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Car repair and valeting companies in London

3,378 car repair and valeting companies have a registered office in London, and 1,174 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £9,686 in cash and owed £18,566 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Maintenance and repair of motor vehicles” (SIC 45200), which also covers car valeting or car wash.

The numbers

Car repair and valeting companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies3,37852,744
Formed in 2025 or 20261,174 (35%)23%
Being struck off or in liquidation471 (14%)9.8%
Typical cash at year end£9,686555 accounts£22,955
Typical amount owed at year end£18,5661,491 accounts£34,132
Typical number of employees11,521 accounts2

What this means if you’re starting one

London has fewer of these businesses than most places

Car repair and valeting companies are 0.30% of companies registered in London, against 0.97% UK-wide (0.3× the national share).

That could be a gap or a sign of weak demand. The register cannot tell which.

Cash is tight in this trade

At year end the typical car repair and valeting company in London holds £9,686 in cash and owes £18,566; that cash figure is lower than 54% of UK industries.

Typical operators end the year holding less cash than they owe, so there is little slack if takings dip or a big bill lands early.

Most of these businesses are run by one or two people

The typical car repair and valeting company in London reports 1 employee; the top quarter has 3 or more (1,521 filings).

You are mostly up against owner-operators. Your own hours are likely to be your biggest cost, and the easiest one to undercount.

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What these figures can’t tell you

Companies are counted where their registered office is, which may be an accountant or a home address rather than a shop. Sole traders and partnerships are not on the register, and electronically filed accounts cover roughly 60–75% of accounts filed each year. The figures describe companies that exist; they cannot prove demand for your idea or predict whether it will work. How the figures are built.

Car repair and valeting in other places

Other businesses in London

All business benchmarks in London