Automotive start-ups surge across UK

New research has revealed that 20,424 new automotive businesses were established in the UK in 2021.

According to research from Yell Business, based on data acquired from Companies House, more businesses were founded per month in 2021 than in 2020, or even during pre-pandemic 2019.

In fact, an average of 13% more new businesses were founded each month in 2021 compared to 2019 with the automotive industry contributing significantly.

Of those new ventures founded within the automotive sector, 7,257 were in vehicle maintenance and repair while 6,137 were based around the sale of used cars and other light vehicles.

Analysing Google search data, the research also found that the demand for mechanics in Milton Keynes far outweighs the supply, with over 35.96 searches per listed firm. Milton Keynes also tops the list of cities with the highest demand for services including car wash (334.04 searches per listing), car rental (263.70 searches per listing), garages (64.44 searches per listing) and driving lessons (84.62 searches per listing).

Claire Miles, chief executive officer of Yell, said: “With the challenges of the last two years, we might expect to find that fewer people were deciding to take the leap into the world of starting and running their own business. However, the data clearly shows that it has potentially inspired more people to take ownership of what they do for a living and finally make the dream of running their own business come true.

“With the background of the pandemic and numerous economic and supply chain challenges, it’s really encouraging to see that the entrepreneurial spirit of the UK is continuing to grow year on year.  We look forward to working with some of these new business owners in the automotive sector in 2022, to help make their venture a success.”