On-street valet parking service expands in London

The Vallie app

The Vallie app

An app that enables drivers to book a valet parking service in town and city centres is expanding across central London after a pilot scheme proved the concept in the City of London.

From today (8 February) customers can use the Vallie service to drop off their cars at a destination of their choice, hand their keys to a pre-checked driver who will then take their car to a secure car park. The Vallie app updates customers on their car’s location throughout the parking session and cars are returned to any chosen destination within 15 minutes.

Vallie ran a pilot in the City of London at the end of last year in collaboration with the Barbican’s car parking facilities. The first month of the pilot (16 November - 15 December) saw over 500 app downloads and 75% of first orders coming back for a second order within the month, according to the company. Usage data from the City of London pilot shows that Vallie was most popular amongst 30 to 55 year-old working professionals, and that peak drop-off time for parking was during the morning rush hour at 8.15am, and the peak return time was 6.45pm at the end of a long working day in the city.

Pushpakumara Arachige, group head of ethnic sales at Lebara Play, now uses the service regularly when driving in London. He says: “I go to London on business two or three times a week and have been using NCP and street parking - which is always a nightmare. It takes ages to find a parking space in London. Since Vallie came along, I just use the app to get my car picked up and dropped off where I like, which saves me a lot of time and hassle.”

The central London expansion sees Vallie working with a number of commercial car parks. As well as on-demand parking via the Vallie app, Vallie has launched a suite of additional services, including MOT checks, electric charging, petrol refills, screenwash refills and car washes.

Vallie’s payment structure is either £5 per hour or £25 per day. The company says its daily charge represents an average 20% saving based on the daily rates of NCP car parks in the same area, while the hourly charge is comparable to on-street parking in London – for example, Vallie says that the City of London charges £4.80 for one hour of parking on the street. 

Vallie was founded by Nash Islam, an entrepreneur and ‘angel’ investor who was previously head of mobile operations at Google, together with Oxford graduate Robin Doble, formerly a trader at Barclays and founder of app-based car-washing service GoWashMyCar. The pair say they came up with the idea because they found parking in London so difficult.

Nash Islam, who is also Vallie’s chief executive, said: “We are excited to be scaling up our secure, convenient and affordable solution to parking challenges across London. We are also planning a future where parking is more effective, decreases congestion and cuts down on parking space, freeing the capital up for housing and green spaces. We think of Vallie as a DHL for cars, and in the future want to create car parks that help manage the flow of traffic, while safely and cheaply storing and maintaining cars inside.” 

• The company has been short listed for the British Parking Awards 2016.