And it's becoming even more important that shopping centre owners ensure their car parks are looked after appropriately, for the benefit of both their retailers and their shoppers.

Development director at CP Plus Grahame Rose is no stranger to the retail car park environment. He joined the company 11 years ago and almost immediately expanded operations from simply looking after NHS Trust car parks into the retail sector.

"I was specifically brought in to broaden our range," says Rose. "We saw synergies between the services we provided to the NHS Trusts and to the retail side, where the focus is more on customer service than on enforcement and penalties."

To CP Plus, customer service is the most important thing because, as Rose says, "It's all we have got.

"We are a service company," he explains. "We are not selling buttons, we don't have a shop, we are a service provider. So as far as we are concerned, the most important thing is to provide a good service."

CP Plus has 'get you going' kits in each of its sites, including engine oil, de-icer, jump leads and complimentary RAC service for anyone the staff can't help.

Staff will also leave notes for people who have left valuables on display to warn them of the risks in doing so. "We do customer satisfaction surveys to make sure people using the car parks are satisfied with the service we provide," adds Rose.

CP Plus operates in a wide variety of shopping centre and retail park locations. For Munroe K, the company manages four retail park car parks and one shopping centre, while there are two contracts coming soon for further retail parks. At these schemes, CP Plus also provides a facilities management service.

"It makes a lot of sense because we are on site all the time, and because we now have the ability to bring to the site the type of services that they need," says Rose. "And it allows them to save some costs."

CP Plus is also an accredited security company, which means it's an expert when it comes to car park security.

Rose stresses the importance of visible staff presence as a key deterrent to crime occurring in car parks. He also says that CCTV can play its part. "But that must be reactive," he adds. "If someone has smashed a car window and stolen your jacket we have to be able to react."

security focus

ANPR, good lighting, clear lines of vision and no hidden corners are also on his list. In multi-storey car parks he also points to the benefit of secure entrances and exits to ensure no one, who isn't a customer, can get into the car park on foot.

"With these systems you can only open the door if you swipe your ticket," Rose explains.

Unlike other car park management companies, CP Plus is also an SIA-approved contractor. Following on from the licensing of contracted security staff and wheel clampers, all parking attendants will have to be licensed by the authority by the end of this month.

"We can approve staff as their licence goes through," says Rose. "I don't know if it will come in at the end of March but having that approved status is a bonus for us.

"I think it's very good for companies like us, which are professional and qualified. It won't be so good for the smaller companies but it will make a difference to the service."

One of the key issues CP Plus has to deal with is enforcement, particularly in retail parks located close to offices or town centres. But Rose says he prefers not to enforce through penalties and clamping, but instead adopt stage enforcement for offenders, which they call The Step.

"Clamping is a very blunt instrument and it really doesn't work well for everyone," says Rose. "The Step is a staged enforcement policy. So they might get an enforcement notice on the first offence; a second warning might be a sticking notice that is more difficult to remove from a windscreen; then we go to a charge notice. On some sites we have escalating charge notices - for the first offence it might be a £20 charge and then £50."

Redemption schemes are a way of identifying legitimate shoppers as the money they pay for the car park can be redeemed in retail outlets. This has been adopted by some shopping centres, but Rose says it doesn't work so well at retail parks.

"There are a lot of window shoppers at retail parks," says Rose. "They may not buy anything there and you don't want to discourage that.

"I don't see a situation where retailers would be happy with charging customers to park, unless there is a severe problem."

For shopping centres, on the other hand, Rose can foresee an increasing number adopting redemption schemes.

"I think there becomes more and more of a premium on these sites as parking becomes more expensive, as it surely will," says Rose. "Because of supply and demand, spaces become a premium and they will become more expensive. Where town centre parking becomes more expensive, the pressure on free parking will rise, there is no doubt about it.

"Retail parks, especially, will come under pressure and they will have to think about putting in some kind of scheme whereby they limit the time spent on the site or alternatively introduce some redemption system."

Rose predicts that additional costs that are likely to face drivers in the future will also have an effect on retail car parking.

"I think there will be changes," Rose adds. "I don't think there will be anything too unexpected. We all know road charging will come in and congestion charging in town centres will have an effect.

"Whether people will transfer to more out-of-town shopping as a result of that? The only way you are going to encourage people to travel into town centres is to ensure they can get in there easily and let them park their cars.

"It's going to be difficult. People don't like to go shopping on the bus, they want to use their car and if town centres become more expensive they will look at out-of-town centres."

on-site presence

Rose believes that there are a number of issues that need to be addressed in shopping centre and retail park car parks. Security, cleanliness, ensuring there are enough spaces for genuine shoppers and clear signage are among these issues, but he also highlights the management of traffic flows and assisting with space finding at busy times.

"That comes from experience of managing these sites," says Rose. "When car parks are busy it is good to have staff on site, in radio contact with each other, to direct people to where spaces are free and to know where they will have free spaces soon.

"In retail parks there will be sections where people are there for a while but then there will be retailers that have a quick turnover that we can direct them to."

Rose adds that parking attendants frequently use 'Park Here' panels to highlight free spaces in busy car parks where it is not always easy to spot the available bays, particularly in surface car parks.

Whether it's an issue with changing payment systems, security, enforcement, signage or even a need to find a multi-storey car park specialist building contractor, Grahame Rose is the man with all the answers.

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