Writing recommendations

All Q-Park communications should be clear and concise, and easy to understand at a glance – for visuals, and on first reading for texts. Follow your country/language ‘plain language’ guidelines.

• Use inclusive language so not to offend

• Use the active voice to communicate in a direct, concise and dynamic tone

• Be positive and emphasise what can be done

• Give credit for sources and images used and respect copyright

Use meaningful headings

Keep headings to a single line. Write a meaningful phrase that informs the reader about what’s coming next. The ideal heading length will depend on where the text will be published. Remember that website texts must also be easy to read on smaller devices such as tablets and smartphones.

Write in the active voice

Wherever possible, write in the present tense. This creates an active narrative which is attractive to read. This usually generates a more compact text.

Vary the sentence length

Another aspect that makes writing attractive to read is varying sentence length. Sentences with 15 to 20 words are generally easy to read and understand. Try to avoid sentences with 30 or more words, split such sentences or create a bullet list. Short sentences convey information quickly and reliably.

Write compact sentences

Using abbreviations

• When using these terms and abbreviations always add an explanation and put the abbreviation in brackets, then you can use the abbreviation in your text.

• When writing for a website or report, repeat the full term at the start of an article, section or chapter, as the reader may be jumping in without having read the previous explanation.

You will find a list of abbreviations including their meaning and use within Q-Park in the Q-Park terminology section.

Gender sensitivity

We use gender-neutral and gender-inclusive language. So, when referring to individuals use the ‘singular they’ (they/them/their) or similar device in your language, such as a general plural.

We use gender neutral form for professions and professionals

Job titles

We always use a gender-neutral term for job titles and positions.

If a job title has multiple words, then all parts start with an uppercase letter, for example

• Parking Host

• Parking Attendant

Proper names

Take care to write people’s name correctly. In Dutch, family names with ‘de’ or ‘van’ in the middle take a lowercase letter; in Belgium, this is usually an uppercase letter.

Currency conventions

Each language has its own conventions when writing money amounts which you should follow when writing in your local language. Also follow these general guidelines:

• In reports (B2B) use ISO three letter currency code

• For websites and e-mails and other communications with customers (B2C) use the currency symbol

• When writing negative money amounts use a minus sign

Currency dos and don’ts

Phone number styles

Always include the country code, omit the leading zero, and leave a space between blocks of 3 or 4 digits for easy reading. This is also known as international style.