NCP: Main UK automobile park agency collapses into administration

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Your assist makes all of the distinction. Learn extra NCP, one of many UK’s largest automobile park operators, has entered administration, inserting 682 jobs in jeopardy.

The corporate, which manages roughly 340 websites nationwide, has struggled with declining occupancy and mounting losses for the reason that Covid-19 pandemic.

PwC has been appointed as administrator for the enterprise.

Regardless of the transfer, all NCP automobile parks will proceed to function as regular, and employees will stay employed whereas directors assess the long run choices for the corporate.

The agency’s monetary difficulties stem from a big post-pandemic drop in demand for parking, which has did not rebound to pre-Covid ranges.

This downturn has been notably acute in city-centre and commuter places, attributed to shifts in commuting and shopper driving patterns which have impacted automobile park occupancy.

NCP additionally cited challenges posed by the excessive prices related to long-term, rigid leases on websites which have change into unprofitable.

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/04/28/17/car_park_alamy.jpg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/04/28/17/car_park_alamy.jpg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2015/04/28/17/car_park_alamy.jpg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="NCP, which is one of the UK’s biggest operators with around 340 car parks nationwide, appointed administrators at PwC" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

NCP, which is without doubt one of the UK’s greatest operators with round 340 automobile parks nationwide, appointed directors at PwC Some or all of NCP could also be put up on the market as one of many choices to safe its future.

Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and accomplice for PwC, stated: “NCP has confronted a difficult buying and selling setting over a number of years, with altering shopper behaviours impacting volumes, and a excessive mounted cost-base resulting in buying and selling losses.

“Our precedence on appointment is to make sure continuity of service whereas we undertake an in depth evaluation of the enterprise.

“All websites are open, employees stay in publish, and buying and selling continues as regular.

“We shall be participating with landlords, staff and different stakeholders as we discover all choices, together with the potential sale of all or a part of the enterprise, to safe the absolute best consequence for collectors.”

<img src="https://static.independent.co.uk/2026/03/16/16/14/iStock-2260750660.jpeg" srcset="https://static.independent.co.uk/2026/03/16/16/14/iStock-2260750660.jpeg?quality=75&width=320&auto=webp 320w, https://static.independent.co.uk/2026/03/16/16/14/iStock-2260750660.jpeg?quality=75&width=640&auto=webp 640w" loading="lazy" alt="NCP also cited challenges posed by the high costs associated with long-term, inflexible leases on sites that have become unprofitable" class="sc-1mc30lb-0 ggpMaE inline-gallery-btn"/> open picture in gallery

NCP additionally cited challenges posed by the excessive prices related to long-term, rigid leases on websites which have change into unprofitable (Getty/iStock) Since 2017, NCP has been owned by Park24, a Tokyo-listed firm, after being offered by Australia’s Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund.

Newest accounts filed at Corporations Home present that it made a pre-tax lack of £28.2 million within the yr to 30 September 2023 and was £22.5 million within the purple the earlier yr.