a pitch for people I trust, not a pitch deck

Parking fines punish people who tried to pay. We're building the operator that doesn't.

Cameras already read every plate that comes and goes. Right now that data gets used to issue a fine. We want to use it to send a fair, exact bill instead — and I'd like you to help me build it.

16.9M
private parking fines issued in the UK last year
81%
of UK drivers say private parking firms have a bad reputation
1.4/5
Trustpilot score of the operator currently running our first target site

The problem isn't parking. It's what happens after.

Most people who get fined weren't trying to avoid paying. They were failed by an app, a dead phone signal, a confusing sign, or a few unlucky minutes.

App payment fails silently, driver never notices
common cause
No signal on site to complete payment at all
common cause
Genuine short overstay — a crying baby, a queue, a wrong turn at the exit
common cause
Operator issues a flat £60–100 charge regardless of the actual shortfall
current model
TRUE STORY, THIS SUMMER
Paid £5 for four hours. Ran 14 minutes over feeding a baby. Charged £100. The real shortfall, by the operator's own tariff: about £1.

That gap between what actually happened and what got charged is the entire business opportunity. It's not a technology gap — the cameras, the DVLA lookups, the legal framework all already exist. It's a policy choice every current operator has made the same way.

What we build instead

Same cameras. Same DVLA-backed enforcement. Completely different default.

Camera reads the plate, in and out

No app, no ticket, no barrier to interact with. The driver does nothing.

Registered drivers are billed the exact fare, automatically

One-time sign-up via a QR code links a plate to a card or bank account. No punitive fee, ever.

Unregistered drivers get a fair invoice, not a fine

A single DVLA lookup, the exact tariff, and a three-day window before anything is even sent.

Only genuine non-payment ever escalates — and it's debt recovery, not a penalty

No £100 charge for a 14-minute overstay. Ever.

HOW EVERY CURRENT OPERATOR WORKS
  • Flat penalty regardless of shortfall
  • Missed/failed payment → straight to a fine
  • Appeals process built to discourage appeals
  • Revenue model rewards more fines
HOW WE WORK
  • Exact tariff, always
  • Missed payment → a fair invoice, not a fine
  • We hold our own accreditation, so the policy can't be watered down by a client
  • Revenue model doesn't depend on anyone getting caught out

Why this is buildable, not just a nice idea

Every piece already exists somewhere. We're combining them properly, for the first time, under one operator that actually keeps the promise.

The legal mechanism is already there. Accredited operators can already request a vehicle's registered keeper from the DVLA for a flat £2.50 — the same lookup every current operator uses to issue a fine. We use it to send an honest bill instead.

The hardware is cheap and proven. A weatherproof camera and a Raspberry Pi running open-source plate recognition gets us real accuracy — we've already benchmarked open-source pipelines at ~91% on static images, and we're running our own prototype at home right now.

The payment rails are ready. Open banking ("pay by bank") now supports one-off and recurring automatic payments in the UK, cheaper and lower-fraud than card processing, through providers like GoCardless.

The regulation is moving our way. A new industry-wide Single Code of Practice landed in 2024, and public pressure on the fines-first model keeps growing. Being the fair operator now is a head start, not a bet.

Where we start

One real site. One landowner already unhappy with their current operator. Proof before scale.

FIRST TARGET
A private estate whose current operator has a 1.4/5 Trustpilot score — and who's already had a public backlash over parking fairness this year. They have every reason to want what we're building.

The plan: prove exact-fare, no-fine billing works on one gated, wired site — real numbers on payment recovery, real driver reaction — before going anywhere near a second location.

Where things actually stand

doneBusiness model, billing logic and legal path worked through in detail — DVLA process, POFA notice deadlines, appeals, the lot.
in progressCamera + Raspberry Pi prototype being built and tested right now.
nextBPA/IPC accreditation enquiry, and a pitch to our first target landowner.
nextThis page. Finding the two or three people who want to build this with me.

Where I need you

Not a job posting. A "come build this with me" — equity and ownership, not a salary I can't pay yet.

Hardware / embedded
Camera setup, Raspberry Pi, plate recognition pipeline, getting it weatherproof and reliable outdoors.
Backend / product
Billing engine, DVLA + payment integrations, the software that makes the whole thing run without a person watching it.
Ops / compliance
Accreditation, the landowner pitch, appeals handling — turning "we mean it" into something a regulator and a client both trust.

If any of this is you

Let's talk properly, not over a group chat thread.

Błażej Cegiełka