All they have to do is collect passive money and hire minimal staff, how on earth does this go bankrupt.
lamaldo78 on
The article in full:
National Car Parks (NCP) has gone into administration, putting 682 jobs at risk.
The car park operator said demand for parking had not recovered to pre-Covid levels, pointing to “shifts in commuting and customer driving patterns”.
After consistently losing cash, it could no longer afford to pay its creditors and was unable to scrap “long-term, inflexible” leases on loss-making sites.
Its administrators, PwC, are looking to sell the business as the “best outcome” for those NCP owes money to. “All sites are open, staff remain in post, and trading continues as normal,” PwC added.
“We will be engaging with landlords, employees, and other stakeholders as we explore all options,” PwC said.
NCP is one of the biggest car park operators in the UK, running 340 car parks across the country, including in airports, hospitals and transport hubs.
The firm’s debts were £305m greater than the value of its assets, as of 30 September last year, according to a filing from its parent company, external.
PwC said NCP had a “high concentration” of inflexible leases that prevented it from reducing costs or scrapping unprofitable car parks.
Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and PwC partner, said the company had faced “a challenging trading environment” in recent years.
“Our priority on appointment is to ensure continuity of service while we undertake a detailed review of the business.”
BBC News has contacted the British Parking Association, which represents car park operators, for comment.
trmetroidmaniac on
There’s a huge NCP right outside my office, and the public transport is kinda pants. On paper I’m a prime customer.
But I refuse to use it because the pricing is extortionate.
I found this news surprising, but the more that I think about it, it’s really not.
Bionic_Redhead on
Maybe they could make their car parks even more overpriced
Video-More on
They have been around since my clubbing car parking places late -> 86’s – going to not miss them. – but what comes next is worse. Its not parking meters.
TheSmallestPlap on
My whole adult life I’ve known NCP car parks to be ones to avoid. Maybe if they didn’t practice predatory business tactics alongside extortionate parking fees then they wouldn’t be doing as poorly as they claim. As much as I sympathise with those who may lose their jobs as a result, those at the top who came up with these business strategies will just migrate laterally into similar positions in other firms and see no significant change or consequences.
ByEthanFox on
No offence but how can NCP go bust?
They’re a business that has premises where people arrive, pay, and leave. It’s like running a shop where people pay you just to be open!
Other replies here have complained about the prices and yes, it’s expensive, but on the occasions I’ve had to park there (usually due to poor planning) they’re always busy.
Flying_Wilson17 on
I’m struggling with this one….
Sad that people are losing jobs, but also a rip off parking company that I done care about / are happy to rip people off is going – so win.
Just a shame it will be replaced with another scam, and the people at the top that decided to rip people off with excessve fees will prob not be impacted – the working people will be tho.
ucardiologist on
All this car parks are runed and owned by gangsters and criminal cartels tolerated by so called authorities
They should all have barriers at the entrance and exit no one should ever get fined in a car park
They are criminal entreprises charging distortionate money even nurses who go to work daily to save peoples lives are being charged and fined.
Lextube on
They priced themselves out of having customers. Myself and everyone I know actively avoids NCP car parks unless there is absolutely no other options. It’s a complete last resort. It’s a shame for people to lose their jobs but I’m not sad or surprised by it failing as a business.
humanhedgehog on
If they charged less they’d make more. I actively avoid going near NCP as the rates are terrible and there is always some catch to extort more. In Cardiff the nearby car parks that charge 80% as much are far busier
Worried-Penalty8744 on
Based on my experience in using them in Leeds they’ve priced themselves out of their own market.
Parking fees keep increasing but they never change the dinginess and dodginess of any of their car parks. Don’t take much to string up a few more lights and make it less oppressive for their customers.
If the company is in administration however does that mean they can’t enforce any fees now?
Junior_Main_6425 on
How does a company with a licence to print money go under?
vjeuss on
> was unable to scrap “long-term, inflexible” leases on loss-making sites.
they forgot to say parks are awful and they’ll try anything to push a fine out. I know many people who hate NCP with a passion.
SeyiDALegend on
So rent seeking landlords forced them to increase their prices which drove drivers away which squeezed their profit margins which drove them into debt where creditors squeezed them which ended in them going bankrupt?
messiah-of-cheese on
They dont even give change from their ticket machines and they are still failing… this stinks of corruption.
Also, is should be illegal to provide a self service payment machine that doesnt give change.
Stevey1001 on
did they not pay their own ticket and fine themselves?
Low_Border_2231 on
The city centre ones of these I see here are overpriced and horrible old things so seem to be mostly empty.
GlastoKhole on
To the concern of absolutely nobody but their employees. Parking in town is like 20 quid for a work day, the train is 5 quid if I get on at 10am, 10quid if I get on at 9 the office is 10 minutes walk, traffic, plus parking etc just seems unnecessary for me now so I wouldn’t park in town on workdays and even when I do go into town on the weekend I don’t use their car parks
96JY on
Wheyy! Fuck off NCP! Your carparks were a rip off, I’m not surprised you’ve collapsed. You won’t be missed.
NateShaw92 on
We used to use them for work parking, in an office in another undisclosed city.
Their invoices were annoying and they chased paid invoices despite receiving a remittance, so fuck em. That’s my perspective
MikeHuntSmellss on
Does that mean they will stop hounding me for all the fines I’ve collected over the years?
Soggy_Cabbage on
Doesn’t surprise me, I avoid NCP car parks like the plague as they’re absolute rip offs. Often there’s plenty of independent car parks nearby which are far cheaper or even free for a few hours.
dDpNh on
[This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/s/aktF0SDU5v) from r/london 3 years ago could be a clue as to why. When your parking spaces cost more per hour than some people earn, it’s not exactly a shock.
fgalv on
I presume some PE group bought them, loaded them with debt and demanded year on year 10% growth, forever?
Otherwise I can’t see how such a simple low overhead business could fail.
Video-More on
In simple – no one is going to miss them – bit now we have to pay via gprs and micro pay – via banks. – now I really miss my clubbing days. Good old school parking on yellow lines with a original traffic warden – yellow stripe, ,- and or finding 20p coins if I was luck to even find a meter.. I miss the old party rave days. My2c worth.
RecentTwo544 on
Excellent news.
Shame for the lower-middle tier staff but I’m sure they’ll find other work.
I hope the CEO and upper management have to go home and explain to their kids that times will be tough because daddy/mummy is a useless greedy cunt who worked for an awful company.
Hollywood-is-DOA on
Yet the government thinks that it will magically get young people and the disabled into work. The economy is in free fall.
oklistening01 on
This mean they’ll finally stop chasing me for my unpaid fines lol
swordoftruth1963 on
The current owners bought NCP from Macquarie. The same people that sold Thames Water before it got into trouble. They are masters at rinsing a company of value and finding some mug to take it on loaded with debt
Vivid_Struggle4934 on
Hope I’m not in the minority here but I really don’t think our car parks have to be owned by private companies. It’s such an odd business model. I always found car parks managed by local councils to do far better, usually slightly cheaper than what companies like NCP charge.
AiMacD on
They are so expensive where you would actually want to park, if they were cheaper more people would use
cjc1983 on
Genuinely decided not to spend a weekend in Brighton last month due to the £105 charge to use the NCP car park for the weekend. I pay much less per day to park at Gatwick when I go away for the week!
rmf1989 on
I always thought NCP stood for “Not Cheap Parking.”
Besides, most of them don’t feel very safe, always felt much more secure in QParks.
Borgenschatz on
I’ve seen my local council sell off so many of its car parks to companies the like of NCP. Absolute scum of the earth these companies charging extortionate rates for minimally maintained car parks. Even the council did a better job and it cost like half the price for a standard ticket. No wonder our high streets are dying if we have to take out a loan just to park our damn car for a few hours.
C_Ux2 on
Quick Google says rates in London can be as high as £10 per hour or £60 per day. While I’m completely sure that’s competitive in this age of seemingly ‘rinse the public for everything they have’, I’m not completely sure that’s entirely conducive with a cost-of-living crisis, economic downturn and the death of the high street. The last NCP car park I used was effectively the rubble of something that had been demolished, was open-air, had no visible cameras or attendants, half the ticket machines were out of order and the ones that did work didn’t accept card payments in 2026.
Exxtraa on
Fair and reasonable parking, actual security with regular patrols, safe buildings that don’t stink of piss…… everything that NCP are not.
CapaAbsurda on
[ Removed by Reddit ]
Sad-Basis7411 on
The road surface of the PCP outside the town train station is worse than the moon surface, deep potholes everywhere and mixture of cheap concrete and loose rocks. I would not even park there if it was free.
tarxvfBp on
The founding (?)owner of NCP used to own one of the largest super yachts of its day. Yet this? Hmmmmm. I’m guessing it’s the debt tricks many large corporations, including UK water firms pull?
40 commenti
All they have to do is collect passive money and hire minimal staff, how on earth does this go bankrupt.
The article in full:
National Car Parks (NCP) has gone into administration, putting 682 jobs at risk.
The car park operator said demand for parking had not recovered to pre-Covid levels, pointing to “shifts in commuting and customer driving patterns”.
After consistently losing cash, it could no longer afford to pay its creditors and was unable to scrap “long-term, inflexible” leases on loss-making sites.
Its administrators, PwC, are looking to sell the business as the “best outcome” for those NCP owes money to. “All sites are open, staff remain in post, and trading continues as normal,” PwC added.
“We will be engaging with landlords, employees, and other stakeholders as we explore all options,” PwC said.
NCP is one of the biggest car park operators in the UK, running 340 car parks across the country, including in airports, hospitals and transport hubs.
The firm’s debts were £305m greater than the value of its assets, as of 30 September last year, according to a filing from its parent company, external.
PwC said NCP had a “high concentration” of inflexible leases that prevented it from reducing costs or scrapping unprofitable car parks.
Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and PwC partner, said the company had faced “a challenging trading environment” in recent years.
“Our priority on appointment is to ensure continuity of service while we undertake a detailed review of the business.”
BBC News has contacted the British Parking Association, which represents car park operators, for comment.
There’s a huge NCP right outside my office, and the public transport is kinda pants. On paper I’m a prime customer.
But I refuse to use it because the pricing is extortionate.
I found this news surprising, but the more that I think about it, it’s really not.
Maybe they could make their car parks even more overpriced
They have been around since my clubbing car parking places late -> 86’s – going to not miss them. – but what comes next is worse. Its not parking meters.
My whole adult life I’ve known NCP car parks to be ones to avoid. Maybe if they didn’t practice predatory business tactics alongside extortionate parking fees then they wouldn’t be doing as poorly as they claim. As much as I sympathise with those who may lose their jobs as a result, those at the top who came up with these business strategies will just migrate laterally into similar positions in other firms and see no significant change or consequences.
No offence but how can NCP go bust?
They’re a business that has premises where people arrive, pay, and leave. It’s like running a shop where people pay you just to be open!
Other replies here have complained about the prices and yes, it’s expensive, but on the occasions I’ve had to park there (usually due to poor planning) they’re always busy.
I’m struggling with this one….
Sad that people are losing jobs, but also a rip off parking company that I done care about / are happy to rip people off is going – so win.
Just a shame it will be replaced with another scam, and the people at the top that decided to rip people off with excessve fees will prob not be impacted – the working people will be tho.
All this car parks are runed and owned by gangsters and criminal cartels tolerated by so called authorities
They should all have barriers at the entrance and exit no one should ever get fined in a car park
They are criminal entreprises charging distortionate money even nurses who go to work daily to save peoples lives are being charged and fined.
They priced themselves out of having customers. Myself and everyone I know actively avoids NCP car parks unless there is absolutely no other options. It’s a complete last resort. It’s a shame for people to lose their jobs but I’m not sad or surprised by it failing as a business.
If they charged less they’d make more. I actively avoid going near NCP as the rates are terrible and there is always some catch to extort more. In Cardiff the nearby car parks that charge 80% as much are far busier
Based on my experience in using them in Leeds they’ve priced themselves out of their own market.
Parking fees keep increasing but they never change the dinginess and dodginess of any of their car parks. Don’t take much to string up a few more lights and make it less oppressive for their customers.
If the company is in administration however does that mean they can’t enforce any fees now?
How does a company with a licence to print money go under?
> was unable to scrap “long-term, inflexible” leases on loss-making sites.
they forgot to say parks are awful and they’ll try anything to push a fine out. I know many people who hate NCP with a passion.
So rent seeking landlords forced them to increase their prices which drove drivers away which squeezed their profit margins which drove them into debt where creditors squeezed them which ended in them going bankrupt?
They dont even give change from their ticket machines and they are still failing… this stinks of corruption.
Also, is should be illegal to provide a self service payment machine that doesnt give change.
did they not pay their own ticket and fine themselves?
The city centre ones of these I see here are overpriced and horrible old things so seem to be mostly empty.
To the concern of absolutely nobody but their employees. Parking in town is like 20 quid for a work day, the train is 5 quid if I get on at 10am, 10quid if I get on at 9 the office is 10 minutes walk, traffic, plus parking etc just seems unnecessary for me now so I wouldn’t park in town on workdays and even when I do go into town on the weekend I don’t use their car parks
Wheyy! Fuck off NCP! Your carparks were a rip off, I’m not surprised you’ve collapsed. You won’t be missed.
We used to use them for work parking, in an office in another undisclosed city.
Their invoices were annoying and they chased paid invoices despite receiving a remittance, so fuck em. That’s my perspective
Does that mean they will stop hounding me for all the fines I’ve collected over the years?
Doesn’t surprise me, I avoid NCP car parks like the plague as they’re absolute rip offs. Often there’s plenty of independent car parks nearby which are far cheaper or even free for a few hours.
[This post](https://www.reddit.com/r/london/s/aktF0SDU5v) from r/london 3 years ago could be a clue as to why. When your parking spaces cost more per hour than some people earn, it’s not exactly a shock.
I presume some PE group bought them, loaded them with debt and demanded year on year 10% growth, forever?
Otherwise I can’t see how such a simple low overhead business could fail.
In simple – no one is going to miss them – bit now we have to pay via gprs and micro pay – via banks. – now I really miss my clubbing days. Good old school parking on yellow lines with a original traffic warden – yellow stripe, ,- and or finding 20p coins if I was luck to even find a meter.. I miss the old party rave days. My2c worth.
Excellent news.
Shame for the lower-middle tier staff but I’m sure they’ll find other work.
I hope the CEO and upper management have to go home and explain to their kids that times will be tough because daddy/mummy is a useless greedy cunt who worked for an awful company.
Yet the government thinks that it will magically get young people and the disabled into work. The economy is in free fall.
This mean they’ll finally stop chasing me for my unpaid fines lol
The current owners bought NCP from Macquarie. The same people that sold Thames Water before it got into trouble. They are masters at rinsing a company of value and finding some mug to take it on loaded with debt
Hope I’m not in the minority here but I really don’t think our car parks have to be owned by private companies. It’s such an odd business model. I always found car parks managed by local councils to do far better, usually slightly cheaper than what companies like NCP charge.
They are so expensive where you would actually want to park, if they were cheaper more people would use
Genuinely decided not to spend a weekend in Brighton last month due to the £105 charge to use the NCP car park for the weekend. I pay much less per day to park at Gatwick when I go away for the week!
I always thought NCP stood for “Not Cheap Parking.”
Besides, most of them don’t feel very safe, always felt much more secure in QParks.
I’ve seen my local council sell off so many of its car parks to companies the like of NCP. Absolute scum of the earth these companies charging extortionate rates for minimally maintained car parks. Even the council did a better job and it cost like half the price for a standard ticket. No wonder our high streets are dying if we have to take out a loan just to park our damn car for a few hours.
Quick Google says rates in London can be as high as £10 per hour or £60 per day. While I’m completely sure that’s competitive in this age of seemingly ‘rinse the public for everything they have’, I’m not completely sure that’s entirely conducive with a cost-of-living crisis, economic downturn and the death of the high street. The last NCP car park I used was effectively the rubble of something that had been demolished, was open-air, had no visible cameras or attendants, half the ticket machines were out of order and the ones that did work didn’t accept card payments in 2026.
Fair and reasonable parking, actual security with regular patrols, safe buildings that don’t stink of piss…… everything that NCP are not.
[ Removed by Reddit ]
The road surface of the PCP outside the town train station is worse than the moon surface, deep potholes everywhere and mixture of cheap concrete and loose rocks. I would not even park there if it was free.
The founding (?)owner of NCP used to own one of the largest super yachts of its day. Yet this? Hmmmmm. I’m guessing it’s the debt tricks many large corporations, including UK water firms pull?