Existing Operators

Exploring challenges faced by existing parking operators

Car park operators in the UK and Ireland have long been a formidable force with a small handful of companies controlling the majority of the sector. As customer needs and expectations evolve, the market moves towards a necessary digital experience that has paved the way for emerging technology companies like YourParkingSpace to bring innovation to the sector.

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Why Yps?

Existing Operators: Why they're being beaten at their own game

The way we move is changing. From shifts in how we use our roads to how we book our travel, peer-to-peer platforms and marketplace models have given consumers more access to choice and ultimate buying power. Competition now firmly favours those who deliver a great customer experience and parking asset owners are needing to adapt and find better solutions or risk losing revenue to nearby parking providers.
One of UK and Ireland's largest online parking marketplaces, YourParkingSpace, gives both commercial and private asset owners the same marketing power and visibility through their online shop window that traditional operators are afforded through their big marketing budgets. Introducing over 450,000 alternative parking locations to the market from sectors including hotels, supermarkets, churches, restaurants and serviced offices, the options for motorists are growing at a rapid pace and forcing existing operators to rethink how they will match - or beat - the tremendous value being generated for competing clients by new entrants.

Lack of technological innovation.

Traditional operators are not technology companies and therefore use third-party equipment to run their car parks. As they don't develop their own technology, their locations can have anywhere upwards of three different hardware and software suppliers including a barrier provider, kiosk payment provider and pay by phone provider.

The problem? Multiple products produce separate data, and those that haven't been modernised in a number of years produce static and offline data making it impossible for operators and landlords alike to optimise these sites. In a sector undergoing a dramatic digital transformation, depth, scale and accessibility of data is key to maximising site revenue and is something existing operators simply cannot produce. This is where the traditional operator begins to fall behind.

Laptop

Lack of technological innovation.

Traditional operators are not technology companies and therefore use third-party equipment to run their car parks. As they don't develop their own technology, their locations can have anywhere upwards of three different hardware and software suppliers including a barrier provider, kiosk payment provider and pay by phone provider.

The problem? Multiple products produce separate data, and those that haven't been modernised in a number of years produce static and offline data making it impossible for operators and landlords alike to optimise these sites. In a sector undergoing a dramatic digital transformation, depth, scale and accessibility of data is key to maximising site revenue and is something existing operators simply cannot produce. This is where the traditional operator begins to fall behind.

Recouping significant investment through high fees.

An inability to innovate in the sector has resulted in existing operators deploying the same hardware and setting up car parks in the same way they have done for a number of years. The expensive CAPEX required to deploy these sites may be an initial cost incurred by the operator, however, it is a cost that needs to be recovered. CAPEX recovery is typically worked into the ‘guaranteed rent’ model where a reduced fixed rent is offered to the landlord in order to recoup the high capital cost.

Laptop

Recouping significant investment through high fees.

An inability to innovate in the sector has resulted in existing operators deploying the same hardware and setting up car parks in the same way they have done for a number of years. The expensive CAPEX required to deploy these sites may be an initial cost incurred by the operator, however, it is a cost that needs to be recovered. CAPEX recovery is typically worked into the ‘guaranteed rent’ model where a reduced fixed rent is offered to the landlord in order to recoup the high capital cost.

Spotlight: Just how guaranteed is my rent?
Spotlight: Just how guaranteed is my rent?

Just how guaranteed is my rent? The recent COVID pandemic highlighted just how ‘guaranteed’ your rent really isn’t. Many existing operators simply ‘turned off the tap’ in a time of crisis leaving landlords high and dry before attempting to renegotiate lease terms at a heavily discounted rate. Not only was this a clear breach of contract, but it also exposed that the existing operator model is not sustainable.

Zero incentive to yield the car park.

Whilst existing operators are capable of parking cars and capturing passing traffic, they do not have the ability to generate revenue which was demonstrated over the pandemic period that resulted in landlords going unpaid and leases in need of renegotiation.

YourParkingSpace has built an entire business model on yielding and optimising car parks to generate the maximum revenue from the asset. Through our online marketplace and alternative asset-optimising strategies enabling the mobility sector, YourParkingSpace is generating clients such as Morrison’s, Tesco, British Land and Whitbread Plc over £14 million per year in parking revenue alone.

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Zero incentive to yield the car park.

Whilst existing operators are capable of parking cars and capturing passing traffic, they do not have the ability to generate revenue which was demonstrated over the pandemic period that resulted in landlords going unpaid and leases in need of renegotiation.

YourParkingSpace has built an entire business model on yielding and optimising car parks to generate the maximum revenue from the asset. Through our online marketplace and alternative asset-optimising strategies enabling the mobility sector, YourParkingSpace is generating clients such as Morrison’s, Tesco, British Land and Whitbread Plc over £14 million per year in parking revenue alone.

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