FEATURE CAR PARK MANAGEMENT

the UK are struggling. People don’t always realise the key role that parking plays in the vitality of town centres like Crawley, which is why RCP is determined to play its part in helping to boost local trade and tackle the slowdown.’ ‘We are doing everything we can to ensure the

motorist gets the best possible value from parking with RCP but, clearly, like any other business, an escalating rate of VAT would put our tariffs under pressure’, says Wakeling. ‘With the general election in progress, and further political and economic uncertainty ahead, it’s a question of keeping everything under constant review and seeing how matters develop over the summer.’

Tony Wakeling… keeping parking costs competitive.

By introducing these price cuts, the aim has been to bring more people into

Crawley and give the town’s economy a lift

TONY WAKELING, RCP PARKING GENERAL MANAGER

to consumer confidence at a time when car park operators are already trying to combat the effects of the recession.’ Tis national operator claims that motorists are

under constant pressure financially and are therefore on the look-out for the best possible value when it comes to parking. ‘Motorists have undoubtedly been hit hard in

the past couple of years’, said Wakeling, ‘through fuel prices and vehicle excise licences – and there’s undoubtedly been an effect on both their confidence and spending power’. He said that price is nowadays the major

consideration when it comes to deciding where to park, and that RCP Parking’s response has been to set tariffs at competitive rates. Tese are constantly reviewed to keep one step ahead in a fiercely contested market place. RCP Parking recently took over running the

147-space Broadway car park in Crawley, West Sussex. It was formerly a pay-and-display site operated by NCP. Norwich-based RCP Parking immediately

introduced a new tariff, with price cuts across the board to encourage more shoppers into Crawley town centre and provide a boost for hard-pressed local businesses. According to RCP Parking, motorists now save anything between 20 pence and £1 on the old ticket prices. Wakeling says: ‘By introducing these price

cuts, the aim has been to bring more people into Crawley and give the town’s economy a lift at a time when so many retailers and businesses across

30 MAY 2010

Motorist going public

Justin Ben-Nathan is a commercial manager for APCOA. He said that the rise in fuel duty is damaging business. ‘I have heard already of people who have switched from driving to London and have gone back to public transport.’ Ben-Nathan has many corporate clients. He is

particularly concerned about how they will react to the Budget, because many run fleets of vehicles. He added that parking is seen as a privilege

and that, when perks are being discussed with a prospective senior employee, travelling is a major consideration. ‘Normally a car is the first thing they think of. Te government is trying to cut down on bonuses but a car is seen as an essential.’ Tose damming assessments of the Budget are not shared by all. Anne Snelson, marketing manager at Cobalt Telephone Technologies, said: ‘Motorists tend to simply absorb fuel duty increases of this size as they see their journey costs as “necessary”. Tose on the margins may try to reduce some of their journeys or use alternative means of transport.’ However, she said that, with increases having

taken place over many years, and the cost of fuel/ motoring now so high, ‘this has been a gradual

People are starting to question the benefits of coming into London by car

JUSTIN BEN-NATHAN, APCOA COMMERCIAL MANAGER

process rather than a step-change caused by this particular budget.’ She expects the rise in fuel duty to have ‘limited impact on the car parking market.’ It will be interesting to see what effect the

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

John Osborne is a freelance industrial journalist. He can be contacted via email: johnosbornejournalist@ btconnect.com

change does have on car parking. Te first indicators may be a fall in takings. Many in the industry are more concerned about what will happen to local authority budgets. If budgets are cut, expenditure on new equipment could suffer. Tis would further increase pressures on already hard-pressed parking managers.

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