How many garages email addresses we hold
This category is the general garage: independent workshops that service, repair and MOT cars and light vans, whether that's a family business with two technicians or a larger independent with a front desk and a parts counter. Named contact emails are mostly the owner or a director, and in bigger workshops a manager. Company emails are the garage's booking or enquiries inbox, the address customers use to ask for a quote. Specialists such as MOT-only stations, body shops and tyre centres are held as their own categories, so you choose whether to include them. Plenty of small garages only ever give out a phone number, so expect email coverage to be lower here than in office-based sectors; that is normal for the trade, not a gap in the list.
| Email data | Count |
|---|---|
| Named contact email addresses (a person's own work email) | 6,890 |
| General company email addresses (info@, office@ and similar) | 2,046 |
| Named contacts (with or without an email) | 18,466 |
| Garages on our database | 21,129 |
Some businesses have both a named contact email and a company email, so the two figures overlap. Your free count shows exactly how many garages you can reach by email for the area and job titles you choose.
Add specialist motor trade businesses
These specialists are counted separately from general garages. Add the ones that buy what you sell:
| Category | Named contact emails | Company emails | Businesses on file |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOT testing stations | 1,268 | 335 | 3,236 |
| Car body repairers | 1,762 | 688 | 4,880 |
| Tyre dealers | 1,481 | 506 | 5,899 |
| Auto electricians | 164 | 59 | 583 |
| Engine tuning and diagnostic specialists | 163 | 68 | 412 |
| Breakdown and recovery firms | 373 | 190 | 1,277 |
Can you email garages? The PECR rules
In the UK, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) treat business email addresses in two ways. Limited companies, LLPs, public bodies and most charities are "corporate subscribers": you can email them without asking first, as long as you say who you are and give an easy way to opt out. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships are treated as individuals: you need their consent before sending marketing emails.
How UK garages are set up, and what that means for email
The Office for National Statistics counts 55,255 garages workplaces in the UK (UK Business Counts 2026, SIC 45200). Under the email marketing rules (PECR), what matters is the legal form of the business:
| Legal form | UK workplaces | Share | Email marketing rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Limited companies and LLPs | 41,060 | 74% | Email allowed without prior consent, with an opt-out |
| Sole traders | 10,885 | 20% | Prior consent needed before emailing |
| Partnerships | 3,215 | 6% | Prior consent needed before emailing |
| Charities, clubs and other non-profits | 35 | under 1% | Email allowed without prior consent, with an opt-out |
| Public sector | 65 | under 1% | Email allowed without prior consent, with an opt-out |
Around three quarters of garage workplaces counted by ONS belong to limited companies, which PECR treats as corporate subscribers: you can email them without prior consent, as long as you say who you are and give a simple opt-out. That still leaves a sizeable minority: roughly one in five are sole traders and about one in seventeen are partnerships. Together that is about a quarter of the trade, and you need their prior consent before sending them marketing emails.
For those garages, start with post or a phone call (screened against the TPS) and invite them to opt in, for example by asking for a price list or a demo. Email them once they have said yes.
A practical point for this trade: garage names rarely tell you the legal form. "Northside Motors" or "Dave's Garage" could be a limited company or a one-person business. Look for "Ltd" and a company number in the footer of their website or on the email signature, or simply ask us to split your count by legal form.
More detail, including what UK GDPR adds, is in our guide to buying a business email list.
Who to email at garages
In a small garage one person may wear every hat below. In larger workshops the jobs are split, and the right person depends on what you sell:
| Job title | What they decide | How to approach them |
|---|---|---|
| Garage owner or director | Anything with a monthly cost or a long contract: garage software, finance on ramps and equipment, insurance, premises, recruitment | Lead with money and time: more cars through the workshop, fewer comebacks, less admin in the evening. One clear ask, such as a 15-minute call. |
| Workshop manager | Workshop equipment, diagnostic tools, technician training, workshop consumables, waste collection | Practical and sceptical of sales talk. Say what the kit does, what it replaces and how long it takes to set up. |
| Service advisor or front-of-house | Booking systems, customer reminders, courtesy cars, payment and phone tools | Often first to see the company inbox. Show how your product cuts phone calls or no-shows, and they may pass it to the owner for you. |
| MOT manager or nominated tester | Test bay equipment and calibration, MOT booking and reminder tools, tester training | Timing matters: they are under most pressure in March and September. Offers about the annual training and assessment testers complete go down well early in the training year. |
| Parts manager (larger garages) | Parts and oil supply accounts, delivery runs, returns handling | Compare like for like: delivery times, cut-off for same-day drops, account terms. They already have suppliers, so be specific about why you are better. |
| Bodyshop manager (garages with a paint shop) | Paint and refinish supplies, booth servicing, estimating software, insurance work | A different world from the mechanical side. Address them separately and mention the type of work they do. |
What the generic inbox reaches
A garage's general inbox is mainly used for customer bookings and quote requests, so it is checked several times a day by whoever is on the front desk. That is good news for you: it gets read. The risk is that a sales email looks like noise next to customer enquiries. Put the owner or workshop manager's role in the first line ("For whoever looks after the workshop equipment") so the front desk knows where to send it.
What a record looks like
This is a made-up example showing the fields you get. Ask for a free sample and we'll send you real records for the area you cover.
| Business name | Example Motors Ltd (made-up example) |
| Contact name | Gareth Pryce |
| Job title | Director |
| Named contact email | [email protected] |
| Company email | [email protected] |
| Address | Unit 4, Example Trading Estate, Leeds, LS11 |
| Telephone | 0113 496 0000 |
| Website | www.example.co.uk |
| Category | Garage Related Services |
| Employee size band | 6 to 10 |
Email subject lines that work for garages
Examples to adapt. Each is written for how garages actually work; keep yours short, specific and honest about what's inside.
- Parts on your ramp by 10am, not after lunchA car waiting on parts is a ramp earning nothing. Speaks straight to a motor factor's real selling point.
- Fewer MOT no-shows with automatic text remindersMissed bookings are lost income every garage recognises. Concrete outcome, no jargon.
- Hybrid training for your techs before the spring rushGarages know they need EV and hybrid skills; the deadline gives them a reason to act now.
- Waste oil collected on the same day every monthA small, dull problem solved reliably. Owners like anything that stops them chasing a supplier.
- Does your scan tool cover this year's cars?A question the workshop manager can answer in their head, and an uncomfortable one if the subscription has lapsed.
- Ramp finance from £[X] a monthOwners think in monthly costs. Fill in a real figure; a vague offer will be ignored.
When to email garages
Garages work to the workshop day, not the office day. Email gets read when the ramps are not busy.
- Good: early morning, before the first cars come in (roughly 7.30 to 8.30), around lunchtime, and after about 5pm, when owners catch up on invoices and email. Tuesday to Thursday is usually best.
- Avoid Monday mornings. The phone is ringing with weekend breakdowns and bookings, and the inbox is full of customer requests.
- Avoid March and September. New registration plates arrive on 1 March and 1 September, so lots of cars reach their MOT dates in those months and workshops are flat out.
- Avoid the first cold snap. The first frosts bring a wave of flat batteries, failed starts and recovery jobs. Non-urgent offers sent that week are easily lost.
- Better months: late spring, summer outside the holiday weeks, and the run-up to Christmas once winter work settles. Anything to do with winter (batteries, antifreeze, courtesy cars) is best sent in early autumn, before the cold arrives.
Getting your emails into the inbox
Garage owners mostly read email on their phone in the workshop, often on a basic webmail account. Big image banners, PDF price lists and long brochures load slowly or not at all, and image-heavy emails are more likely to be filtered. Send a short, text-style email that makes sense with images switched off, put prices in the body or behind one link, and include a mobile number they can call back between jobs.
The basics apply to every list: send from a properly set-up domain (SPF, DKIM and DMARC), start with small daily volumes, remove bounces straight away and include a one-click unsubscribe. Our deliverability checklist covers each step.
Garages email list prices
You pay per record, and the price per record falls as the order grows:
| Number of records | Price per 1,000 |
|---|---|
| Fewer than 2,500 | £295 |
| 2,500 to 4,999 | £270 |
| 5,000 to 9,999 | £245 |
| 10,000 to 19,999 | £220 |
| 20,000 to 49,999 | £195 |
| 50,000 or more | £170 |
Other email lists
Garages email list: frequently asked questions
How many email addresses are on your garages email list?
We hold 6,890 named contact email addresses and 2,046 company email addresses for UK garages, from 21,129 garages on our database.
Why are there fewer emails than garages?
Many small garages take bookings by phone and never publish an email address. That is why we always show you how many records have an email for your chosen area. If you want to reach the rest, post or a screened phone call works well alongside email.
Can I email only garages that do MOTs?
MOT testing stations are a separate category, with 1,268 named contact emails and 335 company emails. You can email them on their own or alongside the general garages list.
Can I email sole-trader garages?
Not without their prior consent. Sole traders and ordinary partnerships count as individuals under PECR. ONS counts 10,885 sole traders and 3,215 partnerships among UK garage workplaces, so contact them by post or phone first and invite them to opt in.
When is the worst time to email garages?
Monday mornings, the first cold snap of winter, and March and September, when new registration plates mean a rush of MOTs and the workshop has no time for anything else.
How much does an email list of garages cost?
You pay per record: £295 per 1,000 for smaller orders, falling to £170 per 1,000 for 50,000 records or more (excluding VAT). Tell us which garages you want and we'll send a free count and an exact price.