Parking technology Tomorrows world Louise Parfitt talks to Ben Cooke, chief executive officer of the new global brand Intelli-Park, which was launched earlier this year First of all, how did you get into the world of parking? After I finished my A levels, I got a summer job at Parkingeye, supporting a new litigation team. I thought I would do it for three months, but I ended up staying there for the best part of seven years because I enjoyed it so much! In 2020, just as the Covid pandemic struck, I came to work at UKPC as chief commercial officer. vehicles (EVs) now, with a view that this will shift to driverless cars in the future. We need to be prepared for those changes. It is clear that the principles of parking, as we see it today, are shifting. The focus is not on what we are going to do tomorrow, or in the next three months; its on how does this business need to look in five and 10 years time? So what have you done? What are the reasons behind launching Intelli-Park? If we stood still and did exactly what we did 10 years ago, were not going to become the business that we want to be. The new Private Parking Code of Practice will have an impact, both in where we go as a business and what we currently see in terms of parking charge notice generation. The car park and mobility landscape is changing and we are seeing more electric Weve rebranded to Intelli-Park because we are no longer just a parking operator managing spaces for our clients. We still do that, and it is still important UKPC will continue as the enforcement arm of our business but, ultimately, we are now offering a business-toconsumer model, enhancing the customers journey and adding value for our clients. We have built up a massive pool of data because data insight is what drives decisions: 34 PN Apr 2023 pp34-35 Intelli-park.indd 34 23/03/2023 10:54