You’ve probably heard of used car dealer Cazoo, despite it being only five years old. After all, as it built towards its £5 billion stock market flotation in 2021, it was spending close to £100 million a year on marketing.
There were TV and radio adverts, billboards, boldly liveried delivery trucks and sports sponsorship galore, including two Premier League football teams, the English Football League, The Hundred cricket, the Rugby League World Cup, the Derby horse race and the World Snooker Tour.
The automotive establishment initially looked on with a dollop of wonder and a truckload of irritation as Cazoo founder Alex Chesterman, who had previous made fortunes from Love Film (sold for £200m) and Zoopla (floated for nearly £1bn), talked up its online business model.
