FEATURE THE BIG INTERVIEW
red tape CUTTING
the THROUGH
As an ex-military man, Sean Cleary is used to making decisions and taking prompt action, which is why local authority bureaucracy can be a challenge. But, as he tells Sarah Juggins, it is a challenge he is facing full-on
C
ambridge is home to some of the world’s most renowned innovators and thinkers. From its scholarly city centre where some of the best brains in the UK, if not the world, develop their thinking, to the IT, medical and science hubs that congregate on the city’s edge, Cambridge is a international leader when it comes to finding solutions. Which is why it takes a certain kind of person to manage what some would term the more mundane aspects of life in the city, such as the flow of traffic and parking management. Sean Cleary has been in role as parking
services operations manager for nearly three years, and in that time he has brought his own style to running the city council’s parking operations. If Cleary had his way, the city would be pushing the boundaries in every way, although he acknowledges that ‘the council is now changing its approach and finding ways to cut through red tape.’
Cutting-edge concepts Among his innovative ideas are the possibilities of having drive-in cinema events on the open top decks of a central multi-storey car park (MSCP), with the audience making use of wireless headphones to prevent any noise intrusion to surrounding residents, and an ambitious urban sports show, complete with trade stalls and competitions – this idea is still under negotiation;
‘I took this role on because of its scope,’ said the ex-Household Cavalry soldier. ‘I had been moving around council departments, and had come to a crossroads. I was considering what direction to take next when the post of parking services operations manager was advertised. The position particularly interested me because of the more commercial approach that was needed in order to carry the service forward’.
The role involves far more than just ensuring that the city’s car parking services and assets
32 AUGUST 2012
are operating to their maximum capability. There are the day-to-day and strategic issues of running very busy city-centre facilities. These can range from every day inspections of car parks, management of the services’ commercial project team and overseeing the services’ parking and ShopMobility services extensive budget management – but that is just one tiny part of a much wider brief, such as sourcing and buying the most cost-efficient car park management operating systems, devising business and committee reports and setting programs of structural maintenance and repairs. Cleary has also recently led and implemented Cambridge City Council’s corporate-wide cash collection contract, which brought all the city and county council’s many cash-collecting contracts together under one main contract to make significant savings for both authorities.
One challenging aspect of Cleary’s job, which will resonate with others in similar positions around the UK, is that Cambridgeshire County Council runs on-street parking throughout the county, while the city’s public car parks and multi-storey car parks are the remit of Cambridge City Council. This
www.britishparking.co.uk
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