@SudMav I do look at review sites like Product Review and Glassdoor, but I always consider the context. What might motivate a customer to go to a Parking Enforcement review website?

One thing I usually do when looking at reviews is to benchmark with competitors (You might have seen me present some of this analysis when I've looked at other companies on here). There are a lot of private car parking operators in the UK. So just check out the Trustpilot scores for companies like Horizon Parking (1.2) and Initial Parking (1.1) and compare with $SPZ (1.1). You'll get the gist.

However, some of the established brands like NCP and APCOA actually have pretty good scores (4.4 , 4.2 respectively). From my time in the UK I recall that these firms tend to operate municpal purpose-built parking structures, and are quite different from firms like $SPZ that manage an area that has been turned into a car park by a private landlord (pub, gyms, shopping centre).

So, in summary, it is probably worth doing some analysis on this. An overwhelmingly bad public response to any company or the sector in general could conceivably result in a regulatory or political reaction. You have to accept that as part of your investment thesis in $SPZ. That's why the voluntary code efforts in the last few years in the UK have been so important. It is also why I regularly scan the UK press for stories, like the Guardian article I shared on Monday. The industry knows that the government can easily take away its licence to operate, so it is their interests to self-regulate.

Any holder of $SPZ should be in a constant state of unease that 88% of EBITDA comes from one market, where government or regulatory action in response to a public outcry could wipe out the business at the stroke of a pen.

And you don't need to take my word for it, because essentially that's what happened in QLD. In response to a public outcry anout "predatory" and "exploitative" practices, the Minister essentially shut off access to the Government number plate system. BAM! No business.

That's why I am so keen for $SPZ to diversify its market footprint, and why I am so pleased about the US acquisition.