Del Boy and Rodney Trotter, stars of the hit British comedy classic ‘Only Fools and Horses’ have been voted Britain’s best-loved TV small business owners in a new poll commissioned by Vodafone Business.

The TV wheeler dealers came out well ahead of other famous TV traders including Eastenders’ pub   landlords Peggy Mitchell (2nd) and Den and Angie Watts (3rd).  Rounding off the top five were Arkwright and Granville from the classic sitcom Open All Hours (4th) and Seventies rag-and-bone men Steptoe and Son (5th). 

 BRITAIN’S FAVOURITE TV SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS – TOP TEN LIST

1. Del Boy & Rodney – Only Fools & Horses (31%) 
2. Peggy Mitchell – Queen Vic, EastEnders (13%) 
3. Den and Angie Watts – Queen Vic, EastEnders (12%) 
4. Arkwright and Granville – Open All Hours (10%) 
5. Harold and Albert Steptoe – Steptoe and Son (9%) 
6. Roy Cropper – Roy’s Rolls, Coronation Street (8%) 
7. Bet Lynch – Rovers Return, Coronation St (7%) 
8. Rita Tanner – The Kabin, Coronation St (3%) 
9. Kevin Webster – Webster’s Autocentre, Coronation St (3%) 
10. Annie Walker – Rovers Return, Coronation St (2%)  

Insights from Vodafone Business have also shown BRITAIN’S favourite wheeler dealers, could finally be millionaires if they were still in business today – by ditching the backstreet hustle and embracing digital technology.      

5 ways in which modern tech could revolutionise Trotter’s Independent Traders today: 

1. Gone would be the old Robin Reliant to be replaced by an electric Tesla as the profits flooded in – still yellow obviously.  
2. Today, Del Boy and Rodney would be using a slick website run from top-of-the range laptops linked to superfast broadband in their Peckham flat.  
3. Del would be marketing his hooky gear through a series of TikTok videos where he’d have a huge following. And Rodders would be a major money-saving Influencer on Instagram.  
4. The brothers would be flogging bargains on Facebook Marketplace and through Amazon, taking online payments of course. And if they did decide to do some street selling, it would be strictly through payment by card readers linked to their iPhones on an unlimited data package.   
5. There would no longer be any need for the Trotter brothers to fear the taxman, as all their tax affairs would now be in order thanks to online payment and accounting systems. 

 The nations favourite TV small business poll was commissioned to celebrate the launch of the second episode of ‘Digital SOS’, Vodafone Business’ informative documentary series aimed at helping small business owners make better use of technology to help boost their growth.  

 The series was created in partnership with Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett., with episode two featuring his visit to fresh juice business, Mejuicer, to provide owner Joe Roberts-Walker with valuable business support and guidance on keeping his business safe from cyber-attacks.  

 Diary of a CEO Host and Entrepreneur Steven Bartlett said: “Everyone loves wheeler dealers Del Boy and Rodney. They always dreamed they’d be millionaires, but nowadays there is so much more opportunity for independent traders and small businesses to be successful if they make proper use of the technological opportunities available. 

  “Just like the Trotters, small businesses have a special place in the British way of life, so I’m delighted to be working with Vodafone on these documentaries to help SMEs maximise their potential and keep their businesses safe.” 

 Roughly 56% of UK businesses suffered a cyber-attack last year and with the average attack potentially costing a small business up to £15,300, it is a significant sum that many would struggle to recover from. 

Digital SOS episode two is available to watch now via the link below:   

www.vodafone.co.uk/business/sme-business/Steven-Bartlett-Digital-SOS