North East drivers most likely to have personalised number plates

5^th October, 2023

Northerners are the likeliest group to be driving around with a personalised number plate.

New data reveals people in Cleveland are splashing more cash than any other motorists on private plates.

It was one of five northern locations including Darlington, Crewe, Wakefield and Blackburn, to appear in a top ten hotspots for sales.

Walsall, Chelmsford and Telford, along with Tweedale and Harris in Scotland, completed the top-ten which has been compiled by analysts at National Numbers.

The UK’s personalised number plate market is now worth an estimated £260m a year, and the Treasury has cashed in on billions from private plate sales since their inception.

Now, after crunching data* from over 32,000 sales, experts at National Numbers are revealing who’s in the driving seat when it comes to the highest number of purchases.

Commenting, Paul Hill, from National Numbers, said: “The top areas for sales were actually found to be towns and rural areas – with the north of England and Scotland coming out on top.

“Big cities, like Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh and Bristol came lower down the list – possibly due to having lower car ownership per head of population as well as better public transport links.

“In England, there is still a strong presence in what might be called the ”Bollinger Belt” surrounding the capital. In particular, areas like Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire, Sawbridgeworth and Broxbourne in Hertfordshire together with Ingatestone, Chigwell and Ongar in Essex.”

Explaining why private plate sales appears to be bucking the cost of living crisis he continued: “They are a great way of expressing their character out on the roads – whether that be with a name, their favourite hobby, or a joke.’

“Personalised plates are also a great gift, and a lot of our customers purchase them on behalf of a loved one. Ages, years of birth and nicknames are really popular for this purpose.

“We also see personalised number plates being bought for various other reasons. Lots of people buy a private plate in order to hide the age of their car, or to show prestige. We also see number plates that relate to the make of the vehicle, with combinations like BMW being fairly popular.”

Mr Hill said plates to indicate a driver’s favourite football team were also still hugely popular.

*About the data: The number plate experts have consulted their extensive database and based the research on a sample size of 32,000 purchases made across the United Kingdom. The results are based on sales per head of population, and from this National Numbers have created this interactive map to showcase the data.

Top 10 areas in the North for number plate sales: