Parking FAQs

You need to pay to park at the NEC. Some events may offer free or discounted parking so check your events website for details before booking.

For the smoothest experience and the best rates, we recommend pre-booking your parking in advance. However, if you don’t manage to pre-book ahead of time, you can still pay for your parking before you leave - please see the signage advertised in the venue for instructions.

It is possible to book up to 3 months in advance of your event, subject to availability.  If your event is less than 3 months away but is not available to pre-book, please keep checking the website as we always aim to upload parking details 3 months in advance, though there may be the occasional delays.  

Once you arrive on site simply follow the digital screens for directions to the car parks. Each event will be listed and which car park to park in will be clearly indicated.

Bookings can only be made for cars/vehicles which fit within a standard parking space. There are no height restrictions on our standard car parks.

Yes, if you have pre-booked Express Parking you are guaranteed as parking space close to your exhibition hall. Please note, Express Parking spaces are subject to availability.

Express Parking is available on most shows, but not all. If Express Parking is offered for your show it will show as available at the point of booking.

• For a day event the NEC Express stay periods are: 08:00 – 18:00
• For an evening event, the NEC Express stay periods are: 18:00 – 23:59
• Please do not arrive too far in advance of your event as we may not be able to grant you access to the Express car park ahead of time. If you stay in the car park beyond these times, overstay charges will apply.

With over 16,000 parking spaces available on the NEC campus there is plenty of spaces for all our visitors, however, pre-booking does not guarantee a space in a specific car park.

Parking is made available to book for events 3 months in advance and you will not be able to pre-book before this. If your event is less than 3 months away but is not available to pre-book, please keep checking the website as we always aim to upload parking details 3 months in advance, though there may be the occasional delays.  

Standard pre-booked parking allows you to park from 6.00am – 2.00am. If you have not booked overnight parking and you leave your vehicle in the car park beyond 2.00am overstay charges will apply.

If you don’t manage to pre-book ahead of time, you can still pay for your parking before you leave - please see the signage advertised in the venue for instructions.

Please visit the parking machines in the venue and/or see the signage advertised around the venue for instructions on how to pay on the day.

Accessible parking is charged at the standard parking rate. We recommend pre-booking your parking in advance for the best rates. Some events may offer free or discounted accessible parking so check your events website for details before booking.

Yes, your blue badge will be checked on arrival by one of our car parking attendants.

No, pre-booking accessible parking does not guarantee a specific car parking spot. Our designated accessible car parking spaces are allocated on a first come first served basis. If you arrive for an event and all of these spaces have already been taken, you will be directed to overflow accessible parking. We will always try to ensure accessible parking is located as close to the venue as possible, however, exactly where this overflow disabled parking can change on an event-by-event basis.

We do our best to provide parking close to the venue and fill the spaces on arrival, on a first come, first served basis. On occasion where demand is very high, we may need to overflow blue badge parking to outer car parks. In such cases shuttle buses are provided.

To help you plan your Blue Badge Visitor Parking, we have created a short film explaining what to expect when you arrive onsite at the NEC and the facilities we have available.

When you arrive on the NEC Campus, please follow signs to East 3 carpark (located next to the Starbucks drive-thru) to find the bp pulse Gigahub™

There are 180 bp pulse EV charge points at the bp pulse Gigahub™ located in NEC East Car Park 3. There are 150 points for 7kW charging, including additional designated accessible bays which are available to pre-book via the NEC parking portal and 30 ultra-fast 300kW DC chargers which are only available on a first come first serve basis.

If these are full, we have an additional 22 x 3.5kw chargers available on a first come first serve basis in select car parks. To use these chargers you will need to pre-book standard parking and pay to use the chargers.

Please refer to the user guide here if you need help using the chargers at the bp pulse Gigahub™ 

If you need help using a bp pulse Gigahub™ please get in touch with the bp team via the app or by calling 0330 016 5126

There are 22 x 3.5kw chargers available on a first come first serve basis in select car parks. To use these chargers you will need to pre-book standard parking and pay to use the chargers.

Please refer to the user guide here if you need help using the Evolt network chargers

If you need help using a Evolt network charge please get in touch with the Evolt team by calling 020 8515 8444. Please quote the unique charger ID when you call.

You can amend your booking details, but it is not possible to cancel your booking. If you need to make any changes ahead of our event, simply use the 'Manage my Booking' link in your confirmation email - amendments can be made right up until midnight the day before your arrival.

If you have lost your booking confirmation number, you will be able to retrieve the details from the “Manage My Booking” link on your email confirmation.

Please contact the NEC Parking team on [email protected] with details as to why you believe you have been overcharged.

If you can’t find an answer to your question above, please contact the NEC Parking team on [email protected]. Please note, our parking team receives a high volume of requests, particularly at busy event times, so it may take several days for your email to be responded to.