per share.
Klein has been an early stage investor in a host of companies, including Agent Provocateur, Lastminute.com and LoveFilm.
He is also on the board of Wonga among several other firms.
The move comes two days after Morgan Stanley upped its stance on the stock of Zoopla’s parent company ZPG from ‘equalweight’ to ‘overweight’ and set a new target price for the business of 400p.
The bank pointed to its recent eHome tracker, which claims that Zoopla’s listings share is at its highest level in three years.
Comments (7)
Our software product has gone downhill since it was taken over by PSG & then ZPG. The software hasn’t been developed & improved, the support has got slower & less personal & the invoicing department aren’t responding to an invoice query. It’s so disappointing because they were brilliant up until a couple of years ago. So the future will be interesting!
The day the MD is forced out one of their investors buys another £200k of shares? Speaks volumes.
I had the pleasure of working with Mark in 2014. He is a consummate professional, who worked incredibly hard and sympathetically to take Jupix from where it was to where it is today. I know of no-one who has such a laser focus on converting business goals to positive outcomes, and he does it in style.
Total respect to someone who delivers exceptional commercial results, acts responsibly and works collaboratively to get the best out of people. I wish him continued success in the future.
What’s on Oli, Goddard putting cash in your next venture? The two of you are well suited (that’s not a compliment)
What’s on Becky, generally dissatisfied with life?
Sounds like an agreed statement as part of a compromise agreement.
Some are known for being more touchy-feely but not this spokesperson, who had this to say, “We are grateful, bye then”