NCP Closes 29 Car Parks Across UK After Entering Administration

National Car Parks, the UK's largest parking operator, appointed administrators in mid-March after reporting poor financial results and a shift in commuting, driving and parking patterns following the pandemic. Consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers was brought in to oversee the business as it began closing sites.

Prior to administration, the company, which is owned by Japanese firm Park24, operated 340 sites and employed nearly 700 people. The operator confirmed it would close 20 car parks on March 27 because they were commercially unviable. No additional sites were identified for closure at that time.

PricewaterhouseCoopers cited financial difficulties as the main reason for exiting loss-making sites. The firm added that NCP had insufficient cash available to meet its financial obligations, which prompted the decision to appoint administrators. A total of 29 sites have now closed.

Twenty shut on March 27, four closed in mid-April and five more closed at the end of April.

Some former NCP locations have already been taken over by other parking operators as local authorities move to fill gaps left by the closures. Several closed car parks have reopened under new management. In one city, officials confirmed that Euro Car Parks had taken over the operation of three former NCP sites.

The operator now runs three of five former NCP car parks in that location, including sites at St Nicholas Circle and East Street. Local authorities will discuss the future of the remaining two sites soon. NCP car parks closed on Friday, March 27 include locations in Ashford, Ashton-under-Lyne, Banbury, Bexley, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Bristol, Bromley, Eastbourne, Exeter, Grantham, Hinckley, Ipswich, Leicester, London, Luton and others.

Sites closed on Thursday, April 16 include locations in Belfast, Coventry, Leicester and Sheffield. The final five closed on Thursday, April 30 in Bradford, Chester, Kidderminster, Nottingham and Southampton.