The British entrepreneurs behind Your Parking Space are set for a multi-million-pound windfall after its takeover by a global rival.
Harrison Woods and Charles Cridland are selling the online parking platform to Flowbird for £120million, netting them each a huge payday.
The deal is set to be announced as early as today.
Riches: Entrepreneurs Charles Cridland and Harrison Woods are set to enjoy a huge payday from the sale of Parking Space
Cridland and Woods own at least 25 per cent of the business each, meaning they will share at least £60million from the sale.
The company lets customers book long and short-term parking spaces in people’s driveways and on other private land across the UK.
It encourages landowners in areas where there is a lack of cheap parking to rent spots from between £40 and £400 per month.
It has more than 50,000 users and a total of 250,000 parking spaces around the country, with the average landlord pocketing £1,020 each year.
The pair set it up in 2013 after Cridland was puzzled by the number of empty driveways on his daily walk to Kew Gardens Station in London.
Drivers were battling for space in the station’s small car park and Cridland thought up Your Parking Space as a solution.
He teamed up with Woods, who was graduating from Manchester University having just sold a similar idea, Primal Parking, to private investors.
They launched Your Parking Space and began recruiting private landlords to rent out their empty spots.
Chairman Andrew Higginson was in the same job at Morrisons when it was sold to private equity.
Higginson also took over as chairman of JD Sports this week as it looks to beef up its board and repair its reputation.
Parking Space has more than 50,000 users and a total of 250,000 parking spaces around the country, with the average landlord pocketing £1,020 each year
Flowbird offers parking apps and terminals in 80 countries.
The business’s takeover of Your Parking Space comes against a tough global backdrop which has hit the valuation of tech companies and seen major deals fall through.
Cridland, 38, started his career at Lloyds Bank after graduating from the University of Warwick in 2006.
Woods, 32, went to Bury Grammar School in Greater Manchester, and started his career working in sales. He enjoyed a stint with travel operator Thomas Cook where he managed a team in Malia, Greece.
From there he founded Primal Parking and in 2012 appeared on the BBC series Dragons’ Den, receiving an investment offer from Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis for the firm.
Their business now has 35 full-time staff and helps park 12,000 cars every day.
Your Parking Space’s sale will also trigger a £25million payout for London-listed property firm Town Centre Securities, which owns around a fifth of the business.
And it will mean a windfall for private equity firm Pelican Capital, which invested in Your Parking Space in 2020.
