Cazoo has appointed Veronica Sharma as its first group chief people officer, responsible for all leadership, culture, capability and talent management across the group.

She will join the online sales business in August, reporting directly to founder & CEO, Alex Chesterman OBE.

Chesterman said: “I am very pleased to welcome Veronica to the Cazoo team. Her experience in transforming working practices in large organisations, driving diversity and instilling high-performance cultures will be invaluable as we continue to grow and deliver on our mission of providing the best car buying experience for consumers across the UK and Europe.”

Most recently, Sharma has been working as an advisor in the technology and private equity space. Prior to that, she was group chief people officer at Photobox and Moonpig Group where she led a large-scale cultural transformation across Europe.

Sharma is credited for being instrumental in “pioneering progressive people solutions”, demonstrated through her responsibility for talent and organisation development at eBay and leading the change programme in support of the landmark Heathrow Terminal 5 opening.

She said, “I am delighted to be joining Cazoo. The pace at which the business has been growing is amazing and the ambition that Alex and the team have creates endless opportunities from a people perspective. I am looking forward to helping to fuel Cazoo’s growth and supporting the business in its mission to transform one of the largest retail markets in Europe which is ripe for digital disruption.”

Cazoo has expanded its team fourfold in the last year, from less than 500 to more that 2,000 people across the UK and Europe. Since being founded in 2018, it has sold more than 25,000 cars to consumers across the UK who have embraced the online buying service.

The business owns and reconditions all its cars before offering them for sale for either delivery or collection in as little as 72 hours.