Irlam Post Office is a long-standing post office in a busy shopping location in Manchester. The site has limited parking bays of only 11. It was necessary to manage the site with effective parking practices to ensure space turnover and also to prevent misuse of the space. Due to limited space availability, the site’s parking management needed to manage space just for genuine post office customers.
The car park has a prime location situated near local shops, leading to frequent misuse. The non-customers would often park their vehicles in the car park and go to shops nearby. It meant the actual customers were facing difficulty finding a parking space while visiting the post office. It escalated to a negative impact on customer satisfaction and footfall.
Further, the post office also required flexibility to accommodate staff members and occasional visitors like engineers and reps. It meant non-customers were required to stay longer than the standard parking limit. But the limited space meant a low volume of authorised users, so the post office didn’t require a self-service system. They only required a reliable and efficient parking management for occasional access.
Before, the site was managed via manual patrol and showed limitations for coverage, consistency, and out-of-hours enforcement.
In order to tackle existing issues, we implemented a modern and low-maintenance service based on the site’s size and needs. We implemented 24/7 monitoring and enforcement by upgrading to Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras in the car park. We also improved the on-site signage to portray clear communication about a 30-minute maximum stay and enforcement measures for customers.
Further, we helped introduce a managed allow list, with our team directly handling all access requests from the post office for staff and visitors. We ensured the site maintained a strict 30-minute free parking limit for customers to encourage regular turnover and prioritise customer access.
The introduction of ANPR and communicated signage helped improve compliance and space management. It ensured parking bays were properly used as intended only by actual post office customers.
The properly managed allow list offered clients a simple, hands-off way to create exceptions without the need for administrative involvement. The enforcement measures 24/7 have drastically reduced the misuse of the space, and customer experience has also improved a lot.
Thus, the post office continues to value the reliable and trustworthy service we’ve provided, and the implemented measures have proven to be highly effective for a small but high-demand site.