Park First investors Compensation

The FCA are seeking compensation for investors who lost money as a result of an alleged illegal collective investment scheme.  The scheme saw members of the public, both directly and through Self Invested Personal Pensions (SIPPs), investing in car parking spaces near Glasgow and Gatwick airports, through four different car parking companies under the Park First umbrella.

Park First went into administration in early July 2019 after the company declared it had insufficient funds to repay members who wanted to sell their investments.

The FCA has been involved with the Park First group since 2016, when they stopped the company marketing these investments.

In the latest proceedings, the FCA are alleging that Park First’s scheme was promoted to the public using false or misleading statements. The FCA further alleges that there was no proper basis for the very high quoted return on investment (up to 12% after 5 years) and that the investment valuations were based on unrealistic returns.

The FCA is asking the court to order Park First to pay its investors a “just sum”, that could be shared among the investors who lost out financially.

The FCA is also seeking a declaration that the schemes were collective investment schemes and that they were operated unlawfully. The FCA are also seeking injunctions against the defendants, preventing them from doing the same thing.

Peter McKenna, Partner at TLW Solicitors, specialists in financial mis-selling cases, said:

“While any action by the FCA to try and recover the hundreds of millions invested in Park First and its subsidiaries is welcomed, we have real concerns about how much the FCA will actually be able to recover from the companies and/or their (former) directors and how much there will be to distribute amongst the thousands of investors. However, there are potential other routes which investors can also explore, and we would be happy to speak to anyone who has invested in Park First to see if we can assist them.”