UK’s top supercar dealer talks success and celeb clients

George Gehdu is the UK’s top supercar dealer, selling cars to some seriously big names.

He has sold cars worth millions to rappers and soccer players, earning millions of Instagram followers in the process.

But does this line of work ever leave the 32-year-old feeling starstruck?

He spoke to Supercar Blondie about his job, his motivation and his star studded clientele.

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Entering the world of car dealerships

George, who is the sales director of supercar dealership GVE London, said that his love of cars started early on.

He told Supercar Blondie: “I was just one of those car fanatics from a young age growing up.

“I’d always had Lamborghinis or Ferraris or supercars on my posters on my wall.”

But which supercar does he love the most?

The JVE website listed it as a Lamborghini SC20, but he had a different answer regarding cars that are road-legal.

“I would probably say a Koenigsegg Jesko,” he said.

“It just looks very different to others. That’s why I’d initially said the SC20.

“A lot of supercars and hypercars at the moment have a very similar look to them – I like something that stands out.

“I think that’s why people spend the big bucks on supercars and hypercars. It’s not necessarily for the performance, it should stand out.

“It should sound different. It should look different and turn heads wherever it goes. I think the Jesko does that perfectly.”

As enthusiastic as he is about Jeskos, he has some competition in that department from these guys who built their own in 500 days.

It wasn’t until he was in law school that he started working with cars, starting out as a purchasing assistant at a dealership.

He worked his way up the ranks and was soon involved with sales.

12 years later, he was the partner and director at JVE London.

What is George Gehdu’s secret to supercar success?

George’s Instagram is a testament to his hard work and success, followed by more than 100,000 people and adorned with celebrity clients.

It’s no wonder his bio reads ‘UK’s No. 1 Celebrity Supercar Dealer.’

Does he have a secret to his success?

He said: “I’d say it’s a team effort.

“I’d say there is a lot of effort that goes into media. Our media reach goes a lot further than most competitiors.

“And a lot of it comes down to people skills. It’s relationship building.

“When you deal with celebrities, it’s word of mouth with these guys.”

That was very much the case with his first soccer player client, Wilfried Zaha, who is best known for playing for Crystal Palace.

George recalled: “He introduced me to a couple of Crystal Palace teammates. 

“Aaron Wan Bissaka was from Crystal Palace, then moved to Manchester United. 

“Then he introduced me to a couple more Man United teammates, and then that’s it.  

“I was just dealing with quite a few different people from the Premier League with word of mouth.

“I probably supplied half of Wolverhampton Wanderers with their cars, and helped sell their cars as well.

“So the good thing about us is we don’t just buy and sell the cars. We do everything.

“These guys may want body kits, they may want wraps, they may want some form of customization or modifications, and that’s where I sort of come in as the super car plug. 

“I can make everything happen in-house for them.”

From dealing with soccer players, he was able to extend into working with rapper Tion Wayne and singer Wes Nelson.

George explained: “Footballers look up to rappers, and rappers look up to footballers.

“Rappers would see me dealing to footballers and then I’d start dealing with rappers.

“The rapper Mist is a big Manchester United fan, and I supplied him a car, whilst Jesse Lingard followed him.

“Jesse was playing at United at the time so we got put in touch that way.”

Through dealing with some many famous faces, does George ever get starstruck?

As a soccer fan, he admitted: “I wouldn’t say starstruck, but it was pretty awesome seeing someone you know on TV come into your showroom and buying the cars.

“I thought that was pretty surreal the first times that happened.

“I’d say Wilfried Zaha was the first big name in football [soccer], he was playing for Man United at the time. That was pretty surreal.

“But I was very careful never to get starstruck. I think it’s hard for me to get starstruck as I’ve worked in media from an early age.

“I think the number one priority should be to provide them with a good service and show them that you are the best at what you do.”

Staying on a celebrity’s good side is important when it comes to selling cars – though it admittedly paid off for one car salesman to annoy Shaquille O’Neal.

So, why does he think he’s amassed such a big following online?

He said: “A lot of people want to see the insights of how a supercar dealership runs and how it works, how it operates. And this is where it’s really blown up. 

“So I went from 40,000 followers on Instagram to 106,000 followers.

“That’s from live deals, just showing customers walking in how they buy a car, how we negotiate. 

“But yeah, the end game is sort of to put, I guess, so many people messaging, so many people asking about how to get into supercar sales.

“The end game is maybe to start putting out some sales courses out there, showing people how they can do this, how they can get into supercars.

“Which is not going to come anytime soon, because I think right now the main focus is buying and selling cars. But that will eventually come.”

To keep up with George’s work, you can follow him on Instagram.