Revenue Generating Car Parking is a difficult business, and it is vital that when a new or a replacement system is chosen the equipment has to be correct. In recent times, this has become more important as in these recessionary times the expenditure of substantial capital needs to be carefully considered. Three more car park sites in Northern Ireland have made the change, and all three have chosen Electro.

It is now vital that new systems last at least 10 years. Zeag have steadfastly maintained the use of stainless steel as the base material for the car park peripherals. With most (if not all) other systems now moving to mild steel, this factor alone is expected to have been a major factor in recent decisions to choose Electro Automation. Jim Fleming, Managing Director of Electro Automation in Lisburn states “During these recessionary times, the installation of a new parking system means considerable capital expenditure. As such capital is not easily available, it follows that the decision on which equipment and which local company to choose is a very important one. I am delighted to be able to announce that Electro Automation has been chosen in each and every one of the car parks that have recently sought a new system. These three installations are a great vote of confidence in Electro and our parking systems.”

Graham Gardens in Lisburn is a busy Multi-Storey car park which also has a short stay surface car park. The combinations of different tariffs for short and long stay visitors within one site, along with a high use of contract parking meant that the equipment had to be flexible. Maurice Hammond, the car park manager said “As Graham Gardens is a standalone site relying solely on parking, we take the subject very seriously. What I required was a strong and robust system that was reliable, easily managed, yet reliable. Previously we had used Electro and their Zeag equipment on several smaller car parks, and when the opportunity arose to change the system in Graham Gardens, we added Electro to the list of tenderers. We were delighted when we discovered that Electro were able to offer us a competitive price for what we already knew was a market leading solution.” After a very detailed evaluation and comparison with all the others systems available locally, Graham Gardens made the decision to choose Electro Automation and the system was installed at the end of July 2013. This means that Electro Automation have now installed the parking systems at every Lisburn barrier controlled car park.

High Street Mall in Portadown have chosen Electro Automation to replace their existing equipment at this busy shopping centre. The management were tasking with procuring a cost effective solution that would meet the varied requirements within the two level car park. A combination of contract parking and casual shoppers meant that staff were previously occupied with various tasks such as topping up the Paystations with coins (to provide change) and with issuing new contract parking cards each time a card was renewed. The new Electro system virtually eliminates these requirements, as the use of  Zeag’s industry leading 6 recycling bulk coin hoppers can eliminate the need to top up coins. The addition of proximity card reading on each peripheral and each Paystation means that when the time to renew a season card arrives, the parker can simply renew this automatically at one of the Fully Automatic Paystations. The new system was installed in September 2013.

McCausland’s Car Park on the Grosvenor Road in Belfast is one of Belfast’s best known and oldest sites. Electro Automation first installed a Pay on Foot system at the car park in March 2001. It is a clear testament to the quality of Electro’s Zeag system that 12 years later the system is still going strong. It is even more notable that after dealing with Electro Automation for 12 years, McCauslands made the decision to entrust the new system to them. The new installed in September 2013, allows McCauslands to continue their investment strategy in world leading technology, and their policy of being early adopters of the best technology. The new Electro system also allows remote access and control to this busy car park, allowing a neater and more flexible management of the parking. Importantly, one of the existing Paystations at the Belfast suite is being incorporated within the new system as a working peripheral. The Zeag system takes pride in its ability to be backwards and forwards compatible, allowing an original investment to have value and be protected even 12 years after being first installed. McCauslands are looking forward to stable reliable parking control for the next decade and beyond.