EDITOR’S COMMENT upfront
SEEING IS BELIEVING
Parking News editor Sarah Juggins was impressed by the positive vibes at Olympia
default reaction is one of astonishment and disbelief. Despite my best efforts at explaining that someone has to make the barriers, the ticket machines, the computer systems and even the uniforms, there remains an element of cynicism. And yet, had those same doubters been one of the 2,000 or more visitors who made the trip to Olympia last month, they would have been amazed at the range of products on display and the level of interest among the attendees. This year, more than the previous two years that I have been going to Parkex, there was a level of serious engagement. The people who were there as exhibitors reported that they had been busy from start to fi nish and that they felt the people visiting their stands were genuine customers not, as one veteran of the exhibition put it, ‘simply pen collectors’.
W A vibrant market
‘If just 10 per cent of people who I have talked to over the past 48 hours become customers then I am going to be a very, very busy man in the next few months,’ said one pleased exhibitor.
www.britishparking.co.uk
hen I mention to friends and colleagues that I am going to a two-day parking exhibition, their
The sector recognises
the mistakes that have been made in the past
The seminar programme, much of which is covered in depth on pages 18-24, had two very distinct elements to it. On the one hand, the speakers outlined the multiple challenges facing the industry in the coming months as the Freedoms Bill becomes law and the need for an independent appeals service becomes urgent; while on the other hand delegates were swept away by the vision offered by the equipment manufacturers of a future where technology allows interaction on an unprecedented scale. There were controversies and highly-charged debates, particularly when it came to the nuts and bolts of the creation of
an independent appeals service and the legal implications of keeper liability.
A responsible industry
But the message that came through loudly, clearly and consistently over the course of the conference – from the Transport Minister Norman Baker’s opening address through to a bailiff’s impassioned call for an open consultation process involving local authorities, stakeholders and the bailiff industry – was that the sector recognises the mistakes that have been made in the past and is willing to pull together to ensure that it gets it absolutely right in the future.
MAY 2012 7
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