Britain’s largest automotive park operator NCP set to enter administration risking 1,000 jobs

Britain’s biggest car park firm is set to crash into administration, the Daily Mail and This is Money can reveal.

The company runs over 800 car parking sites across the country and employs more than 1,000 people.

Documents lodged today with London’s High Court say it has filed an intention to appoint an administrator.

This is a formal legal step filed in court, often providing a company with 10 days’ protection from creditor legal actions.

The notice was filed at 10.01am today and is likely to shock customers and clients, which range from private landowners to councils.

NCP has filed notice of intention to appoint administrators in the High Court today

The firm has been frequently criticised in recent years for levying overzealous fines.

Last February, NCP apologised and quashed all incorrectly applied fines after a grandfather was incorrectly asked to cough up a £100 penalty charge for a 14-minute stay in Darlington, County Durham.

Signs at car park stated parking was free for customers for 90 minutes.

In 2024, Bolton Council wrote off almost £1.5million in debts owed by the company from during the pandemic.

Reports say NCP turned over £187million for the financial year ending 2023, a 7.15 per cent drop from the previous year.

Reynolds Porter Chamberlain, law firm representing the company, said it would be issuing a statement later today.

How parking fines have soared 

Private companies are hitting drivers with nearly 40,000 parking charges a day, This is Money revealed last year, while the DVLA is raking in almost £100,000 every 24 hours as a result.

The agency’s full-year figures showed requests for a record 14,371,841 vehicle ownership details from private parking firms in 2024-25.

This was an increase of 13 per cent on the year previous and 39,375 per day on average. 

Charges can be issued by private parking operators to drivers for overstaying time restrictions in car parks at supermarkets, shopping centres, business parks, motorway services and restaurant locations, with charges amounting to as much as £100.

However, in order to issue parking charge notices by post, they must first request the vehicle owner’s information – including their home addresses – from the DVLA at £2.50 a time.