NCP Enters Administration, Closes 22 UK Sites

National Car Parks (NCP), Britain's largest private parking operator, entered administration on March 16, leading to the permanent closure of 22 sites across the UK on Friday, March 27. The move affects 33 employees, who will be made redundant on March 31, while the company's remaining 318 car parks will continue to operate normally.

The closures stem from an initial assessment by joint administrators Zelf Hussain, Rachael Wilkinson, and Toby Banfield of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), who determined that the affected sites were no longer commercially viable. Landlords and staff at locations including Bristol's Nelson Street, Exeter's Market Street, Leicester's Abbey Street and East Street, Birmingham's Gough Street, and London's Harley Street and Knightsbridge have been notified. These sites, primarily in city centers, stations, and shopping areas, represent a fraction of NCP's 340 nationwide operations, which also include facilities at airports and hospitals.

NCP, founded in 1931 and employing 682 people, has struggled to recover from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. A sustained decline in parking demand, driven by the rise of flexible and remote working, reduced...