NCP car parks at Birmingham Airport retain park mark awards

NCP has successfully retained the Park Mark award for nine of its 10 car parks at Birmingham Airport, following a rigorous assessment by West Midlands Police. It is the seventh consecutive year in which it has achieved the standard, which has only been awarded to one quarter of UK car parks.

The Safer Parking Scheme is a national standard for UK car parks that have a low incidence of crime, and measures in place to ensure the safety of people and vehicles.  The Park Mark, awarded to each car park that meets the requirements of a police risk assessment, takes into account appropriate levels of surveillance, lighting, signage and cleanliness.

Tom Freeman, Operations Manager for NCP at Birmingham Airport, said he was delighted to have achieved Park Mark status for the seventh year in a row. “The safety of passengers using our car parks is our biggest priority, so to receive recognition for our commitment to this is very gratifying.

“In the last year, we have invested an additional £30,000 on state-of-the-art CCTV systems to improve visibility. This, combined with existing security measures such as Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR), will create an even safer environment for Birmingham Airport passengers.”

Michael Gardner, British Parking Association Area Manager said: “These awards are very well deserved and testament to the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to maintain the standards required. An airport brings unique challenges and demands for car park management and it is always impressive to see the effective partnership working that takes place and the constant strive to make improvements where required as well as putting the Customer first.”

The company’s success comes just as Birmingham Airport embarks on a £100 million investment programme across the airport site, which will include improvements, surface access and car parking in its facilities. A separate Meet & Greet car park will be created as well as a free Drop & Go car park.

Jo Lloyd, Commercial Director at Birmingham Airport, said: “To achieve this award for the seventh year in a row shows the fantastic work of our partners, NCP, as well as the airport’s commercial team in ensuring good quality and safer parking facilities are available for our passengers all year round.

“The investment going into parking facilities over the next year means there will soon be a free Drop Off car park connected with a covered walkway to the terminal entrance. Existing car parks will also be upgraded and a brand new surface car park is planned.”

News that the company had retained its Park Mark status also followed shortly after it received the Parking Management Award at the recent Disabled Parking Awards ceremony in recognition of its work with Disabled Motoring UK on their new parking standard, the Disabled Parking Award (DPA).

The award has been introduced to help improve parking for disabled people and reducing abuse of disabled spaces. Birmingham Airport is the first UK airport car park to receive a DPA. It is among over 100 NCP sites that are DPA accredited, which is more than all other parking operators combined.