11:23 am, May 22, 2024
G3 Vehicle Auctions has told how it swooped to buy failed Cazoo’s wholesale arm.
Yesterday, Car Dealer reported that the online used car dealer-turned-marketplace had been forced to appoint administrators and would be looking to wind up the company.
Among the announcements, it was revealed that G3 – which was referred to as G3 Remarketing – bought Cazoo’s Bedford-based wholesale arm on Monday (May 20), with its 28 employees transferring across.
G3 told Car Dealer today that it pounced to secure the 14 acres, premises, staff and software assets so that it could create a new auction centre as part of its ongoing UK expansion plan.
It’ll be a sister site to G3’s flagship centre in Castleford, which was purpose-built and opened in 2021.
Outlining its plans for the Bedford site, the remarketer says it’ll be spending ‘a significant seven-figure’ sum on it over the next 12 months, with the aim of it becoming an EV-focused auction centre.
It expects the Bedford marketplace to break even by the end of this year. A sales schedule will be released soon.
G3 ultimately aims to offer more than 30,000 vehicles a year there, with a mixture of existing and new sellers channelling their vehicles to used car dealers nationally and in the Bedford area.
The Bedford site will become another drop-off centre for its network of finance house partners as well, while also offering on-site defleet and refurbishment facilities, plus secure fleet and in-life storage options.
G3 said it intends relocating its existing pool fleet operation to there because of its strategic location and range of facilities, adding that it’ll also look to expand and focus on existing relationships within the sector.
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 bring on board 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.’
He added: ‘We are proud to have become a trusted partner for many vendors across the industry and we can’t 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.
‘With the addition of G3 Bedford, this facility 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 will make the G3 group the “go-to” truly independent remarketing provider in the UK.’
G3 was advised on the transaction, which was for an undisclosed sum, 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.’
Main image shows how the G3 Bedford site will look
