6:54 am, April 24, 2026
Cargiant – formerly one of the most profitable used car supermarkets in the UK – will today enter a ‘managed wind-down’ of operations prior to closing its doors for good.
The London-based car dealership was established 50 years ago by billionaire Geoffrey Warren and over five decades established itself as a huge retail destination for car buying.
In its heyday the business stocked more than 5,000 cars and in 2007 was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘world’s largest car dealership’.
Car Dealer broke the news that the firm was considering closing in March with an exclusive story the firm had entered redundancy consultations with its staff.
And then, on April 13, the firm confirmed that today (April 24) would be the business’ last day of trading.
An insider told Car Dealer this morning that, while the firm has announced the closure of Cargiant’s retail operations, the business will now enter into a ‘managed wind-down’ rather than ceasing trading straight away.
The source added that the business will continue retail activity for a number of weeks beyond this date as it works through existing stock.
Officially, Cargiant said that no viable options for the future of the business had been found.
Staff have been made redundant and the retail operations will cease today. A skeleton staff will stay on to deal with aftersales before the business is wound up.
Cargiant has been a cornerstone of the used car supermarket world and led many copy cats to mirror its business model over the years.
It has consistently appeared in our Car Dealer Top 100 list of most profitable car dealers, cited as the most profitable independent dealer ahead of many franchised operations in 2021 and in 2025.
Last year, the dealership was the 22nd most profitable car dealership overall in the UK according to the Car Dealer Top 100 which looks at EBITDA profit.
Warren, Cargiant’s billionaire owner was named 70th on the Sunday Times Rich List last year with a net worth of more than £2.5bn.
He has been weighing up his options for the business after a near £100m valuation was placed on the land the firm operates from.
The firm is based on a sprawling near-50 acre site located at Park Royal/Old Oak Common in West London.
It is directly beside a planned HS2 interchange which will connect HS2, the Elizabeth Line, overland and other transport links.
The value of the land has yo-yoed in the company accounts over previous years but in its latest set a £98.8m value had been placed on the site.
Cargiant directors tried to find a buyer for the business, and the land, but told staff that no suitable offers have come forward to keep the business running as a going concern.
It’s likely the land will now be sold off for development.
The closure marks the end of a legendary name in the motor trade and many operators have commented how much they admired Warren’s efforts at building such a ‘great business’ over the last 50 years.
The closure comes at a time when operating a used car supermarket is increasingly tough. A shortage of quality used cars makes finding the right amount of vehicles to feed these huge businesses a challenge.
In recent years, several high profile car supermarkets have closed including Carstore, Pendragon’s offering, in 2024, Peter Vardy’s Carz shut in 2023 while Sytner’s Carshop name was axed and sites closed in 2024. Big Motoring World has also suffered a fall in profits in recent years, despite growing its footprint.
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