FEATURE
CRISIS MANAGEMENT
slouches NO IN SLOUGH
When arsonists struck in Slough, staff at the parking shop had to employ all their crisis management skills. Phil Herring explains what happened next
J
ust 18 months after parking operator VINCI Park took over parking operations for Slough
Borough Council, the purpose-built parking shop was the subject of an arson attack. The parking shop, specifi cally provided to deal with parking-related enquiries for the borough, was located on the ground fl oor of the VINCI Park offi ces and smoke damage affected the entire building, including the parking offi ces, training suite and team briefi ng rooms. In addition, the mobile enforcement vehicles that are so crucial to covering a borough the size of Slough were set alight and the cars were also vandalised, leaving them unusable. The company immediately set to work, executing its comprehensive disaster recovery plan, which prioritised communication as the foundation for getting operational activity back on track. Phillip Herring, commercial director, describes the steps taken by VINCI Park to ensure it was business as usual – as quickly as the following day.
It’s good to talk
A strong communication strategy is key when dealing with any unforeseen incident, and in this case a quick and effective response was vital. The fi rst audiences we had to speak to were the client, Slough Borough Council, and our employees. We immediately called a staff
30 JUNE 2012
The enforcement team were briefed on how
to guide members of the public requiring parking shop services on all the options available
meeting to take any questions from our onsite team and to assure them that our services would be up and running again as soon as possible. In addition, as the nature of the incident was criminal, we designated our regional commercial manager as the point of liaison with the police, ensuring co-operation every step of the way. Next, we turned all our attention to our customers to ensure that any interruption to our service was as limited as possible. Members of the public were informed that the majority of operations were still fully functional, with customers able to pay penalty charge notices (PCNs) online and via telephone through the council’s offi ces. In addition, any enquiries about the situation were also directed to the council’s offi ces, where customer service advisors were fully briefed to provide the appropriate advice. To supplement this, a customer service advisor was placed at the entrance to the parking shop to assist any customers arriving at the location, and notices and signs were placed around the premises. The enforcement team were briefed on how, in the interim, to guide members of the public requiring parking shop services on all the options available. Engaging with local media was vital to ensuring effective communication to the public on a wider scale. The positive relationship with the client meant a joint statement was issued to local press within hours of the incident. We wanted to reassure local people that no data had been lost and that the operation itself was unaffected. From a practical point of view the temporary telephone number was also included.
www.britishparking.co.uk
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