Parking should be easy, flexible and affordable for motorists, car park operators and landowners. Managing director Stuart Cole explains why Wise Parking leads the way when it comes to making parking a positive experience.
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DIFFICULT technology… broken machines… unclear signage… some of the most common complaints that can make the simple act of finding and paying for a parking space such a stressful experience.
But, says one parking operator, it does not have to be this way.
“I believe that if you can give people every possible opportunity to do things correctly they will tend to do things as well as they can,” says Stuart Cole. “If the act of parking does not have an impact on you, that is because it is being done well.”
Stuart is managing director of Wise Parking, one of around 200 specialist parking companies in the UK but one committed to creating a positive parking experience. Wise Parking uses the latest technology combined with a people-centric approach to deliver results for the landowner who employs the company and for the motorist who just wants somewhere to park quickly, simply and safely.
“When parking is well managed, people do it without thinking,” said Stuart. “But there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make it happen. Technology helps to make it better and easier without customers realising.”
Stuart’s background is in IT. He was working for a major employer in the sector when he and his team were assigned a contract to build a software system for a client in the parking sector. Impressed with his work, the company offered him a job which he accepted before leaving to set up Wise Parking in 2021.
“We do everything, all the technology behind it and we install and monitor cameras,’ He said. “We run the back office, we handle payments, we bring the solutions that create the best experience for people.
“It makes it easier for them to do the right thing and therefore avoid a parking ticket. Most people obey the parking rules and most people will do their best to park well. We need to understand that.”
Other companies in the sector work on a revenue-generating model that focuses on parking charges and penalties for infringements. But, Stuart said, as this is designed to take advantage of the customer, rather than support them, it can create negative feelings about the location used for parking and the venues they support.
Wise Parking’s team of ten employees working at its head office in Daventry’s Icon innovation Centre sift through potential parking infringements at the 50-plus sites managed on behalf of its clients before issuing the dreaded parking charge notice. The reason: people make mistakes, and they often do not mean to, said Stuart.
“It is to our benefit to catch the error before the parking ticket goes out to the person. It is more efficient for us and reduces the stress that people feel when an unnecessary parking ticket arrives through their door.”
The modern, technology-focused approach to parking management operated by Wise Parking delivers the company’s clients the best payment rates and compliance for their tariffs, helping to ensure that the landowner benefits from a seamless parking experience for clients and users, a better return on investment and happier visitors.
Now Wise Parking is looking to develop its services to the business community in Northamptonshire and the wider South Midlands region. Wise Parking has become a platinum partner of Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes Chambers of Commerce, is the sponsor of the Sustainability category at the Northamptonshire Chamber’s Northamptonshire Business Awards this year.
“It struck me that we are spending a lot of time running up and down the country putting parking solutions in place when there is a lot of business in this area that we do not even consider. Within an hour of here there is a huge amount of opportunity where we can do things far better than is being done currently.”
Wise Parking joined the Chamber because their members are the ones Stuart feels he needs to be talking to. Sponsoring the Sustainability Award is an added way to raise the company’s profile locally.
“We are trying to have a positive impact as a business in an industry that is generally seen in a less positive light and we want to change that perception.”
Wise Parking sits on the technology committee of the parking industry’s trade association the International Parking Community. It is testament to the progress and growth the company has made in the past three years since its foundation. It installs a range of parking solutions including its bespoke permit systems, Automatic Number Plate Recognition – including systems operated via renewables – traditional and solar Pay & Display machines and CCTV parking enforcement. Wise Parking also installs parking signage and provides man-on-the-ground manned car park management.
Clients include Silverstone Circuits Limited, for whom Wise Parking used their IT bias to integrate with the Silverstone ticket purchasing system proving a huge increase in performance, and effectiveness for the parking operations. This also included temporary ANPR cameras to manage the tens of thousands of vehicles converging on the Northamptonshire circuit for this year’s F1 British Grand Prix and MotoGP. They are looking forward to supporting other major motorsport events. “That was quite a coup,” said Stuart.
“We want to push the event parking aspect of our business,” said Stuart. “It’s a special skillset with a reliance on technology, so ideal for what we can offer.
“At the end of the day, we would like to talk to any landowners, serviced offices, anybody that has people who visit them. We want people to come back to the same car park and we are here to help landowners to help people to come back.
“We help landowners to get the revenues they want by running the car park properly and get a better return as a result.”
Wise Parking’s investment in ensuring it operates the latest technology is considerable. The company upgrades and updates its core software continually, and ensures scalability by using the best features of AWS. It is essential in order to keep pace with progress and to stay ahead of competitors, said Stuart.
“If we do not, we could start to let people down and we cannot have our system falling behind. We would always rather pay more and get the systems right rather than try to save a few pounds and end up letting people down.”
The next steps in the growth plans of Wise Parking is to work with local businesses with parking management requirements as well as local authorities, sports stadia, retail parks and other sites where well-run parking is essential. “We want to be making a difference,” Stuart added.
The longer-term plan is to take the Wise Parking model overseas, particularly to North America. “It is not the same over there,” said Stuart. “We are a lot further forward than they are in the way we operate and there is a great opportunity for them to reap the benefit of what we do and how we have learned to do it.
“I am determined that we are going to make it happen.”
But Wise Parking’s commitment to its UK customers remains. “Our focus is on using information and constant feedback to deliver parking services and management to make parking management easy, flexible, and affordable for landowners.
Getting all this right will mean your visitors are in the right place mentally to really enjoy your facilities and the experience you have to offer.”
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