Lime's UK profits more than double as ebike riders surge

Lime's UK operations posted a sharp rise in profitability last year, according to accounts filed at Companies House. The average number of monthly users climbed 31% to nearly 700,000, while the company added more than 4,500 ebikes and scooters to its fleet, bringing the total to almost 38,000 vehicles.

Revenue rose by a third to £148m in 2025, and profits more than doubled, jumping from £1.7m to £4.7m. The growth came as Lime expanded into additional English cities, including Oxford and Nottingham, building on its existing presence in London, Milton Keynes and Salford.

Despite the expansion, Lime's UK accounts show it directly employed only 54 people last year, up from 39 the year before, since most of its bike-shifting and servicing work is carried out by self-employed contractors. Lime is owned by parent company Neutron Holdings, which listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange last year at a valuation of $1.7bn, and is partly owned by ride-hailing giant Uber.

A devolution law passed in April gave English local authorities new powers to license rental ebike operators and impose requirements on parking, safety and accessibility. London's transport authority has estimated that around one in ten of the capital's 1.5 million daily cycling trips are made using dockless rental ebikes such as Lime's.

However, concerns over safety have been mounting. Rental bikes have reportedly been involved in almost a third of cyclist-pedestrian collisions requiring police intervention, and some riders have been injured by defective bikes or hurt when a heavy bicycle fell on them. In response to criticism, Lime has begun rolling out a smaller ebike model with a repositioned battery, with more than 1,500 already in use across England. Meanwhile, London boroughs have seized at least 3,000 rental ebikes this year, including 2,000 belonging to Lime, amid complaints about bikes blocking pavements.