Gloucestershire business to help commuters find cheaper car parking

A new Gloucestershire-based company has been launched to help drivers find affordable parking spaces and car sharing opportunities.

En Route Parking offers commuters a car park where they can meet colleagues or friends to car share to work.

Director and Founder of En Route Parking, Kate Vidgen, said the idea is to save money and avoid that frustrating early morning battle for a parking space:

“More and more businesses are coming into the county but there seems to be fewer and fewer parking spaces,” she said.

“I know local business owners are trying their best to solve the parking problems through schemes like car sharing, cycling or walking to work but there simply isn’t the uptake and there aren’t enough car parking spaces for everyone.  The new charges are going to hit people’s pay checks so this is where En Route Parking can help.”

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A number of businesses are already working with En Route Parking offering commuters spare spaces in their car parks near to the motorway or major access roads in Gloucestershire for a small fee. The spaces can be booked online as a one-off or for a block of time.

Ian Blake from the Highwayman Inn on the A417 says the sums are simple.

“When Kate approached us about En Route Parking it seemed like a win-win situation for everyone,” he said.

“Much of our car park stands empty during office hours and yet we watch the traffic head past us on the way to and from Cirencester Monday to Friday.  Why not utilise our spaces and car share instead of two people driving around fighting for the same space in town?”

The scheme has also received the backing of GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership.  Dev Chakraborty, Deputy Chief Executive says it’s a positive scheme for the whole county.

“The genius of En Route Parking is that some of our local businesses on the outskirts of our towns and city will see the benefits of weekly trade. It might even inspire some of them to diversify to meet the commuters’ demand and in turn, grow their business.  It also helps some of the county’s employers meet their Social Corporate Responsibility targets.”

En Route Parking is now looking for more local businesses to take advantage of the scheme and Kate says you don’t need masses of land.

“The bonus of working with En Route Parking is that you only need a few parking spaces to make it work.  They might not mean much to you, but your empty spaces could make a huge difference to someone’s daily commute,” she said.

The businesses currently working with En Route Parking to provide spaces are:

• Cheltenham Town Football Club
• Cirencester Town Football Club
• Fagin’s Steakhouse - Brookthorpe
• Golden Castle Caravans - Twigworth
• The Butts Farm - South Cerney
• The George - Cambridge
• The Highwayman Inn - Elkstone
• The Wheatsheaf - Crudwell

For more information, visit enrouteparking.com