UK Single-Single Number Plate Registry

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This is the place for everything else that doesn't fall under the various sections. In no particular order, the top piece will be the latest added.

U 1 was originally issued to Arthur Briggs of Leeds (who was Lord Mayor) and registered to his vehicle but only after the plate was reserved by someone else. A deal was done and U 1 was effectively swapped for U 2 and three other registrations. When his time as Mayor came to an end in 1904 he took U 1 with him and it was transferred from car to car. He died in 1906 and the plate passed to his wife who continued to use it until her death in 1936.

It was then offered to Leeds City Council by her daughter as per their wishes. It has since resided on the Mayors car, until now.

I'm not sure when Leeds City Council first had ideas of selling their number plate but it certainly gathered momentum in 2023/4 and in early 2025 the official decision was taken. I have managed to obtain some paperwork in relation to the decision and it makes interesting reading. Someone I know, who works in local council, said their selling process seemed incredibly bureaucratic, adding that they seemed to be worried about "reputational damage" if the wrong person bought it.

I've had these documents for a while now but wanted to see the sale of U 1 happen before I released them.

Due diligence? Or Bureaucratic nonsense? You decide. One thing is for sure, the amount of manperson hours spent on this project must be mind blowing!!

I have removed phone numbers and email addresses as they aren't relevant.

DDN - Delegated Decision Notice

Report to the Decision Maker

EDCI - Equality, Diversity, Cohesion and Inegration screening

I'm not sure how Leeds City Council reached the decision that the mayors car must have a personal plate but as you can see above they own L6 EDS that is on a certificate of entitlement meaning they bought it upon release in 1993. It would have cost them £250 to purchase and £25 pa to renew until 2015 when renewal became every 10 years. That's £250 plus 22 x £25 making a total of £800 over the years. Is that value for money as far as Leeds City council taxpayers are concerned? That's not one for me to answer.

After selling in early 2024 1 F was coming back to market, only this time it was going to be auctioned at Sotheby's on 1st November 2025 with a guide price of £800K to £1.2M. The consensus was that this was on the high side.

The auction was broadcast live and the excitement set in. Opening bid was £350K. Where would it go? Yes, it was a wrong way round plate, but it was an original 1957 issue and of course contained the coveted No.1.

Bidding increments were £20K/£30K and just 2 minutes and 20 seconds later the bid was £800K and that's where the hammer fell. By the time fees, and VAT on the fees, were added the final sale price was £926K, setting a new record for a publicly sold number plate.

This is a cutting from The Times in August 1975 when the then Labour MP Gerald Kaufman wasn't very happy when he was offered 1 K for £7,500. Infact he said it was an outrage that someone should seek to make money from something that he considered had no intrinsic value. He called on the Minister of Transport to look into the trade of number plates and suggested making them government property. As we all know we merely own the right to display a number plate, we don't actually own the plate.

The one thing we do learn from the article is that 1 K was initially assigned to Arthur Geary of Woolton, Liverpool. An advert appeared in The Times two months earlier offering 1 K for £8,000

I don't know if it was sold, but by 1981/2 Mr Karouni of London bought the plate and allowed his brother to use it as he had the initials IK, Ikram Karouni. In 1982 he registered the plate to his then new Mercedes 190E and it remained on it until Afzal Kahn bought the plate in 2018 for £350,000.

One day, when I have time, I want to trace the history of each 1x1 to establish what plates were re-issues. Don't expect this to be anytime soon. This picture shows registration slips belonging to X 1 through to X 6. You see, there was indeed a time before the internet........

Newspaper cutting from November 1971 discussing how W 1 was on the market for offers in excess of £4,000. This plate last changed hands in the 2010's and is worth in excess of £1M in todays market.