{
  "id": 10234550,
  "title": "Lime bike profits double as rider numbers surge in England",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/27/lime-bike-profits-double-as-rider-numbers-surge-in-england",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-27T14:24:16.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Business",
    "slug": "guardian-business",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/sep/27/lime-bike-profits-double-rider-numbers-surge-england"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Lime, the US-based bike-sharing firm, has reported a significant increase in profits and user numbers in its UK operations. According to accounts filed at Companies House, the company's average monthly users in the UK surged to nearly 700,000, up 31% from previous levels. This growth, combined with the addition of over 4,500 new ebikes and scooters to its fleet, bringing the total to nearly 38,000, has resulted in a third increase in sales to £148 million in 2025. Correspondingly, profits more than doubled to £4.7 million, up from £1.7 million in the previous year.\n\nThe expansion of Lime's services to new cities, such as Oxford in 2024 and Nottingham in 2023, alongside its existing presence in London, Milton Keynes, and Salford, has contributed to this growth. Despite the surge in business, Lime's UK workforce has remained relatively small, with only 54 employees in 2025, compared to 39 in 2024. This is largely due to the company's reliance on self-employed contractors for the operation and maintenance of its ebikes and scooters.\n\nLime, which is part-owned by ride-hailing app Uber's parent company Neutron Holdings, lists on the Nasdaq stock exchange and has a valuation of $1.7 billion. The company was founded in 2017 in San Francisco, California, and now operates in around 230 cities across 29 countries, primarily in Europe. In the UK, Lime has been expanding its operations through new city partnerships, with local authorities in England now granted additional powers to regulate rental ebike operations, including setting standards for safety, parking, and accessibility.\n\nThe rise of Lime bikes and similar electric scooters has contributed to a notable increase in cycling within London, with estimates suggesting that one in ten of the city's daily cycling journeys are now made on dockless e-bikes. This increase in cycling has been partially driven by endorsements from celebrities like Timothée Chalamet and Kim Kardashian. However, this growth has also raised concerns about safety for both riders and pedestrians, with reports suggesting that rented bikes were involved in almost a third of collisions with pedestrians resulting in police intervention. Additionally, riders have suffered injuries from defective bikes, including what is known as \"Lime bike leg,\" where the bike's weight can cause fractures. To address safety concerns, Lime recently introduced a new, smaller version of its electric bikes with batteries positioned closer to the rear wheel, of which more than 1,500 have been deployed in England. These safety measures, coupled with the company's claim of a 99.99% incident-free record in London, aim to mitigate the risks associated with e-bike usage.",
  "summary": "US-owned firm says average monthly users at its UK arm surged to 700,000 with sales up by a third Love them or hate them, Lime ebikes are an increasingly common sight on England’s roads with new figures showing annual profits more than doubling thanks to a surge in riders. Lime’s average number of monthly users jumped 31% to approaching 700,000 as it added more than 4,500 ebikes and scooters to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}