10:55 am, February 24, 2023
Troubled used car dealer Cazoo is no stranger to burning money but now one of its sites has gone up in flames as well.
Several vehicles were damaged after a fire broke out at the firm’s preparation centre in Long Bennington, Lincolnshire, on Sunday afternoon (Feb 19).
The blaze is believed to have started in one of the site’s outdoor storage areas, with pictures posted online showing four cars completely burnt out.
Cazoo has confirmed that the fire service attended the scene but say that nobody was injured in the blaze.
A spokesman for the company said: ‘Cazoo can confirm that on the afternoon of 19 February a small fire broke out at its Long Bennington site in one of the outside storage areas.
‘We are grateful to the fire service who promptly attended the site and quickly brought the fire under control.
‘Our overriding concern was to our staff and we are very relieved that no one has been hurt. This situation did not impact any deliveries to our customers.’
The site where the fire occurred is one of several that has been earmarked for closure by Cazoo amidst a drastic cost-cutting exercise.
If Long Bennington was to close, around 550 members of staff would be put at risk of redundancy.
In January, an all-hands Cazoo staff call, leaked to Car Dealer, revealed the number of Cazoo preparation centres could be reduced to just three.
Up to 15 of Cazoo’s customer hand over centres – opened with a fan fare over the last few years across the UK – are also scheduled to close if proposals go ahead.
Car Dealer has contacted both Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service and Lincolnshire Police for comment.
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