A legend of the UK property portal business, Nick Leeming, is standing down from his role at Zoopla.
It was the entrepreneurial Leeming who, with his brother, founded Propertyfinder, the UK’s first property portal, back in the nineties.
Through the dot-com rise, bust and rise again, plus a series of sales, mergers and acquisitions, Leeming has known at least as many management changes as housing ministers in this period.
Propertyfinder was first sold to Asserta – at that time ahead of Rightmove – which first virtually ditched the name and then rebranded itself as Propertyfinder. The site went on to be sold to The Times, which subsequently sold it to Zoopla – where the name, as far as consumers were concerned, was finally ditched.
Now that Zoopla has merged with former arch rivals Digital, to try and mount a credible challenge to Rightmove, Leeming has decided this is the right moment to announce his departure from Zoopla, where he was business development director.
He will, however, be retaining an equity interest in the business, and plans to remain involved in the property sector by adding to existing directorships and expanding other business interests.
After over 15 years at the forefront of the estate agency internet revolution, we wish him well.
Comments
Good luck in your future endeavours Nick. You will be missed.
A true gent who was consistently professional and a real pleasure to deal with over the last 12 years.
All the very best to you!
It's good to see the support for a the guy, I've never even spoken to him, let alone met him.
Can anyone hear the comedy whirling feet noise from the cartoons as he leaves? (or am I just being a bit cynical...?)
The equity stake will be handy though.
Good luck for the future.
Wow, I see the Zoopla staff got a memo to make on post on EAT today.
As someone who works for Zoopla, Nick Leeming is the epitome of a true gentleman . All the best in the future.
A true gentleman and an absolute pleasure to deal with over the years. You will be sorely missed Nick.
Thats what happens when you sell out to a newspaper who now run things.
As a former employee of propertyfinder then Zoopla, I had the pleasure to work with the man. A real gentleman. All the best Nick.
There's not too many people that the term legend actually applies but EAT have hit the nail on the head describing Nick as such.
I've always found him extremely knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with , coupled with a great sense of humour and wish him all the best.
Oh no! Leeming's gone too early!