Companies news APCOA acquires NCPS APCOA Parking Group has completed the acquisition of the business of Nationwide Controlled Parking Services (NCPS), one of the biggest car park operators in Ireland. It also includes subsidiaries PEA and Mobile Research Solutions, trading as parkbytext. NCPS manages more than 1,100 car parks with more than 100,000 car park spaces. Following approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the acquisition was legally completed on 8 August 2019. The combined operation resulting from the acquisition sees APCOAs business in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland double in size to cover more than 1,750 site locations. This is a very exciting development for APCOA and NCPS, said Philippe Op de Beeck, CEO of APCOA Parking Group. It combines the strengths of the businesses across all sectors, markets and geographies, and brings together two strong management teams with complementary skills and abilities. Flowbird helps strategy take flight Parking technology developed by Flowbird is helping Angus Council roll out a digital strategy to optimise the benefits of cashless payment systems and virtual parking permits. As part of this strategy, Angus Council has installed 40 new Flowbird solar-powered cashless parking terminals across the region and introduced the companys white label, online parking payment portal Pay to Park. This system enables registered users to pay remotely for individual sessions or buy period-based virtual permits covering off-street parking. The new terminals have been installed at six locations. All offer card and contactless payment options, as well as QR code scanning and NFC tag functionality enabled for iOS and Android smartphone platforms. Angus Council has also ordered 14 coin-only machines from Flowbird to meet the needs of citizens less able to access digital services. This is in response to a survey, where 75 per cent of almost 2,000 respondents said they would favour the introduction of coin-operated meters. Communities convener Cllr Mark Salmond said: Digital transactions and contactless payments are increasingly a part of everyday life, but we accept it is not yet part of everyones routine. That is why we have listened, and installed coin-operated meters. Appy to join forces with Liftshare Sustainable travel and car-sharing company Liftshare has announced a new partnership with innovative smart parking and intelligent mobility pioneers AppyWay. The pair will develop technology solutions to enable large employers to better manage their corporate car parking assets and deliver sustainable travel outcomes by driving greater adoption of car sharing by employees for their daily commute. Liftshares new integration with AppyWays smart car park solution allows companies to supercharge adoption of car-sharing through greater visibility and real-time availability of parking bays. They can also use it to allocate premium parking spaces, such as those nearest to the office, exclusively for users of Liftshare. Liftshare says it saves its 700 clients more than 20m per year in parking costs, reducing the amount of spaces and land required to be leased. It offers companies a bespoke, branded car-sharing platform for their staff to use. The dashboard records all the data, so reports can be generated on realtime figures for CO2 reduction, number of miles saved, and monetary savings by staff, who cut their costs by 50 per cent by sharing with colleagues. Liftshare CEO Ali Clabburn said: The opportunity to collaborate with companies such as AppyWay means that our clients get a well thought through, integrated solution that supports their goals and objectives when it comes to managing their car parks. Our goal of taking one billion miles off UK roads by 2020 is even more achievable when we work with others to share our vision. Green plaudits for firm Mobile parking payment provider PayByPhone has won two awards for its groundbreaking environmental initiative Meters for Trees, the first carbon-reduction programme of its kind in the UK. The initiative is based on a simple principle: replacing parking machines with trees. Councils sign up by committing to remove their parking meters over a period of time and going cashless with PayByPhone. Cashless parking payment technology improves air quality by removing the need for enforcement and maintenance vehicles. Competing against more than 500 other nominees, PayByPhone scooped Global Gold Awards in the Carbon Reduction and Local Authorities categories at the 2019 Green World Environment Awards. The wins exemplify the success of the companys Meters for Trees programme, and its accomplishment in achieving carbon-neutral status. Jonny Combe, CEO of PayByPhone UK, said: We realised the need for our business to be part of a positive change for the environment. Meters for Trees is a way for us to support our local authority clients with their environmental goals. It provides a simple and costeffective solution to help councils combat pollution at a time when many are declaring an environmental emergency and facing challenges in reducing their carbon footprint. RingGo scoops major award RingGos Emissions Based Parking (EBP) solution has won the European Parking Award for excellence in parking. Established by the European Parking Association as a biennial award for excellence in parking, the award recognises industry leaders who provide exceptional services to customers. It also shines a spotlight on the development of good working practices in onand off-street parking, as well as the effective and sustainable management of parking facilities. RingGos EBP solution rewards motorists who drive low-emissions vehicles such as electric or hybrid vehicles with lower parking tariffs. The aim is to incentivise motorists to save money by driving cleaner vehicles and reduce their carbon footprint in the process. The system automatically assesses the car, based on realtime data including fuel type and the year of manufacture then applies tariffs based on pre-defined brackets set by local councils. Emissions Based Parking is currently operational in Westminster, Camden, Islington and the City of London. 12 britishparking.co.uk PN Nov19 pp10-13 Companies News.indd 12 24/10/2019 12:15