Q-Park 25 years
We started our 'Quality in parking' operations in the Netherlands in 1998 and expanded to six other western European countries within seven years. Continuing with Germany in 1999, adding Belgium, UK, France and Ireland over the years and finally adding Denmark in 2005. During this time and the following years we worked hard to establish and strengthen our quality parking service.
Figure 17 Q-Park Quality in parking
Our quality is what sets us apart and what everyone recognises us by. In our assets and in our activities, Q-Park Quality is what guides and connects us.
We have been and remain the frontrunner of parking convenience for our customers, by always staying ahead and innovating in everything we do. In doing so, we raise the bar a little higher every time.
Figure 18 Q-Park 25 years - wall of fame showcasing Dutch and Belgium milestones
Q-Park Vrijthof in Maastricht (1998): the first public underground parking facility in the Netherlands. A foresight that has already contributed to solving many urban mobility and accessibility challenges. Combining strong disciplines (ING Real Estate and Ruijters Real Estate) in Q-Park created clear added value. It marked Q-Park's breakthrough in the Dutch market on three levels: ownership, operation and management.
Q-Park South Station in Brussels (2000): this parking facility serves one of the most important international Mobility Hubs for high speed trains in western Europe. From here people can travel by public transport to London, Cologne and Paris.
Q-Park Museumplein in Amsterdam (2001): our first EPA Award winning parking facility is located in the heart of Amsterdam. It provides space above ground for people and below ground, it facilitates passenger cars as well as tourist coaches for people visiting the many cultural venues in the neighbourhood.
Q-Park Key (2003): a transponder solution to open barriers enabled our season ticket customers to access any of our Dutch parking facilities without opening their window. Our first 'seamless parking' solution connected the digital with the physical world.
Q-Park Zuidplein in Rotterdam (2003): an above-ground parking facility which won the EPA Award for Renovation. We invested EUR 6 million in recreating two original car parks into one with a roundabout, pedestrian bridge and smart CCTV system, enhancing customer convenience and safety.
Q-Park Control Room (QCR, 2006): this enabled us to improve our operational efficiency. Our QCR means we can remotely solve parking issues for our customers, real-time. We could now open barriers and pedestrian doors, enable payment options, and dispatch Parking Hosts if an issue needed hands-on skills.
Smart innovations over the years include the Q-Park App (2010), online pre-booking (2011) and Tap & Go (2014). Tap & Go enabled our customers to access and exit our parking facilities using their own bankcard to pay for their parking transaction.
One of our largest innovation endeavours is building PaSS, our propriety parking platform which we started to develop in 2016.
Major sustainability efforts started with the first EV charging point in 2012 and executing an international LED Programme in 2018.
Another major challenge we had to overcome was a proper response to the Covid pandemic (mostly in 2020 and 2021) and the flooding in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany in 2022. These incidents affected the societies we operate in, our colleagues and our partners.
We acquired 100% of the shares of P1 (2019), a family-owned parking company operating and managing parking facilities in the Netherlands. With this acquisition, we supported our portfolio growth strategy and strengthened our position in Dutch cities including Eindhoven, Utrecht, The Hague and Amsterdam.
In 2022, the Q-Park Zuiderdokken project, including Q-Park Steendok and Q-Park Kooldok, was completed. Showcasing 'Green for Grey' i.e. cars underground and green space for people walking, cycling and relaxing above ground.
We celebrated our 25 year anniversary in 2023, a quality gathering to connect with colleagues and former colleagues. We also celebrated the fact that P1 won the contract for providing on-street parking on behalf of the municipality of Amsterdam as of 1 January 2024. By winning the tender, Q-Park is growing into the largest parking service provider in the Netherlands.