We’ve heard a lot of about the transformative (and disruptive) potential of the collaborative economy in recent years. As more people look to participate in and benefit from collaborative platforms, we have reached a moment where simply understanding and promoting this trend is not enough. To make the most of the collaborative economy, we need to adopt a more longstanding, and considered view.

To stimulate discussion and prompt reflection, we created six possible futures for the UK collaborative economy in 2025. These scenarios are by no means exhaustive, nor are they exclusive – indeed, many could easily coexist in future. Instead, they seek to shed light on some of the key trends and challenges currently influencing this field.

Our starting point

While each scenario explores different possibilities and trends, they all build on a common set of assumptions:

In 2025, the UK has grown to nearly 70 million people – with London, the East and the South East regions experiencing the fastest growth. While there are more households across the UK, the average household is smaller and the majority of new households do not have dependent children. Fewer people are homeowners.

The UK population is older and more diverse, as the percentage of the people aged 65 and over increases by one quarter and immigration rises. Despite more jobs being available, labour market participation has decreased slightly.  Service industries (in particular business services and IT sectors) become an increasingly significant portion of the labour market.