How it started
Early history: twentieth century
The company was founded by John Madejski, Paul Gibbons and Peter Taylor as Thames Valley Trader in 1977.
It was rebranded Auto Trader in 1988. The first title was followed by the publication of a second one, Southern Auto Trader.
The company launched a website, Autotrader.co.uk, in 1996, giving people the ability to buy or sell a car online.
British international investment firm BC Partners bought a stake in the business from John Madejski in July 1998 for £260m; then Guardian Media Group, who had acquired Automart in 1982, merged that business with Hurst Publishing in May 2000 so creating Trader Media.
21st century and evolution to digital only
From Wikipedia’s article on Autotrader Ltd, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2