Britain’s biggest car park operator NCP set to enter administration risking 1,000 jobs

The Daily Mail and This is Money newspapers reveal that Britain’s biggest car park company is preparing to attack management.

company It employs 682 people and manages around 340 car parks across the country, including in major towns and city centres, airports, hospitals and transport centres.

But it has recorded losses of almost £27.5 million in 2022 and £26.7 million in 2023.

It has not yet submitted new accounts, but a statement on behalf of the company said it had not been able to recover from jobs lost due to the Covid outbreak due to the increase in flexible working.

The company, which charges up to £33 for 24-hour parking in Manchester and £60 on sites in central London, intends to appoint an administrator, documents lodged at London’s High Court say today.

This is a formal legal step filed with the court and usually gives a company 10 days of protection against legal action by creditors.

The notice was submitted at 10.01am today and is likely to shock clients and customers ranging from private landowners to councils.

The company has been frequently criticized for imposing excessive fines in recent years.

Last February, the NCP apologized and canceled all wrongly applied fines after a grandfather was mistakenly asked to cough up a £100 penalty fee for a 14-minute stay in Darlington, County Durham.

Signs in the parking lot stated that parking was free for customers for 90 minutes.

In 2024, Bolton Council wrote off almost £1.5 million of debt the company owed due to the pandemic.

Reports say NCP turned over £187 million for the financial year ending 2023, down 7.15 per cent on the previous year.

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, the law firm representing the company, said it would not comment.

The statement made on behalf of NCP included the following statements: ‘The Joint Administrators will continue to trade the business for the time being while they undertake an assessment of business options.

‘For now, all sites will remain open, employees will continue to work in their respective roles and customers will see no immediate change to day-to-day operations.’

The statement noted: ‘The company’s performance has deteriorated over the several years following COVID-19, as parking demand has failed to reach historic levels, particularly in city center and suburban locations.

‘Ongoing changes in commuting and customer driving habits are affecting site occupancy, while the high concentration of long-term, inflexible leases means the company is unable to reduce costs in line with revenue or exit loss-making sites, resulting in ongoing trading losses.

‘The company does not currently have sufficient cash to meet its financial obligations and therefore the directors have taken the decision to appoint administrators.’

Joint administrators PWC’s duty ‘Negotiations are being held with the landlords and the sale of ‘all or part of the business’ is being considered along with the closure of the fields.

Joint manager and PwC partner Zelf Hussain said: ‘NCP has faced a challenging trading environment for several years, where changing consumer behavior has impacted volumes and a high fixed cost base has led to trading losses.

‘Our priority when making an appointment is to ensure continuity of service while conducting a detailed review of the job. All sites are open, staff are on duty and trading continues as normal.

‘We will liaise with landlords, employees and other stakeholders as we explore all options, including the potential sale of all or part of the business, to secure the best possible outcome for creditors.’

How did parking fines increase?

Private companies are hitting drivers with parking fees of around 40,000 a day, This is Money revealed last year, resulting in the DVLA making almost £100,000 every 24 hours.

The agency’s full-year figures showed a record 14,371,841 requests for vehicle ownership information from private parking firms in 2024-25.

This represented a 13 percent increase over the previous year and an average increase of 39,375 per day.

Motorists can be charged fees of up to £100 by private parking operators if they exceed time restrictions in car parks at supermarkets, shopping centres, business parks, motorway services and restaurant premises.

However, in order to send a parking charge notice by post, they must first request the vehicle owner’s details (including their home address) from the DVLA for a single fee of £2.50.

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