Vehicle auctioneer swoops for Cazoo Wholesale
West Yorkshire-based G3 Vehicle Auctions has today confirmed its acquisition of the failed Cazoo Wholesale business to create a new G3 Bedford auction facility as part of its ongoing UK expansion plan.
G3 says it has secured the premises, land and existing experienced remarketing team from Cazoo along with other software assets, to add to its established 14-acre G3 Castleford remarketing centre, which was purpose-built and opened in 2021.
The expansion will see G3 increase total employees to over 140 and instantly doubles the capacity for vehicles.
Online used car retailer Cazoo fell into administration earlier this week, after cutting hundreds of jobs as part of a big restructuring. The loss-making company had been struggling to raise money from investors,
G3 says it expect its new Bedford marketplace to be break even by the end of 2024, with the ultimate aim of offering more than 30,000 vehicles per annum, with a mix of existing and new vendors contributing their vehicles to used car dealers, both nationally and in this new region.
As well as a new auction footprint in a new area of the UK, G3 Bedford will become an additional drop-off centre for the company’s network of finance house partners, while also offering onsite de-fleet and refurbishment facilities.
G3 intends to relocate its existing Pool Fleet operation to this new facility.
G3’s co-owner Matt Dale said: “This year is the 15th anniversary of G3 and after the recent development of our G3 Castleford centre and the uptake it has had in the industry, we have been actively seeking the right opportunity to extend our network across the UK.
“We are excited to onboard a group of experienced individuals to the team and collectively drive the service we’ve become known for at G3 into a new region, with further expansion opportunities currently in the pipeline.
“The new centre will undergo a significant seven-figure investment over the next 12-months to align its facilities and reflect the existing G3 brand and design ethos, whilst being fully operational to service our customer needs.
“We are proud to have become a trusted partner for many vendors across the industry and we cannot wait to offer the G3 Bedford facilities to our portfolio to remarket more vehicles to a new customer base and dispose of their assets efficiently.
“The addition of G3 Bedford will provide us with the capacity to offer over 80,000 vehicles per annum to dealerships of all shapes and sizes to source stock from. We feel this makes the G3 group the ‘go-to’ truly independent remarketing provider in the UK.”
G3 was advised on the deal by Duncan Firman of Leeds-based law firm Gordons LLP.
Firman said: “It was a pleasure to support the G3 team throughout the deal from start to finish, and it’s great to have helped get this over the line.
“The addition of a new remarketing centre in Bedford will be pivotal for G3, and the expansion represents a fundamental step in allowing the management team to continue to drive the business forward.”
