Alto’s commercial director has left her position at the company just over a month after taking up the role, as a number of staff members at Houseful’s software business are put at risk of redundancy.

Nikki Cole (right), who has worked with Houseful (formerly ZPG) since 2007 in various senior roles, including, until recently, director of sales at Zoopla, took to social media yesterday to announce that she was leaving the company. She only took on the new position of Alto’s commercial director at the start of November,

Cole posted the following message on social media: “After several years leading the portal and software sales teams, I recently took on a new role focussing on Alto. However, just a few weeks in, it was agreed this new position didn’t align with the future needs of the business.

“So after 17 years working across estate agency, new homes, commercial portal and software – from start up, to PLC, and then PE owned, it’s finally time for me to hang up my ZPG/Houseful hat and move on to new adventures.

“Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey – it’s been amazing.”

It is not clear under what terms Cole is leaving Houseful on. But the company, home to well-known brands including Zoopla, Alto, Hometrack, Calcasa, Mojo and Prime Location, has confirmed that staff members face potential redundancies, after the business entered a consultation process with employees.

A Houseful spokesperson told EYE: “As we look to 2025, we are focused on driving further efficiencies in our software business and recalibrating certain roles in our organisation. These proposals, which do not impact our core products of Alto, Jupix, Expert Agent and CFP, were very much a last resort.

“We want to reassure our customers that no roles involved in the development, support, or delivery of these products are affected. Our goal is to ensure we continue delivering enhanced products and services at pace, maintaining the value our customers expect from these industry-leading platforms. We are fully committed to supporting our affected colleagues throughout this process.”