Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman will remain chairman
Alex Chesterman will be replaced by Paul Whitehead, the company’s current COO
Cazoo CEO Alex Chesterman has stepped down from his role amid a restructuring aimed at keeping the struggling online used car sales company afloat.
The new CEO is Paul Whitehead, previously COO, while Chesterman remains chairman of the company he founded in 2018.
Cazoo has struggled to attract new investment that it needed to maintain its previously aggressive growth plan.
In September 2022, it announced that it would pull out of continental Europe in a bid to save cash.
Cazoo said it a statement that it would “close certain of our vehicle-preparation centre and customer centre facilities and making further headcount reductions”.
No details were given of the number of job cuts at the company. Cazoo said that of as of 31 December 2021, it had 3822 employees across the UK and its European operations, prior to it exiting the continent.
Cazoo said the money-saving would mean it could survive without the need to raise further external funding over the next 18-24 months. It claimed it would end 2023 with “over £100 million of cash and cash equivalents”.
Cazoo said it had it reduced its 2023 sales ambitions in the UK to between 40,000 and 50,000 cars.
Last May, it said its UK vehicle-preparation centres had the capacity to recondition up to a 120,000 cars per year.
Car Dealer magazine reported that Cazoo could close 15 of its 22 car-handover centres and seven of its estimated 10 car-preparation centres.
Source: Autocar
