FEATURE Unsung heroes Parking engagement officer John Matthews is our hero, enthuses the events and filming team at Westminster City Council. Although John works in a separate department of the council, he is a valued and critical part of our team. He helps to facilitate more than 2,500 event applications a year including world-class ones such as the London Marathon, Ride London, and Pride as well as filming for feature films and TV programmes. In addition to his day job within parking services, John provides our team with an encyclopaedic knowledge of every Westminster road, parking bay and yellow line, along with information on traffic flows, road and building works, and resident movements. This insight and advice is given freely andwillingly at all times of the day, and forms a crucial part in the evaluation of the wider event or filming request. Johns firm but fair dealings on the street earn him respect from film crews, location managers and event organisers. His ability to problem solve is second to none, and this allows us to facilitate the demands of the filming and event industries in central London while balancing the need to keep London moving for the citys businesses and residents. Compassionate Barbara Ellis, from the Northampton Borough Council parking team, is a true asset. Barbara Ellis has been praised by colleagues and members of the public John Matthews (right) at work in Westminster The BPAs membership development manager Alison Tooze has won a nomination for her hard work supporting local authority members. Richard Hein, head of parking services and CCTV at Winchester City Council, highlighted Alison for her continued support to all of the local authority groups and many others over a number of years at the BPA. I think many of us would be a little lost without Alis great support, he adds. I think many of us would be a little lost without Alis great support Josh Jolly ensures a five-star parking experience for yourparkingspace customers Ali Tooze in action on the Parkex catwalk Barbaras boss, parking and bus station manager Alan Craggs, nominated her as an unsung hero. He explained that she had been lacking in self-belief and would stay inthe background in team discussions. During the past year, however with the help of the management team her confidence has grown immensely. She has trained many new officers and now constructively challenges working practices to ensure the team is delivering a high level of customer service. Barbaras colleagues agree. One said: Barbara is a great trainer; she explains everything clearly and is always available to assist should problems arise. Another added: Barbara leads by example and willjust get on and deal with things, ratherthan wait for others to do them. Herthoughts are all for the customers and their experiences. One customer contacted Alan, writing: Unfortunately, my wife was taken ill while our car was parked in the Mayorhold. Ihad to ask my son to contact your office, as I was at the hospital with my wife. He spoke to Barbara and explained the situation. She was compassionate and understanding, and arranged for our vehicle to be released when my son went to collect it, without charge, which took an enormous amount of stress off of me while attending my wife. Josh Jolly is quality control executive at yourparkingspace.co.uk He has been nominated by the companys technical director, Charles Cridland, for his work in ensuring that every user of the platform has a five-star parking experience. Joshs job involves screening all new locations added to the platform so were able to maintain a consistently high standard across our inventory and deliver on our drivers expectations, explains Charles. He manages and monitors customer reviews, to optimise details on listings such as descriptions, access information and parking instructions as well as overseeing our TrustPilot account and following up any experiences that miss the mark. Its a challenging role that requires a unique and valuable set of skills. Performing his duties all the way from Thailand, after moving there from the UK earlier this year, Joshs ability to create positive opportunities for the business off the back of his qualitycontrol efforts certainly makes him our most under-rated employee. 28 Britishparking.co.uk PNDec18 pp27-29 Unsung Heroes.indd 28 26/11/2018 16:22