Following on from previous articles regarding the Approved Operator Scheme for Valet Parking at Gatwick, this is an update on progress and what the scheme has done to achieve its objectives. This scheme was initiated a couple of years ago by discussions between Gatwick Airport and the transport from heathrow to Gatwick Valet Parking Contractors Association.
Since 2007/08 a considerable number of would be entrepreneurs decided that Airport Valet Parking was a great idea to make money and required little investment as there were no controls or legislation governing the industry. Web sites sprung up out of nowhere offering valet parking with empty promises of safety and security.
An aerial view of Gatwick and its surrounding area would have been littered with vast numbers of cars parked in fields and side streets. With no business rates to pay or VAT for that matter and the opportunity of pay per click campaigns on the search engines, these people thought of nothing but a fast buck to riches.
Needless to say it just got out of hand and was undermining the industry that had been built up by a few good people who had invested a considerable amount of money in great operations.
Customers began complaining and the internet forums, review centres and chat rooms were inundated with the problems people had experienced. It is fair to say that this even prompted people to complain where there was nothing really to complain about but this takes us away from the real issue.
Anyway, a lot has happened in the last couple of years culminating in the introduction of the Approved Operator Scheme for Meet and Greet Operators (MGO’s). Briefly, this has been created with the co-operation of;
So what has all this done for the consumer? Has it helped to protect the consumer from bad practices and provided a better, more efficient service. So what of the others?.. I mean what has happened to all the other operators that were unable to attain the Approved Status?
Well, they are still there. They are unable to settle on the terminal forecourts and must do their transactions in the multi-storey car parks. In order to use the multi-storey car parks they must purchase what are called proximity cards and these are preloaded with cash. This has hardly enhanced the exchange with the Customer and left a lot of them bewildered and confused. Having said that, one or two of them have risen to the challenge, got their house in order and provide an effective, affordable if not top quality service.
Un-approved operators do not have any institutions looking at them to ensure their operations meet a high standard. They are self regulated and we are all aware of things that go wrong with self regulation. Take the City of London as an example.
By contrast, the approved operators are all inspected every year by the various bodies listed above. The maintenance and upkeep of these operations to a high standard year on year is expensive and time consuming and only go to create a difficult platform from which to compete with the affordability of valet parking at Gatwick.
So the next time you choose a valet parking company at Gatwick and you want the peace and knowledge of knowing your investment is safe and secure, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to persuade you which one.
Valet Parking is a wonderful way to park your car at Gatwick Airport. Its convenient, hassle free and most of all it saves your precious time. If you haven’t tried it before it’s a must. Put your property in the trust of companies that have been prepared to put a lot of their money into looking after it – properly.
Tudor Rose Valet Parking at Gatwick Airport was established over 20 years ago and was one of the founders of Valet Parking in the Airport Parking industry. Tudor Rose has helped the industry grow to the popularity it enjoys today.
Year on year investment has enabled the company to establish itself firmly within the industry and is a guiding light for its future objectives.
Getting to your destination has always been fraught with problems and Tudor Rose have worked hard to make travel easier. If we were to accept that comfort was the operative word in travel then there is no doubt that Valet parking at an Airport is an important part of that zone.
Tudor Rose is an Approved Meet and Greet Parking Operator by Gatwick Airport and its mission is to improve the quality of the service in the industry alongside its own high standards.