Emma Sinclair: Target Parking

Emma Sinclair, 29
Company: Target Parking
Web: www.targetparking.co.uk

Many people would be delighted at securing a high-powered City job, with a hefty salary and jet-setting lifestyle, by the age of 27. But, for Emma Sinclair, this wasn’t enough; she wanted to chase her entrepreneurial dream. The youngest person to float a company on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) at 29, she identified a gap in the car park sector when she bought a small car parking firm. Now on her second car park business, she has set about turning Target Parking, a company which currently boasts an array of clients from DTZ to Urban Splash to the Forestry Commission of Scotland, into a major force. The business, which offers a range of services to Britain’s car parks including management, security, cash handling and facilities management, turned over £1.2m last year, and is on track to see this figure grow again in 2012. Sinclair admits that she “does not know what the future holds”; however, she is adamant that “the best days are still to come, which is an exciting feeling” for her business.

2012 update:

Sinclair’s parking business has successfully managed over 450 sites across the UK for private and public clients. In June 2012, Target Parking added Wolverhampton Wanderers to its client bank following a lucrative deal to manage the stadium car parks. Recently appointed as a Telegraph Wonder Woman, Sinclair shares her business knowledge in a weekly column.

2016 update: 

In 2013, Sinclair launched Enterprise Jungle alongside her brother James – a networking start-up that uses information from LinkedIn profiles to connect employees with similar skillsets and foster collaboration. In 2014, the entrepreneur decided to sell Target Parking to its existing shareholder CP Plus to focus on running Enterprise Jungle full time. The company won the 2014 Enterprise Innovation Award and was a 2015 Pinnacle Award Finalist. Sinclair was named as UNICEF UK’s first business mentor in October 2014 – a position that requires her to teach youths in developing countries business and life skills so they are better equipped to start a business or find employment. The entrepreneurs knowledge and experience has also led her to contribute to publications such as the Guardian, Wall Street Journal and CityAM, as well as appear as a business commentator on TV and speak at events and conference across Europe, the US and Asia. In June 2016 she was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s 90th Birthday Honours for services to entrepreneurship.