British Land sets out its 'positive enforcement' approach to parking at retail destinations

David Tudor-Morgan tells Parking & Propery delegates that UK's retail parking management model is 'somewhat broken'

The way in which retailers operate their car parks needs to change, says British Land, a leading property company. David Tudor-Morgan, British Land’s head of retail property development, told delegates at Parking & Property 2016 that the model used to manage much retail parking was “somewhat broken”.

“When you issue a parking ticket you have failed,” he said.

Tudor-Morgan said there was no benefit in making parking difficult to access or in penalising motorists. “If a shopper is issued a penalty they will tell family and friends. That is not an experience that has been positive.”

British Land operates a portfolio of shopping centres and retail parks, which attract 340 million visitors each year. These are served by a mix of paid-for parking and free parking. British Land conducts around 150,000 customer interviews every year. The two things that are mentioned most are toilets and parking.

He cited IBM research that found drivers spend an average of 20 minutes searching for a parking space. Some 60% of drivers abandon their search for a space at least once, and 25% had argued with another motorist over a space.

Tudor-Morgan said physical retailers need to make parking more convenient as we live in an era where people can order goods online via Amazon Prime and receive them within two hours.

British Land has been working to improve the parking experience across its retail estate.

At sites where parking is free and time limited, British Land is adopting a process that it terms “positive enforcement”. The car park operators British Land uses are not incentivised to issue fines. Customers who contravene the parking rules are issued two warning notices before a parking charge notice is issued.

A dedicated telephone helpline has been set up to deal with parking enquiries. Uniformed patrols mean that it is easier for customers to identify who is working in the car parks.

There is also better monitoring of who is using both disabled and parent & child bays.

A proactive approach is being adopted toward peak trade demand. The location of staff parking is being addressed – at some locations they account for up to 10% of car park users.

British Land’s research shows that visitors who rate car park quality 5 out 5 travel 6% further to shop, spend 7% more than average and spend 6% more than average on catering.

This sixth year that Parking & Property has been programmed by Parking Review and the consultancy Parking Matters.