G4S analytics project cuts parking fines in half

G4S uses analytics to fight back against surge in parking fines from local authorities

Security company G4S has saved almost £750,000 in Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) following an analytics project intended to cut the cost of parking fines in half.

Cash handling remains one of G4S's biggest businesses, under its G4S Cash Solutions subsidiary, but the company was racking up parking fines of £1.5m every year as a result of delivery vans being forced to park illegally - or parking further away from customers, increasing security risks.

However, in a tax case in London in which the company claimed that PCNs ought to be tax deductible - as an unavoidable and ongoing cost of doing business - it revealed how an internal analytics project had already helped the company to reduce the cost of PCNs by 47 per cent.

"In 2012, G4S received 16,700 PCNs and anticipated spending £1.5m on PCNs during 2013. It was clear that urgent action was required, so G4S formed a project team to reduce the number of PCNs by 50 per cent," according to the company's submission.

It continued: "Before 2011, 85 per cent of the PCNs G4S received were issued by CEOs, but by the end of 2012 the majority were issued via CCTV. With fewer PCNs being placed on drivers' windscreens, it was apparent they thought they could park almost anywhere.

"The project team tracked which customers were being delivered to when PCNs were received and identified 200 penalty charge hotspot locations. Surveys of the hotspot locations were carried out to find alternative parking options, and drivers were briefed to use these alternatives.

"At the same time as drivers were provided with updated instructions, the drivers training material was updated to ensure that drivers understood how to comply with on street restrictions."

According to the company, the goal was more-or-less reached in just six months, saving it some £750,000. G4S's main rival in cash handling and delivery services, Loomis, achieved a similar reduction in PCNs, according to the document, after it hired a dedicated manager charged with reducing the cost of parking fines.