The limousine culture originated in the US, and has only recently seen commercial growth in the UK. The US market is fairly saturated with a variety of around 5,000 limousine and taxi companies sharing in the $4bn per year revenue stream, each offering different services for customers across the country.

The limousine industry in the UK has seen massive growth over the last ten years. Where previously this class of transport was reserved for wealthy or business folk, the industry has become more commercialised offering a vast range of services catering for people from all walks of life and for almost any type of social or business event.

The growth in the industry can be pinned to the affordability of services offered and the demand for luxury travel for events ranging from weddings and proms to hen and stag nights. Another factor that has driven this growth is the emergence of the ?Party Vehicle? ? limousines equipped with not just a mini-bar, but state of the art sound and television systems, games consoles, smoke machines, disco balls, laser lights bubble machines and even hot-tubs.

The range of limousines available is ever growing, from the classic Lincoln Millenniums to Bentley Continentals, of which the more obscure models are becoming more and more desirable due to their uniqueness such as:

- The Fire Engine limousine offering 16 seats and a dance pole.

- American Police Car Stretch offering 6 seats.

- Stretch Hummers coming in various styles and colours and seating between 5 and 20.

- Stretch Chrysler c300 baby Bentley limo with Lamborghini doors.

- The new Audi Q7 limousine offering the best interior of any limo

- The pink Chrysler c300 baby Bentley limousine

As well as the entertainment features of these vehicles, the operators provide various ad hoc services such as complimentary champagne, decorations, food, etc. Limo hire can be used anywhere in the UK. There is also now a 16-seater fire engine in the Newcastle area which is also pink and comes with the crew dressed up in complete pink fireman uniforms including pink fireman hats.

We see concentrations of operators based in and around major cities such as London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Cardiff, Edinburgh & Glasgow. This competition between the different companies results in lower rental prices which attracts more customers. Although this ultimately results in industry growth, it also means that companies such as Limotek can offer competitive prices as they source vehicles from a vast network of operators around the country, meaning they can often find better deals through these operators than customers approaching operators directly.

Hiring a limousine is now seen as a matter of course for certain types of events, and as the range of vehicles increases, we can only expect to see further growth in the industry. As the majority of operators in the UK are small companies that cater for a particular region, there may be a possibility for consolidation in the industry as we have yet to see the emergence of a brand name within the industry.