Our Brand
The METRIC brand has been synonymous with parking since 1992, but our company heritage and links to the ticketing industry dates back over 140 years to 1879 and the Bell Punch Company.
130 years in ticketing
The company became market leaders in the design, manufacture and service of bus, tram and train fare collection systems, supplying London Transport bus and underground departments as well as British Rail.
In 1924, Bell Punch began expanding the business by researching and developing ticket issuing machines for various sectors from cinema box offices to racecourse betting. In the 1930s, the company also began supplying London taxi cabs with the Bell Punch taxi-meter.
ANITA
Although the prototype was developed in 1958, it wasn’t until 1961 when the Anita Mark VII and ANITA Mark VIII were launched simultaneously and became the world’s first all electronic calculators.
The acronym ‘ANITA’ was officially stood for A New Inspiration To Accounting, however it is also suggested that it was named after the designer’s wife.
Parking and Almex
In the mid 1980’s the group was sold to a Swedish company, Almex Limited of the Incentive Group. The Autoslot grew in popularity, dominating the UK market with 80% market share.