Better Choice Parking

Last updated
BCP
TypePrivate
Founded1963
Headquarters Hythe, England
Key people
Matthew Pack (CEO)
Products Airport parking
Parent Holiday Extras
Website www.parkbcp.co.uk

BCP, formerly Better Choice Parking, is an airport parking operator in the UK, [1] also offering parking at Dover and Southampton ports. [2] BCP also sells pre-bookable central London parking. [3]

History of BCP

BCP was incorporated in November 1963 as Terminus Securities Limited. In 1978 Terminus Securities acquired a car park at Gatwick Airport, on the airport boundary next to the runway, from British Chemotheutic Products.

In 1988 Stephen Moss, who had gained an MBA in Business Studies at the London Business School, was appointed managing director of BCP, the family's car parking business. Moss was instrumental in growing a small car park investment at Gatwick into a 5,000 space operation incorporating the UK's first multi-storey block-parked car park. [4]

In October 1991 BCP extended the scope of their car parking operations by setting up a multi airport booking system using a network of airport car parks around the country. The network included their own Gatwick car park plus off airport parking facilities for Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds Bradford, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast. BCP also offered advance booking facilities for the on-airport car parks at Luton, East Midlands, Manchester, Cardiff and Southampton. There were also facilities for parking at the seaports of Dover and Folkestone. The BCP booking service was awarded the ISO 9002 Certificate for Quality Assurance in 1995. [5]

In 1996 BCP introduced a Meet and Greet parking service [6] and also launched a chauffeur driven airport car service at the major UK airports. In 1998 BCP extended their product range to offer bookings for overnight airport hotels and UK short breaks. In 1999 BCP also began to offer worldwide car hire, travel insurance and airport executive lounges. In July 1999 the company was incorporated, becoming BCP Limited. BCP moved to bespoke new offices at Astrid Towers, which housed a modern call centre [7] and the company was accredited with the Investors In People Award in 2000. [5]

In March 2006 BCP announced that it would be joining forces with Ryanair, allowing their passengers to book BCP products through the Ryanair website. [8]

In December 2008, the company was acquired by Holiday Extras. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">London Stansted Airport</span> Passenger airport at Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England

London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, 42 mi (68 km) northeast of Central London.

Aer Lingus is the flag carrier of Ireland. Founded by the Irish Government, it was privatised between 2006 and 2015 and it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of International Airlines Group (IAG). The airline's head office is on the grounds of Dublin Airport in Cloghran, County Dublin.

EasyJet plc is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlines EasyJet UK, EasyJet Switzerland, and EasyJet Europe. EasyJet plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. EasyGroup Holdings Ltd, the investment vehicle of the airline's founder, Greek-Cypriot businessman Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is the largest shareholder with a 15.27% stake. It employs circa 13,000 people, based throughout Europe but mainly in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luton Airport</span> International airport in Luton, England

London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the town centre, and 28 miles (45 km) north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by Luton Borough Council, and operated by London Luton Airport Operations Ltd (LLAOL).

RyanairDAC is an Irish ultra low-cost carrier founded in 1984. It is headquartered in Swords, Dublin, Ireland, and has its primary operational bases at Dublin and London Stansted airports. It forms the largest part of the Ryanair Holdings family of airlines and has Ryanair UK, Buzz, Lauda Europe, and Malta Air as sister airlines. It is Ireland's biggest airline and in 2016 became Europe's largest budget airline by scheduled passengers flown, carrying more international passengers than any other airline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Airport</span> Airport in Manchester, England

Manchester Airport is an international airport in Ringway, Manchester, England, 7.5 nautical miles south-west of Manchester city centre. In 2019, it was the third busiest airport in the United Kingdom in terms of passenger numbers and the busiest of those not serving London. The airport comprises three passenger terminals and a cargo terminal. It covers an area of 560 hectares and has flights to 199 destinations, placing the airport thirteenth globally for total destinations served.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edinburgh Airport</span> Airport in Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Airport is an airport located in the Ingliston area of Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the busiest airport in Scotland in 2019, handling over 14.7 million passengers. It was also the sixth-busiest airport in the United Kingdom by total passengers in 2019, and second-busiest outside London. It is located 5 NM west of the city centre, just off the M8 and M9 motorways. It is owned and operated by Global Infrastructure Partners, who are also a minority shareholder of Gatwick Airport. The airport has one runway and one passenger terminal and employs about 2,500 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belfast International Airport</span> Leisure airport in Northern Ireland

Belfast International Airport is an airport 11.5 NM northwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland, is the main airport for the city of Belfast. Until 1983, it was known as Aldergrove Airport, after the nearby village of Aldergrove. In 2018, over 6.2 million passengers travelled through the airport, a 7.4% increase compared with 2017. The majority of flights from Belfast International are operated by easyJet, Northern Ireland's biggest airline. It features flights to some European metropolitan and several leisure destinations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Midlands Airport</span> Airport in the East Midlands of England

East Midlands Airport is an international airport in the East Midlands of England, close to Castle Donington in northwestern Leicestershire, between Loughborough, Derby and Nottingham ; Leicester is to the south and Lincoln northeast. It serves the whole East Midlands region of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Rutland and Derbyshire. The airfield was originally built as a Royal Air Force station known as RAF Castle Donington in 1943, before being redeveloped as a civilian airport in 1965.

Heathrow Airport Holdings is the United Kingdom-based operator of Heathrow Airport. The company also operated Gatwick Airport, Stansted Airport, Edinburgh Airport and several other UK airports, but was forced by the Competition Commission to sell them in order to break up a monopoly. It was formed by the privatisation of the British Airports Authority as BAA plc as part of Margaret Thatcher's moves to privatise government-owned assets, and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Park and ride</span> Car park with public transport connections

A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system, or carpool for the remainder of the journey. The vehicle is left in the parking lot during the day and retrieved when the owner returns. Park and rides are generally located in the suburbs of metropolitan areas or on the outer edges of large cities. A park and ride that only offers parking for meeting a carpool and not connections to public transport may also be called a park and pool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Derry Airport</span> Airport in Northern Ireland.

City of Derry Airport, previously known as RAF Eglinton and Londonderry Eglinton Airport, is a regional airport located 7 mi (11 km) northeast of Derry, Northern Ireland. It is located on the south bank of Lough Foyle, a short distance from the village of Eglinton and 8 mi (13 km) from the city centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gatwick Airport railway station</span> Railway station in West Sussex, England

Gatwick Airport railway station is on the Brighton Main Line in West Sussex, England. It serves Gatwick Airport, 26 miles 47 chains (42.8 km) down the line from London Bridge via Redhill. The platforms are about 70 metres (230 ft) to the east of the airport's South Terminal, with the ticket office above the platforms and station entrances and exits directly connected to the terminal. The station is also connected to the airport's North Terminal by the Airport Shuttle people-mover. Gatwick Airport was the busiest station in South East England from 2017 to 2018. There have been two stations at Gatwick, sited about 0.85 miles (1.37 km) from each other.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterford Airport</span> Airport in Killowen

Waterford Airport is located in Killowen, 4 NM southeast of Waterford. It serves southeastern Ireland. The airport is operated by Waterford Regional Airport plc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zoom Airlines</span> Canadian low-fare transatlantic airline

Zoom Airlines Inc. was a Canadian low-fare scheduled transatlantic airline with its headquarters in the Place Bell Canada building in Ottawa, Ontario. Zoom operated year-round scheduled services to Europe, and charter services to South America, Caribbean, and Southern United States destinations with Canadian tour operators.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Košice International Airport</span> Airport in Barca

Košice International Airport is an international airport serving Košice, Slovakia. It is the second largest international airport in Slovakia. It is located 6 km (3.7 mi) to the south of St Elisabeth Cathedral, 230 m (750 ft) above sea level, covering an area of 3.50 km2 (1.35 sq mi). It serves both scheduled and charter, domestic and international flights. Airport capacity is 800,000 passengers a year as of 2012.

A package tour, package vacation, or package holiday comprises transport and accommodation advertised and sold together by a vendor known as a tour operator. Other services may be provided such as a rental car, activities or outings during the holiday. Transport can be via automobile, buses, charter airline, and may also include travel between areas as part of the holiday. Package holidays are a form of product bundling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bournemouth Airport</span> Airport in Bournemouth, England

Bournemouth Airport is an airport located 3.5 NM north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil control in 1944. For a short period Hurn served as London's international airport, until the opening of facilities at Heathrow. Commercial services resumed in the late 1950s, with Palmair commencing flights to Palma, Majorca in October 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milton Keynes Coachway</span>

The Milton Keynes Coachway is a Coachway interchange close to junction 14 of the M1 motorway on the eastern edge of Milton Keynes, north Buckinghamshire, England. It supports National Express intercity coach services to cities, towns and airports on the M1, and on into Scotland, to Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports, as well as Stagecoach East's route X5 between Oxford and Bedford, and interchange between these services. There are also local bus services and nearby, a park and ride site. It is the second busiest coach station in the United Kingdom. Dating from 1989, it was the first of the UK's Coachway interchanges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Cameron</span> British businessman

Phil Cameron is a British entrepreneur, the founder of No.1 Traveller, and a former Tony and Olivier Award-winning theatre producer.

References

  1. ↑ "BCP Airport Parking | Company Information & Car Parks".
  2. ↑ "Port Parking". Better Choice Parking. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  3. ↑ "Parking in London - Central London parking with BCP". Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  4. ↑ "Calluma - When you need help abroad". www.calluma.com. Archived from the original on 2008-03-14.
  5. 1 2 "Parking | BCP". Archived from the original on 2009-11-17. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  6. ↑ The Daily Telegraph
  7. ↑ "UK call centres seek new identity". 5 April 2002.
  8. ↑ "Ryanair teams up with car park service". Archived from the original on 2008-10-07. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
  9. ↑ "Holiday Extras - Company History".

https://www.holidayextras.com/about-us/company-history.html

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.