Hometrack chief takes over ZPG property division as Mark Goddard quits

The managing director of property data consultancy Hometrack, Charlie Bryant, is to lead a reorganised property marketing, software and data division in ZPG following the departure of Mark Goddard in May.

Goddard was the founder and chief executive of the Property Software Group, a property software solutions firm established in 2007 and then acquired by Zoopla Property Group in April 2016 for £75m. 

As part of the takeover deal, Goddard joined Zoopla as managing director of what until now has been known as ZPG's Property Services division.

It is not known where Goddard will go next, and a brief statement from ZPG last evening said: “Mark Goddard will be leaving ZPG in early May. 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. Charlie Bryant, currently MD of Hometrack, will take over as MD of our combined property marketing, software and data division.”

Until now, Bryant has held the position of ZPG’s managing director (data) - the post he took after ZPG acquired the data company in January 2017 for a reported £120m.

Before joining Hometrack, Bryant had been Deutsche Bank’s head of technology investment.

Although ZPG snapping up PSG two years ago was controversial in some circles at the time, it was the start of a successful period for the portal group despite the threat of challenger website OnTheMarket.

During Goddard’s period at the helm of the property side the company saw the return of a large proportion of the agencies ‘lost’ to OTM - including one of OTM’s founders, London chain Douglas & Gordon. 

ZPG also acquired other companies for the property division, including Hometrack, while in parallel activities unconnected with Goddard, ZPG also diversified into comparison website activity.

Earlier this week the bank Morgan Stanley, in a note to investors, set a new target share price for ZPG of 400p (about 20 per cent above its current level) and claimed that Zoopla’s agency and property listings shares were their highest since 2015.