Industry landscapes
The companies, capital and talent shaping rental marketplaces in the United Kingdom. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.
An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.
24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.
Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗
No company example met every recorded classification, independence and public-profile gate in this snapshot. The live directory may have newer qualifying companies.
Explore classified startups in Radar ↗A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.
19 of 409 tracked companies have open roles.
72 of 409 tracked companies have a recorded round.
Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.
Midpoint of 137 rounds with a disclosed amount.
Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 40.5% of disclosed capital, while 82.4% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.
Explore the segments →Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.
Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD
| Year | Funding (USD) | Founded | Raising |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | $8.57M | 20 | 10 |
| 2017 | $60.93M | 22 | 10 |
| 2018 | $51.38M | 33 | 10 |
| 2019 | $100.81M | 28 | 18 |
| 2020 | $78.01M | 20 | 20 |
| 2021 | $131.4M | 25 | 12 |
| 2022 | $148.12M | 16 | 12 |
| 2023 | $98.75M | 5 | 13 |
| 2024 | $4.41M | 2 | 4 |
| 2025 | $3.45M | 1 | 1 |
Share of all disclosed company funding.
161 recorded rounds since 2016
Recorded participation in rental marketplaces company rounds since 2016.
Backed by The FSE Group.
Participating investors were not recorded in this snapshot.
Backed by AXA Venture Partners and Bpifrance and others.
Backed by Accel and Index Ventures and others.
Backed by Intel Capital and Quadrant Capital Management and others.
Backed by Beringea and Talis Capital and others.
Backed by Target Global and Autotech Ventures and others.
Participating investors were not recorded in this snapshot.
Backed by Balderton Capital and RAISE and others.
Backed by Circularity Capital.
Backed by Talis Capital and Hearst and others.
Annual accounts for reporting companies linked to this landscape, on like-for-like currency and reporting bases.
Display conversions use the dated reference rates above. Where a verified rate is unavailable, figures retain their source currency. Each reporting cohort keeps its currency and accounting basis separate.
FY2025 · company accounts; aggregate reporting threshold not met · 2 reporting entities from 115 eligible matches.
Sum of reporting-entity revenue; not the United Kingdom market sales.
Combined result for the same cohort.
Combined net income ÷ combined revenue.
The middle covered reporting entity.
None of 2 covered entities.
Share of covered revenue from the five largest entities.
Reported cohort totals by year; coverage is stated for every period.
Bar height shows revenue. Changes in coverage can affect totals.
FY2025 · 2 reporting entities
Up to eight fixed company previews show financial amounts. Search and sort the wider company list, then continue in Radar.
| Company / reporting entity | Revenue | Net profit / loss | Net margin | Revenue growth | Total assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Smiths Equipment Hire ↗00992884 | £19.9m | £0.9m | +4.6% | — | — |
| Charles Wilson Engineers ↗01393410 | £0.6m | £10.1m | +1609.7% | — | — |
Explore full company accounts and filings.
Choose “View accounts” to inspect an available company preview.
Each pair uses the same year, currency and reporting basis. Cohort overlap is disclosed.
| Industry | Covered / eligible | Revenue total | Median revenue | Net profit / loss | Aggregate margin | Profitable share | Overlap |
|---|
Available-account cohorts are not estimates of whole industries. Overlapping entities can occur in more than one cohort; do not add cohort totals.
Filed annual accounts for exact designated national identifiers. Every aggregate and peer pair uses one fiscal year, source currency and reporting basis; periods, coverage and overlap are explicit; 2026 partials are excluded.
The same up to eight reporting entities remain open across years, filters and sorts. Other company figures are available in Radar.
Source currencies and accounting bases stay separate. Missing accounts are excluded rather than treated as zero. Exact reporting periods appear on company previews. Annual totals can change with coverage and do not measure growth of a fixed company cohort.
How the the United Kingdom companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.
18 of the 409 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (4.4%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 325,120 visits.
| Company | Monthly visits | Authority | Mobile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rental Carsrentalcars.com | 2,979,059 | 69 | 44.5% |
| Cottagescottages.com | 1,786,855 | 51 | 87.9% |
| Sykes Cottagessykescottages.co.uk | 1,497,780 | 54 | 81.2% |
| holidaycottages.co.ukholidaycottages.co.uk | 1,285,272 | 49 | 80.5% |
| VIP Carsvipcars.com | 686,051 | 35 | 48.3% |
| Mr & Mrs Smithmrandmrssmith.com | 512,801 | 56 | 54.8% |
| CoolStayscoolstays.com | 353,386 | 46 | 85.9% |
| Last Minute Cottageslastminute-cottages.co.uk | 337,982 | 42 | 84.7% |
| Snaptripsnaptrip.com | 333,459 | 39 | 78.4% |
| Stress Free Car Rentalstressfreecarrental.com | 316,781 | 40 | 49.1% |
Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.
39 of these companies (9.5%) publish at least one Android app — 50 apps in all, carrying 12.9M installs between them.
| App | Installs | Rating | Store category |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rentalcars.com Car Rental AppRental Cars | 6.5M | 2.9 | Travel & Local |
| Sykes Holiday Cottages UKSykes Cottages | 1.8M | 4.5 | Travel & Local |
| Virtuo: Hassle-free Car RentalGoVirtuo | 1.3M | 4.3 | Travel & Local |
| Holiday SwapHoliday Swap | 1.1M | 3.7 | Travel & Local |
| Beryl BikesBeryl | 541.3K | 4.4 | Travel & Local |
| Pony - bike & scooter sharingPony | 534K | 4.5 | Travel & Local |
| Cars-scanner - car rentalCars Scanner | 293.3K | 4.1 | Travel & Local |
| holidaycottages.co.ukholidaycottages.co.uk | 96.5K | — | Travel & Local |
| By Rotation | Rent Buy FashionBy Rotation | 87.8K | 2.5 | Shopping |
| Hiyacar - Car Hire, CarsharingHiyaCar | 86.1K | — | Travel & Local |
Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.
The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2023Q1–2025Q3).
| Segment | Apps | Installs | Leading app | Release trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Road Transport Tech | 25 | 9.6M | Rentalcars.com Car Rental App 6.5M | |
| Online Travel | 25 | 4.9M | Sykes Holiday Cottages UK 1.8M | |
| Electric Vehicles | 11 | 775.4K | Pony - bike & scooter sharing 534K | |
| Sports Equipment | 3 | 578.7K | Beryl Bikes 541.3K | |
| Energy Storage Tech | 2 | 98.6K | ChargedUp 78.4K | |
| Hotel It | 2 | 8.4K | RentalReady Agents 4.4K | |
| B2B E-Commerce | 5 | 6.5K | MySunbelt 4K |
A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.
New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.
Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 45 of 50 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2025Q3, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.
Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.
Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.
Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.
The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.
12 companies hiring · $819.28M disclosed funding
Explore in RadarCommon revenue models; a company can use more than one.
Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.
The initial public offering (IPO) could occur in the second half of 2026, according to insiders cited by the media.
London-based Ooodles, a fintech startup that specialises in IT procurement for SMEs, announced that it has secured an additional $2.7M (approximately €2.54M) in funding.
The French start-up announced on Tuesday that it had raised €23 million to triple its fleet of shared bikes and scooters in France and Belgium.
Bishop Fleming has advised YFM Equity Partners on its investment in Stacatruc Limited.
Hurr co‑founder and Drapers 30 Under 30 alumna Victoria Prew has stepped down from her role as CEO at the fashion rental platform as she pivots focus to a new business venture
Masen and ONEE have signed PPAs and begun construction on the Noor Atlas solar program.
Hoseasons owner Awaze has confirmed Sharla Singh as chief financial officer.
His new job at the time? CMO of HouseTrip, a young, ambitious and aggressive start-up in the online holiday-rental business.
Top 8 categories among 38 recorded events in the 24-month window.
1 companies with recorded IPO activity
IPO2 reports
4 tracked people moves
Resignation Previously CEO at Hurr
Appointment Managing Director for Canada
Promotion Chief Executive Officer
Appointment Chief Financial Officer
2 recorded customer wins
Customer: hyattHospitality
Customer: rio tintoMining / Energy
Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.
| Acquirer → target | Status | Date | Value / context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aggreko→Krill Generators | Announced | 2025-11-28 | Not stated in snapshot |
| Aggreko→krill generadores | Announced | 2025-11-27 | Not stated in snapshot |
| Clair Global→Clearwing | Announced | 2025-08-05 | Not stated in snapshot |
| Aggreko→Mobil in Time Group | Announced | 2025-08-01 | Not stated in snapshot |
| Clair Global→Ampco Flashlight Group | Announced | 2025-04-21 | Not stated in snapshot |
| Aggreko→Dryco, LLC | Announced | 2025-02-14 | Not stated in snapshot |
A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.
3 postings in the preceding 12 months. The full 8-posting snapshot covers 5 employers.
0 tracked postings mention remote work.
Top skills across 8 tracked postings in the available jobs snapshot.
| Company | Employees |
|---|---|
| Awaze ↗ | 743 |
| Clair Global ↗ | 610 |
| Charles Wilson Engineers ↗ | 279 |
| The Plum Guide ↗ | 158 |
| Smiths Equipment Hire ↗ | 147 |
| Houst ↗ | 133 |
| Beryl ↗ | 97 |
| City Hire ↗ | 69 |
180 founders and chief executives across 136 companies.
ex-Co-Founder neowebcar.com. University Paris Dauphine 2006
Ex-Co-Founder & Managing Director Promise Communispace, Co-Founder Symbiosis Events. The London School of Economics and Political Science BSc 2003
OPUS, ex-KPMG, TheCityUK. University of Exeter BA 2010
Ex- Founder 500 Startups, Meltwater, Smith & Williamson, The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. The University of Birmingham BA 2010
ex-FUNDING XCHANGE, Founders & Coders, Emolument, Goodgame Studios. University of Oxford BA 2015
Forbes, ex-SMBC Nikko Capital Markets, Deutsche Bank, HSBC. LSE London BS 2011
Founder & CEO Borrow A Boat, Barqo, Yachting Ventures, British Marine. University of Southampton BE 2001, Cranfield University MSc 2012
EX-Transitions Optical, VM Motori . ESCP Europe MBA 1997
Snaptrip Com, ex-Forward Partners, ex-Ebooks By Sainsburys, st Edward's school, 1999
Founder Sibberi Tree Water, ex- Simon-Kucher & Partners, Louis Vuitton. ESSEC Business School 2011, Institut polytechnique de Grenoble Eng 2009
Founder Beryl, Founders Pledge. University of Brighton BSc 2011
Ex - Oliver Wyman, Accenture, EY, KPMG UK. London School of Economics and Political Science Business Mathematics and Statistics…
21 profiles with education records.
0 profiles with prior-work records.
Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.
Compare demand signals in the United Kingdom’s newsflow with the rental marketplaces categories mapped to each signal.
Signal percentile − supply percentile = gap in percentile points. Positive gaps highlight questions to investigate. A high signal can reflect spending pressure or access friction, as well as potential demand.
The comparison is relative to the signal families on this page. A supply percentile of zero means the lowest relative reading, not zero companies. It is a prioritisation clue, not measured market size or unmet demand.
Signal and mapped-supply percentiles, their gap, and change in the signal’s article share.
Swipe horizontally to compare all columns →
| Signal family | Signal percentile | Supply percentile | Relative gap | Gap (points) | Signal share vs prior year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layoffs & income shocks ↗Spending Pressure | 80.0 | 27.8 | +52.2 | +37.0% | |
| Tourism footfall ↗Demand Driver | 40.0 | 5.6 | +34.4 | +11.3% | |
| Airports & air links ↗Connectivity Build-Out | 30.0 | 5.6 | +24.4 | +27.3% | |
| Housing & urban expansion ↗Demand Driver | 85.0 | 77.8 | +7.2 | +80.0% | |
| Highways & expressways ↗Connectivity Build-Out | 35.0 | 27.8 | +7.2 | -2.1% | |
| Industrial parks & warehousing ↗Investment Build-Out | 55.0 | 50.0 | +5.0 | +57.5% | |
| Inflation & spending pressure ↗Spending Pressure | 60.0 | 77.8 | -17.8 | +23.0% | |
| Rail & metro connectivity ↗Connectivity Build-Out | 45.0 | 77.8 | -32.8 | +30.4% | |
| E-commerce & quick delivery ↗Channel Shift | 0.0 | 50.0 | -50.0 | -4.0% | |
| Consumer grievances & trust ↗Trust Friction | 30.0 | 100.0 | -70.0 | +5.2% | |
| Congestion & traffic friction ↗Access Friction | 90.0 | — | No matching category | — | +45.5% |
Showing all 11 signals. Select a family for its history and mapped categories.
All 12 city readings for these demand families in the comparison geography. the United Kingdom is highlighted.
Each city’s reading is a share of its own coverage.
Congestion & traffic friction · Highways & expressways · Layoffs & income shocks
Congestion & traffic friction · Highways & expressways · Housing & urban expansion
Congestion & traffic friction · Layoffs & income shocks · Housing & urban expansion
Congestion & traffic friction · Highways & expressways · Consumer grievances & trust
Congestion & traffic friction · Airports & air links · Housing & urban expansion
Congestion & traffic friction · Highways & expressways · Tourism footfall
Congestion & traffic friction · Tourism footfall · Highways & expressways
Layoffs & income shocks · Inflation & spending pressure · Highways & expressways
Congestion & traffic friction · Layoffs & income shocks · Housing & urban expansion
Congestion & traffic friction · Tourism footfall · Rail & metro connectivity
Congestion & traffic friction · Housing & urban expansion · Layoffs & income shocks
Congestion & traffic friction · Inflation & spending pressure · Layoffs & income shocks
Layoff cycles can pull discretionary spend back toward value offerings.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 414 | 18.7 |
| 2024Q4 | 385 | 17.77 |
| 2025Q1 | 570 | 22.55 |
| 2025Q2 | 428 | 21.18 |
| 2025Q3 | 663 | 27.39 |
| 2025Q4 | 400 | 23.01 |
| 2026Q1 | 634 | 31.96 |
| 2026Q2 | 243 | 27.12 |
Visitor flows can convert into discretionary spend where they land.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 163 | 7.36 |
| 2024Q4 | 166 | 7.66 |
| 2025Q1 | 175 | 6.92 |
| 2025Q2 | 198 | 9.8 |
| 2025Q3 | 258 | 10.66 |
| 2025Q4 | 161 | 9.26 |
| 2026Q1 | 146 | 7.36 |
| 2026Q2 | 51 | 5.69 |
If new terminals and routes pull business and tourist inflow, demand tends to follow the passenger.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 44 | 1.99 |
| 2024Q4 | 67 | 3.09 |
| 2025Q1 | 104 | 4.11 |
| 2025Q2 | 73 | 3.61 |
| 2025Q3 | 152 | 6.28 |
| 2025Q4 | 69 | 3.97 |
| 2026Q1 | 46 | 2.32 |
| 2026Q2 | 22 | 2.46 |
New residential catchments can pull everyday demand with them.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 128 | 5.78 |
| 2024Q4 | 151 | 6.97 |
| 2025Q1 | 172 | 6.8 |
| 2025Q2 | 160 | 7.92 |
| 2025Q3 | 186 | 7.68 |
| 2025Q4 | 194 | 11.16 |
| 2026Q1 | 332 | 16.74 |
| 2026Q2 | 155 | 17.3 |
Corridor build-out can collapse travel time, widening every catchment.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 238 | 10.75 |
| 2024Q4 | 267 | 12.32 |
| 2025Q1 | 235 | 9.29 |
| 2025Q2 | 220 | 10.88 |
| 2025Q3 | 236 | 9.75 |
| 2025Q4 | 144 | 8.28 |
| 2026Q1 | 237 | 11.95 |
| 2026Q2 | 124 | 13.84 |
Parks and warehousing can add the jobs and fulfilment capacity that reach depends on.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 56 | 2.53 |
| 2024Q4 | 57 | 2.63 |
| 2025Q1 | 55 | 2.18 |
| 2025Q2 | 68 | 3.36 |
| 2025Q3 | 84 | 3.47 |
| 2025Q4 | 48 | 2.76 |
| 2026Q1 | 100 | 5.04 |
| 2026Q2 | 61 | 6.81 |
Sustained price pressure can shift spending toward value formats.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 402 | 18.16 |
| 2024Q4 | 419 | 19.34 |
| 2025Q1 | 465 | 18.39 |
| 2025Q2 | 458 | 22.66 |
| 2025Q3 | 539 | 22.27 |
| 2025Q4 | 422 | 24.28 |
| 2026Q1 | 504 | 25.41 |
| 2026Q2 | 226 | 25.22 |
Where rail and metro build out, station-area demand can follow the footfall.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 120 | 5.42 |
| 2024Q4 | 110 | 5.08 |
| 2025Q1 | 97 | 3.84 |
| 2025Q2 | 70 | 3.46 |
| 2025Q3 | 143 | 5.91 |
| 2025Q4 | 80 | 4.6 |
| 2026Q1 | 125 | 6.3 |
| 2026Q2 | 60 | 6.7 |
Online and quick-commerce adoption can migrate spend across channels faster than networks adapt.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 74 | 3.34 |
| 2024Q4 | 71 | 3.28 |
| 2025Q1 | 44 | 1.74 |
| 2025Q2 | 49 | 2.42 |
| 2025Q3 | 72 | 2.97 |
| 2025Q4 | 42 | 2.42 |
| 2026Q1 | 43 | 2.17 |
| 2026Q2 | 23 | 2.57 |
Trust friction can reward whoever fixes service, complaints and fraud handling.
Companies can appear in multiple categories; these counts are not a unique-company total.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 141 | 6.37 |
| 2024Q4 | 189 | 8.72 |
| 2025Q1 | 153 | 6.05 |
| 2025Q2 | 144 | 7.12 |
| 2025Q3 | 195 | 8.06 |
| 2025Q4 | 128 | 7.36 |
| 2026Q1 | 127 | 6.4 |
| 2026Q2 | 70 | 7.81 |
Congestion friction can push footfall toward nearby formats and toward delivery.
This signal has no matching category in the page’s rental marketplaces market map, so no supply percentile or gap is assigned.
Mentions per 10,000 articles · zero baseline
| Quarter | Mentions | Per 10,000 articles |
|---|---|---|
| 2024Q3 | 495 | 22.36 |
| 2024Q4 | 531 | 24.51 |
| 2025Q1 | 563 | 22.27 |
| 2025Q2 | 574 | 28.4 |
| 2025Q3 | 959 | 39.62 |
| 2025Q4 | 483 | 27.79 |
| 2026Q1 | 700 | 35.29 |
| 2026Q2 | 338 | 37.72 |
the United Kingdom rental marketplaces coverage
Transportation Research Part A Policy and Practice
92 citations in the snapshot
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
89 citations in the snapshot
Journal of Consumer Culture
71 citations in the snapshot
Urban Science
44 citations in the snapshot
the United Kingdom coverage of this page's demand families
| Keyword | Recent articles | Prior articles | Share change |
|---|---|---|---|
| consumer compliance rules | 63 | 36 | 122.0% |
| buyer protection legislation | 56 | 36 | 97.4% |
| age-based concessionary fares | 51 | 37 | 74.9% |
| phishing scam resources | 45 | 87 | -34.4% |
| fraud prevention tools | 43 | 85 | -35.8% |
| youth rail discounts | 45 | 97 | -41.1% |
Share changes describe coverage in the stated comparison periods, not search demand or market size.
Company counts, hiring and disclosed funding across the recorded hubs.
80.8% across the displayed hubs
8 companies hiring · $747.6M disclosed funding
Explore companies in London ↗
4.0% across the displayed hubs
1 companies hiring · $743.6K disclosed funding
Explore companies in Manchester ↗
3.4% across the displayed hubs
1 companies hiring · $25.0K disclosed funding
Explore companies in Edinburgh ↗
2.8% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $0 disclosed funding
Explore companies in Bristol ↗
2.3% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $0 disclosed funding
Explore companies in Belfast ↗
2.3% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $0 disclosed funding
Explore companies in Lightwater ↗
2.3% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $0 disclosed funding
Explore companies in Leeds ↗
2.3% across the displayed hubs
0 companies hiring · $0 disclosed funding
Explore companies in Exeter ↗Clear definitions for making better comparisons.
It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.
No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.
A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.
Company ecosystem snapshot: 3 September 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.
Canonical landscape ↗