I was doing some research a few weeks ago on Smart Parking to see if I would reinvest in the company after exiting during Covid to buy a house. I came across some pretty scathing reviews on Trustpilot (here), and I was a bit flummoxed.

Whilst I can appreciate that a fine enforcement company wouldn't be expecting glowing reviews from issuing fines, however most of the bad experiences listed on the website seem to be about incorrect fines, poor service, and engagement of debt collectors (even when fines are in dispute).

Outside of considering these reviews, the growth in the UK does not seem to be slowing down (up by 22% PCP) so it doesn't look like slowing down anytime soon. Lots of people have suggested they have written to their local politician for action, however I'm not expecting any changes implemented in the short term and I believe that the likelihood of this risk materialising is extremely low.

On the flip side, if there was some knee jerk regulatory changes or in the absolute worst case had their British parking association approved operator scheme revoked it would materially impact revenue generation.

I'm am keen to understand the Community's position on how much weighting they give to review pages like this (i.e. Customer Star ratings or workplace review sites such as Glassdoor), and if this has any bearing when they are putting together their investment case.