New finance chief for Purplebricks

Hybrid estate agency Purplebricks has appointed a new finance chief after the resignation of, James Davies.

The firm has announced that Andrew Botha will be joining as chief financial officer from 11 May.

Botha joins from online travel group Secret Escapes and was previously group CFO at ZPG, the digital media business that owns and operates digital property portal Zoopla, PrimeLocation, uSwitch and Money.co.uk. He has also worked for a number of other publicly quoted and privately-owned digital businesses, including Lastminute.com, Betfair and Notonthehighstreet.

Paul Pindar, chairman of Purplebricks, said: “On behalf of the Board I would like to thank James for his hard work and dedication during his tenure at Purplebricks. We wish him the very best with his future endeavours. I am delighted to welcome Andy to the Board as chief financial officer. Andy has a remarkable track record in growing digital businesses, and I look forward to working with him and the executive management team to execute Purplebricks’s strategy.”

Davies said: “It has been an exceptional privilege to have been part of the growth and success of Purplebricks. I joined when it was a nascent challenger brand and today it ranks as the UK’s largest estate agency by volume. I am proud to have been on that journey. Notwithstanding the current COVID-19 circumstances, the company is in a strong financial position and ready for its exciting next stage of development and success.”