Which spelling variant

At Q-Park, when writing in English, we use UK spelling with S (-ise) not Z (American). If in doubt, consult the online Collins English dictionary (free access).

For your reference, here are some preferred spelling examples of commonly used words to write with S and not Z:

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Don’t

digitalisation

digitalization

organisation

organization

maximise

maximise

monetised

monetized

optimised

optimized

optimising

optimizing

realised

realized

recognised

recognized

utilisation

utilization

Here are some other common UK-US spelling variants to note:

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Do (UK spelling)

Don’t (US spelling)

colour

neighbourhood

travelled

color

neighborhood

traveled

One or two Ss, Ts?

Words where the letter may be doubled before the ending – both forms are correct, but at Q-Park we use the variant with a single letter:

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focused/focusing

focussed, focussing

benefited/benefiting

benefitted/benefitting

bus, buses

busses

Units of measure

We always use metric units – metre, kilometre, Celsius or ºC, kWh, MWh, GWh

  • When combining with a number leave a (non-breaking) space between the number and the unit, except for temperature and percentages

  • When writing a range do not repeat the unit, and use ‘to’ in running text

  • Always use a subscript 2 in the abbreviation for carbon dioxide

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Do

Don’t

5 m

25 km

5m

25km

25°C

96%

25 °C

96 %

In text

In tables

5 to 10°C

20 to 25 metres

20-25 m

5°C to 10°C

20 metres to 25 metres

20 m – 25 m

CO2

tCO2

CO2

tCO2

Using numbers

  • Write numbers one to ten as words, use numerals for numbers 11 and greater.

  • Avoid starting sentences with numbers; most can be spelled out, so try to write the sentence a different way.

  • Year as this must be written in numerals.

  • Money is always expressed in numerals.

  • For numbers above one thousand, except dates, use the correct separators: 12,456.98.

  • Negative numbers: prefix with a minus sign.

  • Percentages:

    • no space between the number and the % sign

    • use either digits and symbol or all words, do not mix

  • Units of measure: place a space between the number and the unit of measure abbreviation

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one in five

120 people attended the meeting

an increase of 5% an increase of five percent a decrease of 61%

EV charging points consumed 5.4 GWh

1 in 5

one hundred and twenty people attended the meeting

an increase of 5 % an increase of five % an increase of 5 percent

a decrease of 61 percent

EV charging points consumed 5.4GWh

Dates and times

To avoid any confusion always write the date in full in running text. Write the month in words and always put the month in the middle. This is the European way of writing dates.

Do not use superscripts with the day number. If the day of the week is included, there’s no comma after the day.

When referring to a decade, write the 1990s, no apostrophe, never write ‘the nineties’.

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Date styles

5 Jan 2024 5 January 2024 05-01-2024 05/01/2024 Monday 5 January 2024

1990s

Jan 1, 2024 1st Jan 2024 January 1st 2024 05/01/24 Monday, 5 January 2024 Monday, 5 January, 2024 Monday 5, January 2024 Monday 5 January, 2024 Monday 5 January ‘24

1990’s the nineties

Time styles

09:30 14:00 12 noon 24:00

9.30 a.m. 2 p.m.