The Front Line Award: Ellen Tooley

British Parking Awards 2024

Ellen Tooley works for APCOA in Bishops Stortford as part of the parking services team with East Herts Council. 

Tooley began her career with APCOA as a civil enforcement officer (CEO) in November 2010. Her key responsibilities are to ensure the smooth flow of traffic on-street, to issue parking tickets for contraventions, and to assist customers with parking-related enquiries. Additionally, she works off-street to ensure that motorists comply with the rules and regulations of the car parks themselves, improving their fair and equitable use. 

She also takes it upon herself to add considerable value to her CEO duties by assisting members of the public and always being a notably personable, measured and approachable individual.

Tooley continuously demonstrates a strong work ethic and excellent communication skills. As an experienced CEO, she leads by example and provides constant support and guidance to all team members. She actively pursues professional development as a civil enforcement officer, completing varied training programmes to enhance her skills. She has successfully completed training in: Conflict Management Refresher; Environmental Awareness Action, Counter Terrorism and Awareness

Tooley’s dedication has resulted in several notable achievements throughout her career. These include:

• Excellence in enforcement: She consistently upholds the highest standards of enforcement, ensuring compliance with parking regulations while treating motorists with fairness and respect. She displays an exceptional ability to apply regulations appropriately and fairly, striking the delicate balance between enforcement and understanding.
• Exceptional professionalism: She is an exemplary professional, always presenting herself in a courteous and respectful manner. Her interactions with the public are marked by empathy, understanding, and effective communication. She goes above and beyond to assist motorists in understanding parking regulations, offering guidance and support whenever necessary.
• Strong community engagement: She actively engages with the local community to foster positive relationships and address any concerns related to parking enforcement as well as a vast amount of local knowledge. She is well known and loved throughout Bishop’s Stortford. Her achievements are witnessed on day-to-day basis during her patrols, and seen through testimonials received through members of the public and clients.

Fighting with stroke

In June 2023, Ellen had a stroke and was in hospital for approximately three months for treatment and recovery from almost complete paralysis. Throughout her hospital stay, she maintained a phenomenally strong sense of commitment and motivation and was eager to return to work. 

During visits from APCOA colleagues, she was very upbeat about her progress in terms of recovery and expressed her desire to return to work as soon as possible. 

She has worked tirelessly through her recovery from a starting point of barely being able to move her fingers and toes, to returning to normal life and her duties as a civil enforcement officer.

The most impressive part of Tooley is that she ‘doesn’t like to stay idle’ and wants to work despite going through what must have been very difficult times. She carries a stick to support herself whilst out on patrol and despite all the difficulties she has faced, she still continues to carry out her duties with the same exemplary level of professional care, attention and positivity.

Fighting against violence in the workplace

The role of a civil enforcement officer can sometimes be tough, and verbal and even physical abuse from members of the public is not uncommon even though CEOs are all just doing a job and enforcing the regulations put in place by others.

Ellen Tooley had one particularly difficult encounter with a member of public whilst carrying out her duties, one which resulted in her being physically assaulted. This was reported to the police and the perpetrator was charged. She fought and persevered through the criminal proceedings which lasted more than a year and required her to attend the hearing and face the assailant multiple times in court. 

At the trial, the assailant was found guilty on charges of common assault and use of threatening, abusive, insulting words and behaviour to cause harassment, alarm and distress and was sentenced as follows:

• compensation: £600
• disqualified from driving for three months
• costs to the Crown Prosecution Service: £200.

The court case outcome was released by APCOA to the local press to make it clear that these offences are unacceptable and will not go unpunished. Both APCOA and the council supported her right, and the right of all CEOs, to work without feat of threat or violence.

Winner’s words

Ellen Tooley: “I’ve always focussed on customer service for 15 years. I love dealing with the public. I’ve had a stroke. I’ve come back to work. I’m a fighter and I’ll keep working. People abuse me, and they still say you shouldn’t be back to work. I love my job. It’s amazing. To me what winning is… it’s everything. The whole world. I’ve never thought I’d get this far. It’s been the icing on the cake. To win this award. It’s just the icing on the cake. I feel like a winner of the whole world.”

The British Parking Awards

Created and presented by Parking Review magazine, the British Parking Awards are an independent competition. The awards recognise the leading examples of car park management, enforcement, design and team work.

The British Parking Awards 2024 ceremony took place at the Royal Lancaster London on 13 September.

Read and download the 2025 WINNERS EDITION of PARKING REVIEW by clicking HERE

To find out more about the competition and next year’s event check out the official website.
www.britishparkingawards.uk