Downfall of NCP: How Britain’s biggest car park firm accrued massive debts as it collapses into administration

Charging up to £60 a day for a parking space has failed to save Britain’s biggest parking firm after it accumulated huge debts that caused it to collapse into administration this week.

Japanese NCP It employs 682 people and manages around 340 car parks across the country, but its future has never been more uncertain after falling into £305m of debt.

From a small family firm founded almost 100 years ago, NCP has become a nationwide staple in the parking world.

After being sold to various owners over the last three decades, it has been making headlines lately for gouging prices and excessive enforcement of parking fines.

NCP, 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 on Monday say.

But without making any mention of prices, he blames the decline in parking lot use since the pandemic, as well as rising energy costs due to the war in Ukraine.

NCP was founded in 1931 as a small, family-run company operating car parks in West London.

In 1948 entrepreneurs Sir Ronald Hobson and Sir Donald Gosling founded Central Car Parks in the city and later bought the family business, now known as NCP, in 1959.

NCP is chaired by CEO Rob England and Chief Financial Officer Hideyuki Nagahiro (pictured), who joined the board at the time of its takeover by Park24.

They each invested £100 in setting up their business, initially converting a former bombsite in Holborn in 1948.

As automobile ownership began to expand after World War II, they were able to expand by having ten facilities by the 1950s.

Following the NCP takeover, the firm grew significantly in the late 1990s and would be acquired by US firm Cendant for £801 million.

But that parent company wouldn’t last long amid the massive accounting scandal of 1998 following Cendant’s merger with direct marketing company CUC International.

NCP entered into its first major partnership with Manchester City Council in 1999, before being sold twice more in the early 2000s.

This was a sign of the company’s rapid expansion, with it also acquiring a number of car parks and petrol stations and managing car parking contracts for third parties.

NCP was eventually sold to Japanese firm Park24, by which time it had 150,000 parking spaces in 500 locations across the UK.

At least for now, it’s led by CEO Rob England and Chief Financial Officer Hideyuki Nagahiro, who joined the board at the time of its takeover by Park24.

After working for Japanese banks for more than 20 years, Mr. Nagahiro became responsible for revenue accounting, financial reporting and tax matters.

But his experience in finance could not save the NCP, which has seen its prospects dwindle in recent years.

At the time of the acquisition, Koichi Nishikawa was also signed on as a director of the firm. He resigned in July 2025 after becoming CEO and President of Park24.

NCP achieved a turnover of £187 million in the financial year ending 2023; This means a decrease of 7.15 percent compared to the previous year.

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

By the time the administration’s notice was issued, its portfolio had fallen to 340 venues and its debts had reached £305 million.

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

At the time of the acquisition, Koichi Nishikawa was also signed on as a director of the firm. He resigned in July 2025 after becoming CEO and President of Park24.

Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Elizabeth seen with Sir Donald Gosling (right)

Customers have complained about high prices in recent years; Some car parks in central London were setting them back £60 a day.

In London’s Soho, NCP’s Brewer Street car park charges drivers £15 per hour, or £45 for up to three hours, then rising to £60 for 24 hours.

The firm is also frequently criticized for imposing excessive fines.

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.

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.

A statement issued on behalf of the NCP regarding the appointment of administrators said it had failed to recover from jobs lost in the Covid pandemic amid a rise in flexible working.

Appointed firm PwC said NCP’s performance had ‘deteriorated in the few years following COVID-19, with car park demand not reaching historic levels, particularly in city center and suburban locations’.

He added: ‘Ongoing changes in commuting and customers’ driving habits have impacted site occupancy, while the high concentration of long-term, inflexible leases has resulted in the Company being unable to reduce costs in line with revenue or exit loss-making sites, resulting in continued 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.’

NCP also noted that energy prices have increased since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

PwC stressed that all sites remain open and all employees currently remain in their roles.

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.’