Martin Group buys NCP out of administration, acquiring 93 car parks

Derry-based Martin Group has bought UK car park operator NCP out of administration, according to reports published on 8 October, acquiring its brand and 93 car parks in a deal that administrators say protects hundreds of jobs. The purchase gives the struggling business a new owner after months of restructuring.

Place North West reported the acquired site count and said the sale price was not disclosed. BBC News NI said the enlarged Martin Group would control more than 100 sites, making it one of the UK’s biggest car park operators. That figure covers the buyer’s wider estate, rather than just the NCP locations purchased.

What the NCP sale means for staff and sites

PwC, NCP’s administrator, told the BBC that most of the operator’s remaining 145 sites would transfer to Martin Group along with the staff working there. The reporting does not establish the exact number of employees transferring or what will happen to every site outside the acquisition.

Zelf Hussain, joint administrator and partner at PwC, said the deal protected hundreds of jobs and delivered the best outcome for creditors. Those are the administrator’s assessments; neither a precise employment total nor the amounts creditors will recover have been established.

Sixteen North West car parks included

Place North West identified 16 acquired car parks in its region and reported that they would continue operating under the NCP brand. The regional total comprises five in Manchester, three each in Liverpool and Bolton, two each in Southport and Salford, and one in Stockport.

The acquired locations include Manchester Central, Liverpool Tithebarn Street and Stockport Exchange Station. The regional report’s full list identifies the local sites changing ownership, but does not establish changes to parking tariffs, booking conditions or individual customers’ arrangements.

Why NCP entered administration

PwC announced the appointment of Hussain, Rachael Wilkinson and Toby Banfield as joint administrators on 16 March 2026. Its announcement described a business employing 682 people and operating approximately 340 car parks, including locations serving city centres, airports, hospitals and transport hubs. Those figures describe the business in March, not the October acquisition.

The administrator attributed NCP’s difficulties to parking demand failing to return to pre-pandemic levels, particularly at commuter and city-centre locations, alongside changing driving and commuting habits. Inflexible long leases prevented costs from falling with revenue and made it difficult to leave loss-making sites. Continued trading losses left the company without enough cash to meet its obligations, PwC said.

Administrators initially kept the business trading while considering a full or partial sale and negotiating with landlords. They warned that individual locations could close depending on their viability. The BBC subsequently reported that some sites had closed or passed to other operators during administration.

The March estate of approximately 340 car parks and the 145 remaining sites cited in October therefore describe different stages of the restructuring. The difference between them is not a confirmed closure total, and the original workforce of 682 should not be read as the number of jobs protected by this sale.

Martin Group’s plans for NCP

The buyer already has a substantial UK commercial property portfolio. According to the BBC, it includes Fishergate Shopping Centre in Preston and Mercury Shopping Centre in Romford. Martin Group has also expanded its hotel interests by developing The Bedford Hotel in Belfast and buying The Waterfoot in Derry.

Martin Property Group director Gary Martin said the company intended to work with NCP’s team to modernise operations and invest in the business’s long-term infrastructure. No investment budget or delivery timetable is established by the reporting, so the comments set out the buyer’s intentions rather than completed improvements.

NCP chief executive Rob England called the acquisition “a fantastic day for NCP”, while acknowledging difficult decisions during administration. He said the immediate priority was “to restore full operational momentum and build a sustainable platform for long-term growth”. The sale establishes new ownership; those remarks describe management’s recovery objective, not evidence that sustained growth has already returned.