11:59 am, October 18, 2023
Troubled used car dealer Cazoo has shed another of its physical locations after agreeing a deal to sell its Livingston prep site to Greenhous Group.
The retailer has agreed an ‘undisclosed fee’ for the 14-acre site and is now planning to plough around £1m into refurbishing it.
The work will include the installation of a new solar infrastructure as part of the Car Dealer Top 100 group’s ambitious expansion plans.
Ashley Passant, managing director Greenhous Group Car & Van Operations, said: ‘We are currently in the middle of an exciting growth journey, with an ever-increasing number of customers choosing Greenhous as their fleet service provider of choice; especially in the EV sector.
‘The new location is the first step back into the world of vehicle refurbishment and will provide us with a strategic base in the North of the UK and we expect to refurbish up to 20,000 vehicles per year through this location.’
Prior to the sale being agreed, Car Dealer reported that Peter Vardy was in advanced talks to buy the Livingston site, before the deal collapsed.
Cazoo initially bouight the site as part of its takeover of SMH Fleet Solutions for £70m in 2021 as it ramped up its ability to recondition hundreds of thousands of cars ready for sale.
However, the used car dealer has since fallen to the brink of financial oblivion and has been cutting jobs and sites throughout this year.
Last month, the firm agreed a $630m debt-for-equity swap in a bid to ease its money problems.
You can read more about the history of Cazoo here.
