Online car retailer Cazoo's Newcastle customer centre has closed in the wake of a significant restructuring of the company.
Following huge pre-tax losses of £334m in 2021 and a withdrawal of the business from EU countries, the firm's Scotswood Road and Bishop Auckland operations - both servicing and collection and drop-off location points for its online car sales - have closed. The Newcastle centre opened in 2021 with the creation of 20 staff and according to Cazoo underwent £1m investment, turning it into a location where customers could collect or dropping off cars bought from or sold to Cazoo, on top of its home delivery and pick up services.
The Bishop Auckland location - formerly home to Imperial Cars - was opened in 2020 having also received £1m investment to create similar facilities. The West Auckland Road site created 15 jobs at the time. Both North East sites' Google listings now show "permanently closed" notices.
