Swanage Railway recruiting a Chief Executive

[Rougueg]

I've based my volunteer figures purely on numbers reported on either their accounts spiel at start of historic annual accounts, or news articles.

..... looking at this individuals work history....

Changes jobs erm.... frequently.
Only 1 job in last 17 years held for more than 3 years......

Did they not check LinkedIn?

 

[Titfield]

I've based my volunteer figures purely on numbers reported on either their accounts spiel at start of historic annual accounts, or news articles.

..... looking at this individuals work history....

Changes jobs erm.... frequently.
Only 1 job in last 17 years held for more than 3 years......

Did they not check LinkedIn?

Thanks for the insight into the volunteer figures.

Hmm this does not bode well.

They have made some very odd decisions over the years: the bunch loco deal "buy 3 get 1", the Salisbury water tower, the turntable, selling the dining set (except the kitchen car), outsourcing the static catering (n.b. I see that they have removed the kiosk counter from the booking hall), delaying year 1 of the Wareham service until the dmu was ready but then having to get the LT set to operate it as the dmu wasnt ready, all the time and effort spent on preparing an application for the non mainline running certificate but then getting west coast railways to operate the service on the wcr licence.....

 

[Rougueg]

From my interactions.... the above is symptomatic of insular thinking and small pond mentality....

Hence the still party line of "blame the pandemic" and failing that "expensive coal due to Ukraine"....

Utter bilge.

Some lateral thinking could turn the railway into a competitive tourist destination again.

 

[Titfield]

From my interactions.... the above is symptomatic of insular thinking and small pond mentality....

Hence the still party line of "blame the pandemic" and failing that "expensive coal due to Ukraine"....

Utter bilge.

Some lateral thinking could turn the railway into a competitive tourist destination again.

Yes blaming the pandemic seems to have become a stock in trade answer for any poorly performing business.

Swanage Railway has improved its financial position by dropping two steam train running in the peak season (its one steam and one diesel) and dropping Mondays and Friday running in the low season. it has also run a few more events but whether these are genuinely financially worthwhile I dont know.

 

[Rougueg]

Yes blaming the pandemic seems to have become a stock in trade answer for any poorly performing business.

Swanage Railway has improved its financial position by dropping two steam train running in the peak season (its one steam and one diesel) and dropping Mondays and Friday running in the low season. it has also run a few more events but whether these are genuinely financially worthwhile I dont know.

Yes. But of course by dropping the service frequency it automatically becomes impossible for a visitor to actually visit the "attraction" properly.

E.g. get on and off at stations and view the museums etc etc.

With only a limited service it really is go one way, then come back.

Hardly a riveting experience......

With a small amount of imagination, ancillary income could be doubled. With customers still feeling value for money.

I really do find the whole thing just sad frankly.

 

[Alfonso]

She has experience of working at Dorset's biggest tourist attraction - the tank museum - so will know how a well run local visitor economy organisation ticks, she doesn't come with the baggage of all the past things mentioned upthread, and she'll have her own vision for how to make the place sustainable. Maybe she's going after the cruise passenger market, maybe she knows she's not great with volunteers and plans to have someone else lead on this aspect, maybe she's going to launch an overnight sleeper through the channel tunnel using class 442 replicas, who knows? Give her a chance.

 

[30907]

Almost zero experience with volunteers.

Really - does Shrewsbury ARK not have them?

 

[Belfastmarty]

Yes. But of course by dropping the service frequency it automatically becomes impossible for a visitor to actually visit the "attraction" properly.

E.g. get on and off at stations and view the museums etc etc.

With only a limited service it really is go one way, then come back.

Hardly a riveting experience......

With a small amount of imagination, ancillary income could be doubled. With customers still feeling value for money.

I really do find the whole thing just sad frankly.

I'd assume one of the first things she will want to do is take stock of the current situation, what's working, what's not, where improvements could be made for quick wins etc. As others have said let's give the lady a chance.

 

[sh24]

£100K for the CEO of a £3M business is a bit light, especially one where the safety critical nature increases the risk around the role. It’s also an expensive part of the world to live.

They’ve done well to secure someone.

 

[Titfield]

£100K for the CEO of a £3M business is a bit light, especially one where the safety critical nature increases the risk around the role. It’s also an expensive part of the world to live.

They’ve done well to secure someone.

It is a lot of money for an industry that has predominantly volunteer work forces supplemented by a small number of staff on low wages / salaries.

 

[D Williams]

£100K for the CEO of a £3M business is a bit light, especially one where the safety critical nature increases the risk around the role. It’s also an expensive part of the world to live.

They’ve done well to secure someone.

Swanage is not a difficult railway business to run. It's about nine miles long , has a large car park just off a main road at one end , a seaside town ( with one million visitors a year) at the other and an attractive "chocolate box " village, complete with castle, in the middle. Most heritage railways have nothing like these advantages. You set up a timetable, sell tickets and run trains. Catering will always be marginal as it is at every other such attraction particularly at Swanage where the streets outside are littered with food outlets. When I was involved with these affairs elsewhere we made money from on-train buffet sales, the station cafe was a running sore. If money had been spent on a refurbished dining train instead of the Wareham debacle there would have been some return rather than a compete loss. Go and have a chat with the North Norfolk as they are in a similar location. It looks to me as if the board requires a few bright lights rather than hoping a CE can wave a magic wand.

With regard to "safety critical" , I'm not aware that this person has any relevant experience whatsoever.

You are very generous with your pay scales, can I come and work for you? No doubt the other heads of department will now be agitating for a pay increase.

 

[sh24]

Hear

It is a lot of money for an industry that has predominantly volunteer work forces supplemented by a small number of staff on low wages / salaries.

It is, but unless you want a volunteer CEO Swanage will have to pay market rates.

 

[Titfield]

Hear


It is, but unless you want a volunteer CEO Swanage will have to pay market rates.

You are assuming that the heritage railway runs in a logical way - they dont.

 

[Amlag]

A ‘back of the fag packet‘ calculation would have shown the Wareham venture to be Financially a non starter.

i wonder how financially successful the no doubt very costly ‘Strictly Bulleid Gala’ last year was ?
None the less it was very impressive and also enjoyed by hundreds of non contributing train watchers and photographers.

Did anyone from the Swanage Rly go round stations, bridges and lineside etc with a cap collecting donations;
as done by, for example, Coach tour drivers and the landowner of the field by Dainton Tunnel ..for charity.

 

[Titfield]

Swanage is not a difficult railway business to run. It's about nine miles long , has a large car park just off a main road at one end , a seaside town ( with one million visitors a year) at the other and an attractive "chocolate box " village, complete with castle, in the middle. Most heritage railways have nothing like these advantages. You set up a timetable, sell tickets and run trains. Catering will always be marginal as it is at every other such attraction particularly at Swanage where the streets outside are littered with food outlets. When I was involved with these affairs elsewhere we made money from on-train buffet sales, the station cafe was a running sore. If money had been spent on a refurbished dining train instead of the Wareham debacle there would have been some return rather than a compete loss. Go and have a chat with the North Norfolk as they are in a similar location. It looks to me as if the board requires a few bright lights rather than hoping a CE can wave a magic wand.

With regard to "safety critical" , I'm not aware that this person has any relevant experience whatsoever.

You are very generous with your pay scales, can I come and work for you? No doubt the other heads of department will now be agitating for a pay increase.

Yes, Swanage Railway is fortunate to have these competitive advantages which is why it is number 3 or 4 for passenger carryings for heritage railways in the uk.

Catering is challenging to do well and profitably in Swanage with over 50 competing establishments of one sort or another.

The issue with the dining train was getting volunteer staff to operate it on Friday and Saturday nights.

Wareham was always going to be financially challenging but they were required under the terms of the lease to operate the two trial services. They had also spent over 35 years saying (effectively) "give us the tools and we will do the job". The taxpayer one way or another funded the refurbishment of the dmus to mainline standards, the inclusion of the branch in the Poole to Wool resignalling scheme and reinstating the tracks and civils on the northern section of the line to allow services to operate.

 

[Rougueg]

Unless volunteer numbers can be restored there won't be a future for the railway.

There isn't a financial model on Earth that will allow for paid staff to cover the work of free volunteers.

The back log of maintenance on traction as well as PW is growing by the day and the list of capital infra projects is extensive. Some funded some part and some unfunded.

The famous carriage shed for example will need yet more money beyond the original as it was left to lapse.

Perhaps SR has found the mythical money tree? But I doubt it.

A final thought...
When I enquired about the role (did not apply as its not CEO rated ££ shall we say), I was explicitly told that issues such as the culture in certain areas remains a huge concern.

I don't doubt that this will be a huge task for anyone.
It certainly is more than a 1 to 2 year flash in the pan job though.

Good luck to them.

 

[overthere 2]

..... looking at this individuals work history....

Changes jobs erm.... frequently.
Only 1 job in last 17 years held for more than 3 years......

Did they not check LinkedIn?

She could be one of these trouble shooting types who businesses hire when things are going bad. They come in, see what is going wrong, sort it out and then move on.

She has experience of working at Dorset's biggest tourist attraction - the tank museum - so will know how a well run local visitor economy organisation ticks, she doesn't come with the baggage of all the past things mentioned upthread, and she'll have her own vision for how to make the place sustainable. Maybe she's going after the cruise passenger market, maybe she knows she's not great with volunteers and plans to have someone else lead on this aspect, maybe she's going to launch an overnight sleeper through the channel tunnel using class 442 replicas, who knows? Give her a chance.

I have heard of the tank museum in the past but in recent years it has come up a lot either for supplying tanks for various films, having military history TV shows filmed there or having other stuff like car shows so it seems if she was behind them then it bodes well for the railway.

Like most heritage railways the plan with Swanage was to rebuild the line and stations and run a full public service but unlike most heritage railways Swanage actually achieved it but just messed up the passenger services bit so just as I am advocating about Go-Op running passenger services to Minehead perhaps one of this lady's plans will look at working with a Train company to run trains to Swanage in the mornings and evenings. For example extend something that would usually start/terminate at Bournemouth - XC trains maybe? as in the summer long distance trains to a seaside resort would be popular.

With regard to "safety critical" , I'm not aware that this person has any relevant experience whatsoever.

Trains and tanks aren't too far removed from each other, as both are big heavy bits of metal, both need skilled operators and both will ruin your day if you are hit by them.

Unless volunteer numbers can be restored there won't be a future for the railway.

There isn't a financial model on Earth that will allow for paid staff to cover the work of free volunteers.

The back log of maintenance on traction as well as PW is growing by the day and the list of capital infra projects is extensive. Some funded some part and some unfunded.

The famous carriage shed for example will need yet more money beyond the original as it was left to lapse.

Perhaps SR has found the mythical money tree? But I doubt it.

This could be looked at as "every cloud has a silver lining" as this could be the perfect opportunity to bring the line back on to the national network as while I appreciate that a lot of people have put a lot of time, effort and money in to the railway and it is a popular tourist attraction there are a lot of heritage railways that would be far more useful if they were bought back on to the national network with Swanage being a perfect example.

Im not saying the volunteer's just disappear but what could happen is Network rail buys the track bed for a token pound and then gives them a year or so to dismantle the track, signaling, buildings (if practical) and move the locomotives and rolling stock (transport prayed for by Network Rail) Then once they have gone new track is layed and to keep costs down it is operated as a siding with "one engine in steam" so no signaling.

Meanwhile the volunteers are given a bit of old track bed nearby, for example they could team up with the Shillingstone station railway project or looking on the National Library of Scotland side by side maps the Somerset and Dorset line from Bournemouth/Poole to Templecombe looks pretty intact so they could set up somewhere along it and copy the GCR groups by aiming to eventually connect up with the Shillingstone people.

 

[jupiter]

Speechless. overthere, have you visited the Swanage railway at all?

 

[Invincible]

Like most heritage railways the plan with Swanage was to rebuild the line and stations and run a full public service but unlike most heritage railways Swanage actually achieved it but just messed up the passenger services bit so just as I am advocating about Go-Op running passenger services to Minehead perhaps one of this lady's plans will look at working with a Train company to run trains to Swanage in the mornings and evenings. For example extend something that would usually start/terminate at Bournemouth - XC trains maybe? as in the summer long distance trains to a seaside resort would be popular.


they could team up with the Shillingstone station railway project

Various people are pushing for a return of the Wareham to Corfe, or Swanage, heritage DMU train link after a good trial in 2023. The problem was it did not make enough revenue.
But getting a subsidy will be difficult, especially with subsidised public buses, and many private coaches and cars, running the same route. Maybe the new CEO will be able to get some funding, or a contract with the new GBR to encourage leisure services to Corfe and Swanage (and people to leave cars at home to help with traffic on the roads) with the London to Weymouth main line. But I expect low priority with lots of other things to sort.
I see the Swanage railway has good co operation with many other heritage railways, including the Shillingstone North Dorset railway.

 

[DerekC]

Correct. You need a CEO who understands strategy, finance, communications, stakeholder engagement and management, not necessarily the specifics of the business. It's the layer below the CEO who need expertise in their particular domains, be it operations, engineering etc. A good CEO uses the experience of those below them for achieving a common purpose.

Hmm - yes, I know that's the conventional thinking - "if you can manage, you can manage anything"- but Railtrack (remember them?) showed up the flaws in that argument applied to railways. It just isn't the same as a burger chain. You need to understand how operations, engineering etc work together in the system which delivers the product, as well as all the conventional stuff. You also need to be able to judge how best to share out the money to achieve the common purpose. Having said that, a heritage railway is not at all the same thing as a national network. Vision, how to attract visitors and bright ideas for money making are very high on the list. The appointee's track record at Bovington sounds promising - and she should know the local area, which is also important. She will need lots of advice from her feet-on-the ground colleagues about which bright ideas will and won't work, but it's a fresh start - I have family connections there and I am keeping my fingers crossed!!

 

[paul1609]

Various people are pushing for a return of the Wareham to Corfe, or Swanage, heritage DMU train link after a good trial in 2023. The problem was it did not make enough revenue.
But getting a subsidy will be difficult, especially with subsidised public buses, and many private coaches and cars, running the same route. Maybe the new CEO will be able to get some funding, or a contract with the new GBR to encourage leisure services to Corfe and Swanage (and people to leave cars at home to help with traffic on the roads) with the London to Weymouth main line. But I expect low priority with lots of other things to sort.
I see the Swanage railway has good co operation with many other heritage railways, including the Shillingstone North Dorset railway.

I don't think any of the "various people "are in the heritage or mainline railway circles, I get the impression that the results were such it's been put to bed for at least a generation and lives on mostly in enthusiasts social media. I think it's been filed in the same.folder as through/ commuter services to Ramsbottom, Aylesford Minehead, Chinnor. Oxenhope & Hawes. I'm sure there's others I've forgotten.

 

[Titfield]

The most important task for the new CEO is to stop Swanage Railway from making any more poor decisions which lead to large amounts of cash being lost: the water tower, the N and U Class hire 3 use 1, Project Wareham. This is not a case of "with hindsight" but the risks were obvious before SR committed to the "deal".

Given that Swanage Railway has previously been in the top 3 or 4 passenger carrying heritage railways in the UK (C210,000 pa in the late 2010s) that suggests that achieving pax numbers above that level will be quite challenging. The seeming inability to provide a viable catering offering means that secondary spend per pax is poor.

 

[jupiter]

How do you know the Wareham service was a financial failure, have you seen a report? Have any figures been published at all?

 

[Titfield]

How do you know the Wareham service was a financial failure, have you seen a report? Have any figures been published at all?

There have been a number of references to it not being financially viable and that it had lost C£110K.

From memory such references were made at the AGM, in the Swanage Railway Magazine and in the minutes of the Purbeck Community Rail Partnership amongst others.

 

[Invincible]

The seeming inability to provide a viable catering offering means that secondary spend per pax is poor.

From Linkedin she was "Assistant Manager Greggs Mar 2017 - Mar 2018" , so might be able to help make catering a bit more viable. But there is a lot of other eating places near the stations (including Greggs, and even Wimpy in Swanage got a mention by Jonathan Ross on his TV show the other day).
From Facebook the "Steam cafe" at Corfe are advertising for staff to get the Norden station kiosk going again, which will help the railway a bit.
But the fine dining trains will still be unviable.

 

[Titfield]

From Linkedin she was "Assistant Manager Greggs Mar 2017 - Mar 2018" , so might be able to help make catering a bit more viable. But there is a lot of other eating places near the stations (including Greggs, and even Wimpy in Swanage got a mention by Jonathan Ross on his TV show the other day).
From Facebook the "Steam cafe" at Corfe are advertising for staff to get the Norden station kiosk going again, which will help the railway a bit.
But the fine dining trains will still be unviable.

AFAIK the two dining cars of the Wessex Belle Dining set have been sold. The kitchen car and the bar car have been retained.

The challenges with offering catering are (1) the level of competition at Swanage ranging from Greggs, the £3.50 / £4 meal deal at the Co-Op through to the more premium priced Salt Pig and Java (other outlets are available) (2) the seasonality of the business (3) the challenges of recruiting staff as this is a role volunteers are reluctant to undertake.(4) the cost of employed staff.

The railway has tried a number of different offerings but the most viable was the volunteer run kiosk at Norden. This was financially viable because it just offered hot and cold drinks and prepackaged confectionery etc the retailing of which volunteers were prepared to undertake. Getting volunteers to "cook" has proven to be well nigh impossible in Swanage.

There is also a lack of suitable space at the stations to provide a "proper cafe" though i understand there are moves afoot at Swanage which may provide a suitable location. Whether such a cafe could compete remains to be seen.

 

[paul1609]

AFAIK the two dining cars of the Wessex Belle Dining set have been sold. The kitchen car and the bar car have been retained.

The challenges with offering catering are (1) the level of competition at Swanage ranging from Greggs, the £3.50 / £4 meal deal at the Co-Op through to the more premium priced Salt Pig and Java (other outlets are available) (2) the seasonality of the business (3) the challenges of recruiting staff as this is a role volunteers are reluctant to undertake.(4) the cost of employed staff.

The railway has tried a number of different offerings but the most viable was the volunteer run kiosk at Norden. This was financially viable because it just offered hot and cold drinks and prepackaged confectionery etc the retailing of which volunteers were prepared to undertake. Getting volunteers to "cook" has proven to be well nigh impossible in Swanage

I have no knowledge of the Swanage's catering attempts but its more likely a result of legislation than "volunteers not wanting to cook". I've often covered as a catering assistant at the K&ESR and as such I sell prepacked sandwiches, buns and drinks. However to prepare meals I need a health & hygiene certificate. This is not difficult to obtain, I think you can do it online, but it brings with it an awful lot of audit paperwork for the railway in terms of the premises hygiene rating. This most likely means that you need a catering supervisor, the market rate for which is above the minimum wage and is hiked Everytime the min wage goes up ditto national insurance, pension etc. These costs are probably at a premium in a South Coast holiday destination.

 

[Titfield]

Swanage Railway struggled for many years to "encourage" sufficient volunteers to staff the Birds Nest Buffet (Swanage) and the Wessex Belle Dining Train and was compelled to employ paid staff to deliver the service to the passengers / customers.

All catering staff undertook the necessary training and held the appropriate health and hygiene certificates. The paperwork / audit trail is not that onerous for a well organised and conscientious team. Costs of paid staff were an issue.

 

[D Williams]

Making money from Heritage Railway catering is very difficult. Losing money from catering is remarkably easy. I speak from bitter experience. Compliance with the Food Hygiene Regs takes very little management time.

 

[Rougueg]

She could be one of these trouble shooting types who businesses hire when things are going bad. They come in, see what is going wrong, sort it out and then move on.





I have heard of the tank museum in the past but in recent years it has come up a lot either for supplying tanks for various films, having military history TV shows filmed there or having other stuff like car shows so it seems if she was behind them then it bodes well for the railway.

Like most heritage railways the plan with Swanage was to rebuild the line and stations and run a full public service but unlike most heritage railways Swanage actually achieved it but just messed up the passenger services bit so just as I am advocating about Go-Op running passenger services to Minehead perhaps one of this lady's plans will look at working with a Train company to run trains to Swanage in the mornings and evenings. For example extend something that would usually start/terminate at Bournemouth - XC trains maybe? as in the summer long distance trains to a seaside resort would be popular.





Trains and tanks aren't too far removed from each other, as both are big heavy bits of metal, both need skilled operators and both will ruin your day if you are hit by them.








This could be looked at as "every cloud has a silver lining" as this could be the perfect opportunity to bring the line back on to the national network as while I appreciate that a lot of people have put a lot of time, effort and money in to the railway and it is a popular tourist attraction there are a lot of heritage railways that would be far more useful if they were bought back on to the national network with Swanage being a perfect example.

Im not saying the volunteer's just disappear but what could happen is Network rail buys the track bed for a token pound and then gives them a year or so to dismantle the track, signaling, buildings (if practical) and move the locomotives and rolling stock (transport prayed for by Network Rail) Then once they have gone new track is layed and to keep costs down it is operated as a siding with "one engine in steam" so no signaling.

Meanwhile the volunteers are given a bit of old track bed nearby, for example they could team up with the Shillingstone station railway project or looking on the National Library of Scotland side by side maps the Somerset and Dorset line from Bournemouth/Poole to Templecombe looks pretty intact so they could set up somewhere along it and copy the GCR groups by aiming to eventually connect up with the Shillingstone people.

...... bringing the line back to National network..... that option uas been explored and exhausted due to the impact on the heritage railway.


I'm really hoping you're not the applicant in disguise....

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Mar 2025 ==

Let's be honest, only time will tell with this appointment.

With a likely downturn of the economy in general, fundamentals still not in place at the railway AND IMO the most critical.... the dwindling volunteer numbers... the likelihood of success continues to fade.

But it will be the CEOs role to deliver against the Boards vision as to what "success" looks like.

Circumstances might well dictate that success is a simple as transitioning to a limited service volunteer only led heritage museum experience.

Who knows.

But a history of spaffing the cash on vanity projects and mismanagement has not created the best environment that there could be.