Lime's UK Profits Doubled as Rider Numbers Surged
Lime's UK arm more than doubled its pre-tax profit to £4.7m in 2025, up from £1.7m, as average monthly users rose 31% to almost 700,000, according to accounts filed at Companies House. The Guardian
Turnover — total sales before costs are taken off — rose from £111m to £148m, up by a third in a year. The Times Bike hire drove that growth, with UK revenues from that part of the business previously reported at £111m after a jump of more than 75%.
The fleet grew with demand. Lime added more than 4,500 e-bikes and scooters in the UK, taking the total to almost 38,000. More than 1,500 of the vehicles now in use in England are its new smaller electric bike model, built for dense city streets.
The UK team stayed lean. Lime UK employed 54 people in 2025, up from 39 a year earlier. It relies on self-employed contractors to move, charge and service e-bikes and scooters across its operating areas. That setup is common in dockless micromobility, where bikes have no fixed stations and are picked up and dropped off where local rules allow.
In England, the company built its presence in London, Milton Keynes and Salford, then expanded into Nottingham in 2023 and Oxford in 2024. London remains the core market. There, Lime has said more than 99.99% of trips last year ended without a reported incident.
The UK result sits inside a larger group. Lime was founded in 2017 in San Francisco and now operates in about 230 cities across 29 countries, mostly in Europe. It is part-owned by US ride-hailing company Uber. Its parent, Neutron Holdings, listed on the Nasdaq last year valued at $1.7bn (£1.3bn). Lime then announced record second-quarter 2026 revenue of $304 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2026. Lime Investors
Filings data for LIME TECHNOLOGY LIMITED, company number 11517465, show last accounts made up to 31 December 2024, with next accounts made up to 31 December 2025 due by 30 September 2026. A separate entity, LIME U.K. LIMITED, is registered under company number 09552984.
Looking at what this means for urban mobility economics, the UK figures point to dockless hire now covering its costs in crowded markets. A £4.7m profit on £148m in sales is a thin margin. Like a hotel, once the vehicles are on the street, profit depends less on office staff and more on how often each bike is used, what it costs to rebalance bikes to where riders are, and how long vehicles last.
The broader context here is regulatory and political. English cities license operators, set fleet caps and parking rules, and respond to complaints about pavement clutter and rider behaviour. Lime's focus on incident rates and smaller vehicles relates to that negotiation. For policymakers, higher ridership backs e-bikes as part of the transport mix. It also sharpens questions about contractor terms, street management and who funds supporting infrastructure.
