Cazoo closure: Wiltshire staff at plant fear minimum redundancy pay

Employees at the vehicle preparation and repair site in Stephenson Road on the Northacre Industrial Estate in Westbury say it has been earmarked for closure.

They claim bosses have been “running down” its operations over the past few weeks in the expectation it would shut.

If that happens then all employees will be entitled to redundancy pay - with a minimum of four weeks' basic salary - a Cazoo spokesman confirmed on Monday (January 23).

The Cazoo vehicle repair and preparation site in Westbury. Photo: Trevor Porter (Image: Trevor Porter)

One employee, who does not wish to be named, said: “It is shocking. 

“People are extremely upset and are not in a good place. There is the possibility of a walkout.

“We are obviously all very disgruntled and disappointed. Yesterday, we were told that in 45 days this is all going to be completely shut.

“They are basically pushing vehicles through as we speak and looking for another location, which is likely to be the Bristol branch.

“They are putting redundancy packages through for those who are entitled.”

Cazoo is consulting more than 3,000 staff across the UK, following the closure of its European operations last year.

The move will affect more than 150 people employed at its vehicle preparation centre in Westbury, acquired in the purchase of Smart Fleet Solutions in February 2021.

The employee says the 45-day consultation period will expire on Saturday, March 4 at which point the site is likely to close. The company says “no decisions” have yet been made.

But employees say they were told in a meeting on Wednesday that only seven out of 22 Cazoo customer vehicle handover centres are likely to remain open.

They are in Bath Road in Bristol, Birmingham, Chertsey, Lakeside, Manchester, Northampton and Wembley.

The company is also proposing to close four of its vehicle preparation centres at Westbury, Long Bennington, Livingston and Gloucester.

It plans to retain just three: Portbury in Bristol, Cold Meece in Staffordshire and Bedford.

Employees in Westbury are “upset and angry” about the way they have been treated by the company since the takeover of Smart Fleet Solutions.

The employee said: “We were a mobility company before and it was turning a very good profit until Cazoo came in and has pretty much destroyed what was a successful business.

“We specialised in mobility cars and learner driver cars, and had contracts with big companies like British Gas and Enterprise, and we have a MOT centre.

“As soon as Cazoo took over, they cut ties with all of those, the bread and butter of the company, and unfortunately it hasn’t taken off like they thought it would and this is the situation we are now in.

“We feel that if enough people see it, then maybe they will see how ideal this is situated and maybe put in a bid for the yard and maybe work under somebody else and keep their jobs.”

The employee said: “The redundancy is going to be very minimal. This is pretty disastrous for people, both for their work lives and their home lives.

“We are all just praying that somebody sees it as an opportunity to buy a ready-made business.”

A Cazoo spokesperson said: "All employees will be entitled to redundancy pay, with a minimum of four weeks' basic salary."