Festival Place Shopping Centre in Basingstoke is making parking simpler, faster and greener with Hozah’s barrier-free, ticketless parking system. The upgrade will deliver smoother entry and exit, multiple payment methods, and tailored benefits for both shoppers and retailers, helping create a stress-free start and finish to every visit.
As one of Hampshire’s top shopping and leisure destinations, Festival Place attracts thousands of visitors every week. Its long‑serving barrier system has done the job but caused headaches at peak times, queues at entrances and exits, lost tickets and slow processing, all adding unnecessary delays. By adopting a smarter, automated approach, the centre aims to eliminate bottlenecks and leave visitors with a better overall impression, both initially and upon departure.
Barrier‑free convenience with Autopay
From September 2025, Festival Place will roll out a barrierless, ticketless parking system powered by number plate recognition (ANPR) and Hozah’s app‑free Autopay. Once registered, drivers simply drive in and out, and the correct fee is charged automatically, with no change to current pricing.
Festival Place has partnered with Hozah, the UK’s leading provider of automated parking. Registration takes a couple of minutes online: add your vehicle number plate and payment details once, and Autopay will handle future visits automatically.
Ways to pay
- Autopay (pre‑register once): drive in and out with no tickets, apps or queues.
- Ticketless kiosks (cash or card): For visitors who prefer to pay on-site, kiosks are being retained—just enter your registration number.
- One‑off digital payment (PayByWeb): if you prefer not to pre‑register, you can pay for a single visit on your phone after parking.
- Season ticket: a seven-day Season Ticket is available here. Already a season ticket holder? Check with Festival Place to ensure your number plate is on the system.
Community impact
There is no change to the pricing structure, and a share of parking profits will support Spotlight, Festival Place’s charity of the year.
To celebrate the launch, visitors who pre-register for Autopay will be automatically entered into a prize draw to win a year’s free parking. Keep an eye on our channels and the Festival Place website for full details closer to the launch.
“We are really excited about the changes to our car park. We are always looking for ways to improve the experience for our visitors, and making parking easier makes total sense. These days, there should be no need for printed tickets, and most of us are used to using parking apps. This system is even better, especially if you pre‑register your details. You’ll never have to worry about tickets, cash or cards or even remember what your number plate is. You can just drive in and out. We were also particularly pleased that we had the opportunity to direct some of the parking fees to our charity Spotlight.”
— Vicky Hickson, Centre Director, Festival Place
“We’re honoured to be partnering with Festival Place to bring a truly modern parking experience to their visitors, while giving drivers the flexibility to pay how they want, whether by cash, card, Autopay, or a one‑off digital payment without registering. Our goal is to make parking stress‑free and help Festival Place focus on what matters most— their shoppers and community — and we’re proud to support Spotlight, who do great work to empower young people.”
— David Fowle, CEO, Hozah
Designed for Festival Place
With multiple entrances and a busy town-centre location, the upgrade will improve traffic flow, reduce congestion, and make it easier for shoppers to arrive and leave—especially at weekends, during events, and in the run-up to Christmas.
Find out more
Get set up before launch; we’ll share more guidance from us and Festival Place.
Pre-register for Autopay — it takes about two minutes. Enter your vehicle registration and payment details, then confirm your email address (you can add extra vehicles later). Once set up, Autopay bills you automatically after each visit — no tickets, queues or apps.
Prefer not to pre-register? Use a one-off PayByWeb payment on your phone, or pay at ticketless kiosks (cash/card) by entering your registration.
Book a meeting with our parking experts to explore options for your site.
Find out more about Hozah’s intelligent parking ecosystem!