Cazoo, the fast-growing online car retailer, has opened a based in Bristol by converting a traditional used car showroom into a distribution and customer hub.
The firm has invested £1m in the former Imperial Cars site on Bath Road, Brislington, to create the centre, pictured, which gives car buyers the option of collecting their vehicle instead of home delivery, along with MOT and servicing.
Customers can also visit the centre to browse cars for sale online. 
The centre, which has created 15 jobs, was one of 18 operated by Imperial. One the UK’s largest independent used car retailers, it was acquired by Cazoo in July.
The Bristol opening follows the conversion of two other former Imperial sites in Manchester and London earlier this month.
The Imperial acquisition, financial details of which have not been disclosed, accelerated Cazoo’s already rapid growth, giving it a national network of storage, distribution, after sales and collection hubs and creating a combined inventory of 5,000-plus nearly new and used cars for sale.
Cazoo was founded in 2018 by CEO Alex Chesterman OBE, who also started Zoopla and LoveFilm.
The firm is pioneering the shift to online car buying in the UK – its aims is to make it much the same way as buying most other products – and is already selling thousands of cars a month to customers all across the country.
It owns and fully reconditions all its cars before offering them for sale on its website. The thousands of cars on offer at any time are stored centrally and available for either delivery in a two-hour slot or collection from a customer centre. Every car has a full seven-day money back guarantee and a comprehensive 90-day warranty.
It said the rollout of a further 13 local customer centres would further enhance its offering.
Cazoo retail director Neil Smith said: “We have been delighted by the overwhelmingly positive response of consumers to our online car buying proposition.
“With our ever-increasing number of sales, these new customer centres will provide more options to our customers on when and how they want to receive their Cazoo car and will allow us to serve them better through our own service centres.
“We’re excited to be opening in Bristol as we reinvent the car buying experience and continue our mission to provide better selection, transparency, convenience and peace of mind to used car buyers across the UK.”
Cazoo recently raised a further £25m to fund its expansion.
