National Car Parks, the UK’s biggest car park operator, has fallen into administration, putting nearly 700 jobs at risk.
NCP’s board of directors called in PwC as administrators after it ran out of cash, leaving it unable to pay its landlords and creditors, with significant rent payments due at the end of March.
PwC said it would take steps “to stabilise the business while assessing options for its future” including a sale, with all car parks staying open “for now”, and staff remaining in post. NCP, which dates back to 1931 and is a familiar sight in town centres with its black and yellow signs, employs 682 people.
The Japanese-owned company, which manages 340 car parks across the UK, including in major towns and city centres, airports, hospitals and transport hubs, has struggled in recent years, with “continued shifts in commuting and customer driving patterns,” according to PwC.
Its Tokyo-listed owner, Park24, said NCP had run up debts of £352.6m. It blamed the collapse in demand during the Covid-19 pandemic and “subdued” subsequent recovery, as well as rising operating costs from higher energy prices and “persistently high inflation in the UK, leading to rising inflation‑linked rent payment obligations”.
Since the Covid pandemic, demand for parking has not recovered to historic levels, especially in city centres and commuter towns as more people work from home. Due to a high number of long-term, inflexible leases, the company has been unable to cut costs in line with revenues, or to exit loss-making sites, pushing it into the red, the administrators said.
For now, trading continues as normal and customers will see no immediate changes to the day‑to‑day operations, PwC added.
The administrators are exploring a sale of all or part of the business as one of the options, and will review the viability of each location, which could lead to site closures.
Zelf Hussain, a joint administrator and PwC partner, said: “NCP has faced a challenging trading environment over several years, with changing consumer behaviours impacting volumes, and a high fixed cost-base leading to trading losses.”
He added: “We will be engaging 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.”
Park24 said despite efforts to address lower demand, NCP’s “structural losses” had continued. “NCP pursued new car park developments to support revenue growth, while also implementing cost‑reduction measures such as workforce restructuring.”
Founded by Col Frederick Lucas in west London in 1931, NCP expanded significantly from 1959 when it was acquired by Central Car Parks. From 2002, it was subsequently owned by private equity companies Cinven and 3i, and then by an infrastructure fund run by the Australian bank Macquarie, which loaded it with debt. In 2011, under Macquarie’s ownership, NCP had debts of £450m.
In 2017, it was sold by Macquarie to Park24 and the government-owned Development Bank of Japan.
