Parkex has been and gone. According to some it's the biggest parking Show in the World, it's certainly the biggest one in Europe. And like the curate's egg (See Punch Magazine 8 November 1985 if you don't understand) there were good bits and bad bits. Someone suggested that every year is too much but every year there are first time exhibitors so you see something new and learn something. Touch and go debit cards were launched here last year and it looks like parking is an ideal target meaning that the manufacturers of parking payment systems have to move yet again to respond to the banks' latest bright idea. Trouble is in London they are everyday in Yorkshire they are as common as a nine pound note.
The bad bits, a major part of the UK Parking industry is the big 5 operators NCP, APCOA, Vinci Euro and Q Park. They are usually a major part of the show and Euro usually steals the show with something like a race car simulator to draw the crowds in. This year they all stayed away, although APCOA had a small presence on a stand with one of their clients. It's an old saying that nobody sells anything at a show but if you're not there people ask why and certainly I heard more than one rumour about impending bankruptcies over the two days.
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