NSL (company)

NSL, formerly known as Nicholas Burton Spring Group, was formed in Spring 2007 by the demerger of NCP into two separate businesses. It provides parking services, patient transport services, bus and coach operations, city centre CCTV monitoring, back office processing,^[1] streetscape consultancy and debt recovery.

The company was demerged from National Car Parks as NCP Services in 2007, and became NSL Services Group in April 2009. It is owned by the private equity firm AAC Capital Partners.

Acclaim

NSL is a UK market leader in on-street parking services, running contracts on behalf of more than 60 local authorities and two national Government organisations – DVLA and the Northern Ireland Roads Service.

NSL is one of fewer than 50 companies nationwide to achieve the Investor in People Champion status and won the Training Award at the 2007 British Parking Awards.^[2]

Services

Passenger transport

NSL operates coaching and transfer services for Heathrow and Gatwick Airport.

Patient transport

NSL patient transport includes services for non-emergency, high dependency, bariatric and secure/mental health patients. NSL is the largest private non-emergency patient transport provider in the UK, transporting over 2m patients to and from their appointments every year. NSL is a member of the Independent Ambulance Association (IAA).

It was chosen by NHS Kent and Medway in January 2013 to provide non-emergency patient transport. ^[3]

Other services

NSL also provide a number of other services. These include:

• Park and ride sites in Oxford and Durham.
• Planning and designing "streetscapes" through its consultancy arm, Project Centre.
• Traffic rule enforcement, parking and traffic attendants.
• Care services: patient transfers to the NHS.

Criticism

At a January 2012 employment tribunal, NSL was described as "predatory and dishonest".^[4]

NSL has been subject to investigation into unfair practices by Channel 4's Cutting Edge programme.^[5]

Westminster Council CEOs (outsourced to NSL) have also been filmed using illegal tactics to block cars. ^[6]

In January 2014 The Care Quality Commission (CQC) said the service did not meet mandatory standards in four out of five areas. It found patients had experienced long waits and some staff had not undergone criminal record checks.^[7] In April 2014 the clinical commissioning groups in Kent agreed to provide an extra £1.6m for their contract as part of a "last chance" deal to improve its performance. Ian Ayres, chief officer for West Kent Clinical Commissioning Group, which manages the contract on behalf of eight CCGs in Kent and Medway told the Kent County Council Scrutiny Committee; "the information which was available to commissioners drawing up the invitation to tender was incomplete, and therefore so was the specification."^[8]

External links

• Official website

References

1. "Consultancy Services". NSL Services Group. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
2. "British Parking Awards: Parking Winners 2007".
3. "Kent and Medway pens patient transport contract". Health Service Journal. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
4. "Parking ticket whistleblower receives £20,000 payout". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-11-03.
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka01qtxymVs, retrieved 2015-11-03 Missing or empty |title= (help)
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-F4QLkZpsQ, retrieved 2015-11-03 Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. "NSL Kent private ambulance service could face closure". BBC News. 31 January 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
8. "CCGs strike 'last chance' deal to rescue ambulance contract". Health Service Journal. 25 April 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2014.