Alex Chesterman: Founder Behind Zoopla, LoveFilm and Cazoo

Last Updated on July 29, 2026 by Business Blog Media Editorial Team

Introduction

Alex Chesterman OBE is a British internet entrepreneur and technology investor. He is best known for creating businesses connected with ScreenSelect and LoveFilm, founding Zoopla and later launching the online used-car company Cazoo.

His full registered name is Alexander Edward Chesterman. He was born in January 1970 and studied economics at University College London.

Chesterman became famous because he repeatedly used technology to make traditional services easier. ScreenSelect helped people rent films by post. Zoopla made it simpler to search for homes and property information online. Cazoo attempted to make buying a used car feel like ordering another product through the internet.

As of July 2026, he is no longer a director or executive at Cazoo. His latest verified public status is that of an entrepreneur, private-company director and technology investor.

Alex Chesterman Quick Facts

Fact	Verified information
Full name	Alexander Edward Chesterman
Professional name	Alex Chesterman
Born	January 1970
Nationality	British
Profession	Internet entrepreneur and investor
Education	Economics at University College London
Known for	ScreenSelect, Zoopla and Cazoo
Major property business	Zoopla and ZPG
Major car business	Cazoo
Honour	Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Former Cazoo position	Founder, CEO and executive chairman
Current verified status	Entrepreneur, investor and private-company director

Who Is Alex Chesterman?

Alex Chesterman is a British business founder who has worked in hospitality, entertainment, property technology and online car retail.

He is known as a serial entrepreneur because he has created several companies instead of building only one business.

His most successful company was Zoopla. It became one of the United Kingdom’s best-known property websites and later formed part of a larger digital group called ZPG.

Chesterman also received attention for founding Cazoo. The company grew rapidly and reached a multibillion-dollar public-market valuation, but it later suffered major financial problems.

Early Life and Education

Chesterman attended St Paul’s School in London.

While he was still studying, he worked in telephone sales. This gave him early experience in speaking with customers and understanding how products are sold.

He later studied economics at University College London.

After university, he planned to work at Goldman Sachs. However, he changed direction and joined a hospitality management programme connected with Hard Rock in Florida.

This decision moved his career away from banking and towards consumer businesses.

Career Before Technology

Chesterman worked at Hard Rock in Orlando before joining Planet Hollywood.

He became one of Planet Hollywood’s earliest employees and helped the restaurant company open locations in different countries.

This work gave him experience in branding, business expansion and customer service.

In 1999, he started a London food business called Bagelmania. The company expanded to several shops but did not become a lasting success.

The failure was an important early business lesson. It showed him that a good product was not enough when property costs, competition and operating expenses were too high.

How Did Alex Chesterman Start ScreenSelect?

In 2003, Chesterman and William Reeve created ScreenSelect.

At that time, people usually rented films by visiting a physical shop. Customers could face limited choices and late-return charges.

ScreenSelect offered a different system. Customers selected DVDs online, received them through the post and returned them when they had finished watching.

The company later combined with other businesses in the same market. ScreenSelect eventually became part of LoveFilm, one of Europe’s largest film-rental and streaming services.

Amazon bought LoveFilm in 2011. The purchase price was widely reported to be around £200 million, although Amazon did not publicly confirm the exact amount.

Chesterman’s involvement began with ScreenSelect, so it is more accurate to call him a ScreenSelect co-founder whose company became part of LoveFilm.

How Did Alex Chesterman Create Zoopla?

Chesterman founded Zoopla in 2007.

The property market already had estate agents and listing websites. However, he believed people needed more information before contacting an agent.

Zoopla allowed users to:

• Search for homes for sale
• Look for rental properties
• Explore local property prices
• Research neighbourhoods
• View estimated home values
• Compare different parts of the market

The platform brought listings and property data together in one place.

Zoopla expanded by buying and combining with other digital businesses. Its wider group included brands such as PrimeLocation and the comparison service uSwitch.

The company later became known as ZPG.

Zoopla’s Stock-Market Listing and Sale

ZPG joined the London Stock Exchange in 2014 with a valuation close to £1 billion.

This was an important moment in Chesterman’s career. It showed that the company had developed from a small property website into a major digital business.

In 2018, American investment company Silver Lake agreed to buy ZPG for £2.2 billion.

The sale was one of the largest transactions involving a British consumer-technology company at that time.

The £2.2 billion figure represented the value of the whole company. It was not Chesterman’s personal payment.

Reports suggested that the shares he still owned were worth around £60 million under the offer. However, that historical share value should not be treated as his present net worth.

Chesterman left his executive position after the takeover.

Other British founders have also turned everyday customer problems into large technology platforms. A related example is Will Shu’s Deliveroo journey, which began with the problem of limited restaurant delivery options.

Why Did Alex Chesterman Start Cazoo?

Chesterman founded Cazoo in December 2018.

He believed buying a used car was often slow, confusing and uncomfortable. Customers had to travel to dealerships, negotiate prices and make an expensive decision with limited information.

Cazoo attempted to move most of this process online.

Customers could search for a car, read its details, arrange payment and have the vehicle delivered.

The idea was to make buying a used car feel as simple as ordering another product online.

Cazoo began serving customers in 2019.

How Quickly Did Cazoo Grow?

Cazoo attracted large investments and spent heavily on advertising, employees, car stock, delivery systems and preparation centres.

Its growth became especially fast during the COVID-19 pandemic, when more people became comfortable buying products online.

The company also expanded into European markets and sponsored major sporting events to increase public awareness.

In 2021, Cazoo joined the New York Stock Exchange through a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company.

The deal valued the business at approximately $7 billion.

However, this was a company valuation rather than money personally received by Chesterman.

What Went Wrong With Cazoo?

Cazoo’s rapid growth was expensive.

The company needed large amounts of money to purchase cars, prepare vehicles, operate delivery systems and attract customers.

It also faced several major difficulties:

• High operating costs
• Heavy spending on marketing
• Falling used-car prices
• Difficult economic conditions
• Inventory-management problems
• Expansion into too many markets
• Pressure from established car dealers
• A lack of sustainable profit

Cazoo later withdrew from its European operations and reduced its workforce.

The company’s stock-market value also fell sharply from its earlier $7 billion valuation.

When Did Alex Chesterman Leave Cazoo?

Chesterman stepped down as Cazoo’s chief executive in April 2023.

He then became the company’s executive chairman.

On 6 December 2023, he resigned from Cazoo’s board as part of a major financial restructuring.

This means he had left the board several months before Cazoo’s main UK operating businesses entered administration in May 2024.

The company’s collapse remains an important part of his business record because he founded and led Cazoo during its fastest period of growth.

However, reliable public records do not support claims that Chesterman committed personal wrongdoing.

Is Alex Chesterman Still the CEO of Cazoo?

No. Alex Chesterman is not the CEO, chairman or director of Cazoo.

He stopped serving as chief executive in April 2023 and resigned from the board on 6 December 2023.

The company’s UK operations later entered administration in 2024.

Articles that continue to describe him as Cazoo’s current CEO are outdated.

What Is Alex Chesterman Doing Now?

As of July 2026, no reliable public announcement identifies Chesterman as the chief executive of another major technology company.

The official UK Companies House record lists him as a director of private companies, including AEC Holdings.

Other records under his full name also show active directorships connected with Chesterman Holdings and AEC Residential.

These companies should not be described as major new technology ventures because their public records do not prove that they operate in that way.

Chesterman is also widely known as an investor who has supported early-stage technology companies.

His career path has therefore moved from daily company leadership towards private business activity and investment.

A similar move can be seen in Errol Damelin’s journey from technology founder to investor.

Alex Chesterman’s Business Strategy

Chesterman’s best-known companies worked in different industries, but they followed a similar idea.

He looked for a large market where customers faced an old, difficult or inconvenient process.

He then tried to use digital technology to make the experience simpler.

ScreenSelect

The problem was travelling to a shop and paying late-return fees for rented films.

The digital answer was choosing DVDs online and receiving them through the post.

Zoopla

The problem was that homebuyers had limited access to useful property information.

The digital answer was combining listings, prices, estimates and local data on one website.

Cazoo

The problem was an uncomfortable and time-consuming used-car buying process.

The digital answer was allowing customers to search, pay and arrange delivery online.

This approach worked strongly with Zoopla. It was less successful with Cazoo because selling and delivering physical cars required much more money and operational work.

Alex Chesterman’s OBE

Chesterman was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Birthday Honours.

He received the OBE for services to digital entrepreneurship.

At the time, he was the founder and chief executive of Zoopla Property Group.

The honour recognised his contribution to building digital consumer businesses in the United Kingdom.

What Is Alex Chesterman’s Net Worth?

There is no reliable and current public document that provides Alex Chesterman’s exact net worth.

Older media reports have published wealth estimates, but these figures may not reflect:

• Taxes
• Investments
• Business losses
• Property
• Private shareholdings
• Debts
• Changes in company values

The sale of ZPG for £2.2 billion was the value of the complete company. It was not Chesterman’s personal wealth.

Cazoo’s $7 billion stock-market valuation was also a company valuation. It did not mean that he personally owned $7 billion.

The safest conclusion is that he earned significant wealth through his business career, but an exact current total cannot be verified.

Why Is Alex Chesterman Important in British Business?

Chesterman is important because he helped change how British consumers used online services.

ScreenSelect was part of the movement from physical film-rental shops towards internet-based entertainment services.

Zoopla gave ordinary people easier access to property listings and housing-market data.

Cazoo tested whether the complete used-car buying process could move online.

Although Cazoo did not achieve lasting financial success, it encouraged traditional car dealers to improve their websites, delivery choices and online buying services.

His career demonstrates both sides of entrepreneurship. It includes successful company sales, rapid growth, major investment and a high-profile business failure.

Interesting Facts About Alex Chesterman

• He worked in telephone sales while still at school.
• He studied economics at University College London.
• He planned to work at Goldman Sachs but entered the hospitality industry instead.
• He was one of Planet Hollywood’s earliest employees.
• His first independent business was a bagel-shop chain.
• He co-founded ScreenSelect before creating Zoopla.
• Zoopla’s parent company was sold for £2.2 billion.
• He launched Cazoo in December 2018.
• Cazoo reached an estimated $7 billion valuation in 2021.
• He received an OBE for services to digital entrepreneurship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Alex Chesterman?

Alex Chesterman OBE is a British internet entrepreneur and investor. He is best known for co-founding ScreenSelect, founding Zoopla and creating Cazoo.

What is Alex Chesterman famous for?

He is famous for building digital consumer companies in the entertainment, property and used-car industries.

Did Alex Chesterman found LoveFilm?

He co-founded ScreenSelect with William Reeve. ScreenSelect later became part of the business known as LoveFilm.

Did Alex Chesterman create Zoopla?

Yes. He founded Zoopla in 2007 and led its development into the larger digital group ZPG.

How much was Zoopla sold for?

Silver Lake agreed to buy ZPG, the owner of Zoopla, for £2.2 billion in 2018.

Did Alex Chesterman receive the full £2.2 billion?

No. The £2.2 billion amount represented the value of the entire company. It was not his personal payment.

Did Alex Chesterman start Cazoo?

Yes. He founded Cazoo in December 2018, and the company began serving customers in 2019.

Is Alex Chesterman still the CEO of Cazoo?

No. He stepped down as CEO in April 2023 and resigned from the Cazoo board on 6 December 2023.

What happened to Cazoo?

Cazoo grew quickly but spent heavily and failed to achieve sustainable profitability. Its main UK operating businesses entered administration in May 2024.

What is Alex Chesterman doing now?

As of July 2026, he is best described as an entrepreneur, investor and private-company director. No new major chief-executive position has been officially confirmed.

Where did Alex Chesterman study?

He studied economics at University College London.

Why did Alex Chesterman receive an OBE?

He received an OBE in 2016 for services to digital entrepreneurship.

Conclusion

Alex Chesterman is a British entrepreneur best known for ScreenSelect, Zoopla and Cazoo.

His strongest success came through Zoopla. The property platform grew into a major digital group and was sold to Silver Lake for £2.2 billion.

Cazoo followed a more difficult path. It attracted large investments and reached a multibillion-dollar valuation, but high costs and continuing losses damaged the business. Chesterman left its board in December 2023, before its UK operations entered administration in 2024.

As of July 2026, he no longer holds a verified role at Cazoo. He remains publicly known as a digital entrepreneur, investor and private-company director whose career shows both the opportunities and risks of rapid technology-led growth.