CitiPark looks to technology to help accelerate its growth

CITIPARK, the recently-rebranded car park division of Town Centre Securities, is moving firmly into drive mode.

The company, which is seeking to use technology and innovation to gain an advantage on its competitors, has just taken on three multi-storey car parks in Watford after bringing council staff up to the Merrion Centre to see how it operates.

It is focusing on some London opportunities, including positioning itself for the arrival of Crossrail.

CitiPark’s managing director Ben Ziff is excited about how technology is changing customers’ experiences – and how leaving the car park is no longer the slowest part of a journey home.

“Currently Merrion Centre is one of the most technologically-advanced car parks in the UK, and Europe,” said Mr Ziff. “We have number plate recognition, contactless payments, a system that monitors how many vehicles are on each floor and provides that information to drivers on how many spaces there are in each area of the car park.”

The Merrion Centre is an important testing ground as it is the official car park of Leeds Arena and is therefore subject to extremely busy periods when a concert ends. Technology enables cars to leave the car park at a rate of up to 40-per-minute.

Mr Ziff said: “We work very closely with the council to make sure they know when the Arena is emptying. When there’s a bottleneck, it’s the road network.

“We have tested the car park at its capacity and we have managed to empty the car park – 1,000 cars – in 27 minutes.”

He added: “The same bar code on the arena ticket can be used for parking. It’s aimed at pleasing customers.

“The way it works is when customers go and pay the database will mark their registration as having paid, so the number plate recognition system will let them go straight out. It will keep the barrier open and the car goes out.”

Mr Ziff is excited about what is under development but not yet ready to be launched.

“Watch this space,” he said. “We are working on some really clever stuff, which is about how the car park interacts with the vehicles.”

Town Centre Securities had operated car parks previously before selling out to Q Park and being restricted by a 10-year non-compete clause. That ended four years ago and the business, first as Town Centre Securities Car Parks and now as CitiPark, has set about re-establishing itself in the sector.

It now operates 15 branches – rising to 18 with the Watford sites – which are in Leeds, Manchester and London. In total, it manages 5,500 spaces which turnover £5.5m a year, of which half is profit.

Being a new entrant has helped the business because it has been able to put in technology from the beginning, rather than having to install it across its portfolio.

That spirit of innovation is also driving forward other changes, such as enabling its card holders to pre-pay and get preferential rates, and for customers to use different car parks but be rewarded for their loyalty.

The company is taking the long view on growth despite Mr Ziff’s natural impatience.

“In the next three years I would love to be turning over £20m, even £25m, but it will all depend on the right deals at the right time,” he said.

Its acquisition of a 650-space car park in Ilford, east London, demonstrates how CitiPark is planning for the future.

“The current operator just wanted to get out of it because they weren’t performing there,” he said.

“We have taken a longer-term play on it. Ilford train station which is next door will become the Crossral station and the journey to central London, which currently takes 40 minutes, will take nine minutes into Bond Street.”

Mr Ziff is looking to find the balance between the long-standing culture of Town Centre Securities, which is inherently cautious, and the different approach required for CitiPark.

He added: “Town Centre Securities as a business which owns CitiPark 100%, their business model has never been to be aggressive. They have always had the appetite for slow growth.

“However because it’s a retail business it doesn’t work the same way. There are things that we have to do that are a bit more fast paced.

“I am looking for organic growth, that isn’t too fast or quick. I am acutely aware that if we grow too fast we can end up in the smelly stuff before you know it.”