Zoopla.co.uk welcomes Malcolm McCallion as new Sales Director
- Property website boosts team as it prepares to disrupt portal model -
30th Jan 2009
Zoopla.co.uk, the UK's fastest growing property website, is pleased to announce the appointment of Malcolm McCallion as Sales Director with immediate effect.
McCallion is a seasoned veteran of the online property space having joined Primelocation.com in its infancy in 2000 and where he remained until its sale to DMGT in 2005 having helped to build the successful portal from scratch. Most recently, McCallion was at Propertyfinder.com until December 2008, where he headed up the client relationship team before becoming Managing Director of their London Property News publishing group, a position he has held for the last 18 months.
Since its launch last January, Zoopla.co.uk has gained significant traction and a large audience of property-interested consumers. Reporting record website traffic, despite the gloomy market conditions, the site is already one of the top five most-visited property websites in the UK (source: Nielsen, Dec 08) having achieved over five million visits and 40 million page views in its first 12 months.
With the recent launch of its estate agent directory (FindAnAgent) and vendor leads product (AskAnAgent), Zoopla.co.uk is already proving an invaluable marketing tool for estate agents it is working with and is now preparing for the launch of agent property listing feeds on a pay-per-lead basis.
As Sales Director, McCallion will report to Zoopla.co.uk COO, Doug Monro, and will be responsible for heading up the Zoopla.co.uk sales team, overseeing its estate agent relationships and delivering its 'pay-for-performance' proposition to the agent marketplace - helping estate agents make the most of their marketing spend in this challenging environment.
Malcolm said:
"I am delighted to be joining Zoopla.co.uk at such an exciting time in its development.
With the launch of Zoopla.co.uk's new agent-targeted features and focus on making agent marketing spend significantly more effective, the site is already becoming an invaluable resource for those active in the property industry. The majority of property websites continue to charge agents without any commitment to performance and by combining our no-risk, performance-based model with our rapidly growing audience, I am looking forward to helping agents in these tough times.and extending the services the site provides."
Commenting on the appointment, Zoopla.co.uk founder and CEO, Alex Chesterman said:
"We are delighted to welcome Malcolm on board and he brings a wealth of digital property expertise with him. It's a very exciting time for Zoopla.co.uk with our record growth in website traffic and Malcolm's arrival stands us in great stead to continue our growth and expand our services to estate agents. We expect Zoopla.co.uk to become the most cost-effective way for estate agents to obtain enquiries and build their property inventory."
Malcolm has an honours degree from the University of Hull.
Estate agent enquiries should be directed to [email protected].
- Ends -
For further information, please contact PR Team on [email protected] 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)