Over the last nine years Bulls News has raised money for Macmillan Cancer Support by running a car park at Hay Festival.
This year the car park gained valuable publicity after two of the 'team' launched what is thought to be the world's first 'Tweeting car park'.
Ben Jones and Brian Goodwin were recently interviewed by 'Transport Xtra'.
The team behind the ‘Tweeting’ car park that has raised nearly £200,000 for
the Macmillan Cancer charity at the annual Hay-on-Wye literature
festival have now launched a national events parking company. Ben Jones
and Brian Goodwin founded the CarParkAt service after managing parking
at the Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts largest official car park
for nearly a decade.
Next year will be the tenth anniversary of our involvement at Hay managing the largest official car park at the festival. “The car park at Hay has been a huge success,” says Ben Jones. “We are also delighted to have raised nearly £200,000 for MacMillan Cancer Support over the years, including £22,000 for the charity this year. Between £3.50 and £4 of the £5 parking fee goes to the charity, depending on our costs year on year.”
In 2012 the team founded what it thinks is possibly the world’s first ‘Tweeting car park’ at the Hay Festival. “The social media stream has been a resounding success, boosting visitor numbers and improving our customer’s parking experience. Over 50,000 cars have parked with us so far,” reports Jones. “Our Twitter account @CarParkAtHay gained 700 followers over the course of the 2014 festival and has been a fantastic insight into how our operations are being received.”
The Tweeting car park soon established a character for the operation, as the team posted shots of themselves greeting authors, meeting book lovers, resting in unusual places and, above all, mud.
“There is the hilarity that goes on in the car park, which is all part of the festival fun. We saw some superb car park ‘selfie’ efforts this year, whilst some people at the festival really do opt for fashion over function, particularly when wet weather and mud is around! One lucky lady wearing extremely inappropriate footwear was delighted to make a small donation to MacMillan Cancer Support in exchange for a fireman’s lift back to her car. Another happy customer!”
Social media also provided valuable information on operations and generated plenty of new ideas, says Brian Goodwin (see panel). “Here at CarParkAt we are always trying to think of new ways to improve our parking experience. Got a suggestion? Tweet us @CarParkAtHay,” the pair say.
Besides its flagship operation at Hay, CarParkAt already operates small car parks at other events such as the Ludlow Food Festival. The growing interest in their approach means that Goodwin and Jones have decided to offer their talents to other event organisers. The pair believe there is a need for more professional management in the events sector.
“The decision to enhance our involvement in event parking was brought on for two reasons,” says Goodwin. “First, a love of events themselves. Outdoor events and festivals are such a fantastic part of the British summer. It is something we have always enjoyed being a part of. Secondly, event parking is a field where negative experiences are all too commonplace.
“We identified the need to modernise event parking, through a focus on customer service. We feel we can make a huge difference to events in a way that hasn't really been considered before. By providing festival-goers with a great experience at the first point of contact; in the car park.”
Jones and Goodwin say event parking has to be a bespoke service, individually tailored to suit each occasion and site. CarParkAt will plan and run public, disabled, park & ride and VIP parking areas. “We will undertake an initial consultation during which we take into account a number of factors including the length of the event and the number of visitors predicted. Upon completion of the consultation we prepare a parking proposal and quote, ensuring that fees are agreed long before the event takes place.”
The pair intend to maintain a very hands-on approach. ”We are available 24 hours a day to ensure our car parks are running smoothly,” they say. The CarParkAt team will comprise people who they have worked with regularly. “Our current pool of staff has worked with us for between three and nine years and all buy into what we are doing. Our team is very important to us, without them we wouldn’t be able to deliver the level of service we do.”
Jones and Goodwin have launched www.CarParkAt.com to showcases their service. “Initially, our focus will remain on outdoor events,” they say. “We still have plenty of scope for growth in the festival market. In the future, who knows? Keep an eye on our Twitter page @CarParkAt to find out what events we will be at in 2015.”