8:33 am, February 11, 2021
Online car retailer Cazoo has bought independent vehicle reconditioning and storage specialist Smart Fleet Solutions.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, follows Cazoo’s acquisition of Drover in December and its purchase of Imperial Car Supermarket last July.
It gives Cazoo access to SFS’s team of more than 500 staff, who work at four state-of-the-art vehicle refurbishment facilities across 110 acres in Newark, Cold Meece, Westbury and Livingston.
They process over 100,000 vehicles a year and have storage for more than 20,000 vehicles.
Cazoo said the combination of its consumer platform and brand with Smart Fleet Solution’s infrastructure and expertise will give them both the opportunity to further scale their reconditioning and storage abilities in line with their growth plans.
Theo Kortland, managing director of Smart Fleet Solutions, said: ‘Our focus on innovation and efficiency has enabled us to win and retain a number of key customers over the years and we are delighted to be joining forces with the Cazoo team.
‘They have a clear vision and strategy for our business and are fully committed to making the investments required to continue to serve our existing customers and to further grow and develop the SFS business over the coming years.’
Alex Chesterman, the founder and chief executive of Cazoo, said: ‘We are excited to have acquired SFS, given its infrastructure and vehicle processing capacity as well as its dedicated team of over 500 vehicle preparation experts.
‘It will remain a standalone business run by Theo and his team, and we look forward to working with them and to investing in continuing to serve its customers and growing the SFS business further.’
Cazoo launched just over a year ago and said it had already delivered more than 15,000 cars to people across the UK.
