A day of well earned smiles

The British Parking Awards 2021 sees the sector gather in celebration of excellence

After 18 months of lockdown, the parking sector came together in London on 24 September for the British Parking Awards 2021. The awards lunch at the Royal Lancaster is the highlight of the parking sector’s social calendar. This was something that more apparent than ever after 18 months of lockdowns and restrictions on social gatherings.

For many people in parking, the awards ceremony in March 2020 has been the last social gathering they had attended before COVID-19 gripped the country. Once the Parking Review team had launched this year’s competition, one regular request from entrants was that they did not mind waiting a while as long as the awards ceremony could be run as a real world event.

Working with the Royal Lancaster, contractors and the Landor LINKS events team, we sought to stage a safe but spectacular show. The feedback on the day, and since, is that this is what we achieved. There was a real sense of joy and camaraderie as colleagues, counterparts, clients and friends from across the sector met in person after so many long months of video conferences.

This year the event was hosted by the comedian and actor Marcus Brigstocke. As the ceremony progressed, it emerged that rather than always use hotels, our compere often drives to gigs in a motorhome, so he is a regular, and appreciative, user of the driveway parking services provided by a number of finalists.

It was intriguing to see Marcus become increasingly engrossed in the competition, and he said drivers really should appreciate the work that goes into providing the parking facilities that are all too easily taken for granted.

Our host was front and centre on stage applauding a special film made by Parking Review to thank the sector for supporting communities, the NHS and critical workers during the pandemic. After the event, Marcus wrote to say: “I thought the event went well. People had fun and that’s what’s important. It was great to see how much extra work people in the parking industry have done to help us all get through the pandemic. Lovely stuff.”?

From everyone at Parking Review, Landor LINKS and on behalf of the jury, I endorse those sentiments. We are now hard at work planning 2022’s awards, which will hopefully be the best yet. ?Big lessons to carry forward: never underestimating the importance of nice wine, slightly naughty jokes, an ABBA soundtrack and, especially, the beneficial effects of sticky toffee pudding!

British Parking Awards 2021: The Winners

• The MiPermit Inspiration Award - Rob Shoebridge
• The MiPermit Inspirartion Award - Richard Walker
• Parking Person of the Year - Paul Slowey
• Parking in the Community Award - BBFi Public Sector Investigations
• Parking as a Service - North Essex Parking Partnership (NEPP)
• Parking Team of the Year - Brighton & Hove City Council Parking Services
• Parking Team of the Year - Derby City Council
• The Intelligent Parking Award - JustPark: Pre-booked parking at West Wittering
• Outstanding Car Park Award - Aberdeen International Airport: APCOA Parking and AGS Airports
• Campaigns Award - NHS Free Car Park Finder: British Parking Association, Parkopedia, YourParkingSpace and JustPark
• Parking Provider of the Year Award - Gemini Parking Solutions
• Communication Award - Project Centre and City of Edinburgh Council
• Parking Technology Award - Barbour Logic: Chatbot Max
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Jeff Jones
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Anjna Patel MBE
• Young Parking Professional Award - Joel Hughes 
• Young Parking Professional Award - Annie Oliver
• Parking Partnerships Award - London Borough of Waltham Forest, NSL and BBFi Public Sector Investigations
• The Front Line Award - Barnet Council and NSL
• The Back Office Award - ZZPS
• The Parking Futures Award - London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, Marston Holdings, Project Centre, Videalert, Smart Transport Hub, Vortex IoT, RingGo and Conduent Transportation
• Car Parks: Special Projects Award - The Common, Hatfield: Bourne Parking and BrightSpace Architects for Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council
• Car Parks: Special Projects Award - Chase Farm Hospital Car Park, London: StructureCare and WT Partnership for the Royal Free NHS Foundation Trust
• Best New Car Park - Kings Dock, Liverpool: Willmott Dixon for Liverpool City Council
• Special Jury Prize - Penham Excel: Nuisance vehicle project