GBR HQ or Regional HQ

[PG]

Local councillors in Grantham suggested a bid for the HQ, "to be placed on land adjacent to the railway station".

Not singling out Grantham but I don't see a particular need for the HQ to be near a railway station. It's not like any of their 'outputs' are going to be popped on a train or the tracks!

 

[D365]

Not singling out Grantham but I don't see a particular need for the HQ to be near a railway station. It's not like any of their 'outputs' are going to be popped on a train or the tracks!

Hybrid working is an ideal scenario to be using public transport.

 

[PG]

putting the head office of what, in all honesty, should be called Rail England (or something to that effect)

One could argue that GBR HQ should be located in the centre of the country it purports to serve, trouble is there is some dispute over where that is!

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-190209,00.html

The centre of England is Morton in Derbyshire as this is midway between the longest axis north and south of England, and midway between the east coast, and the Welsh border.

Nearest station Alfreton.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-leicestershire-22901222

For more than 500 years Meriden, near Coventry has marked the traditional centre of England.
However, the Ordnance Survey has calculated the exact geographical centre to be in a field at Lindley Hall Farm, in Fenny Drayton, Leicestershire.

Nearest station Atherstone.

 

[Starmill]

One could argue that GBR HQ should be located in the centre of the country it purports to serve, trouble is there is some dispute over where that is!

https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,,-190209,00.html

Nearest station Alfreton.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-leicestershire-22901222

Nearest station Atherstone.

Although that does give some hint I think - Coventry is often cited as the nearest major settlement to the centre of England, although in accordance with the above Leicester could also be argued to fit that description. As lovely as I'm sure Atherstone is it's not really a likely place, much less a small village.

 

[zwk500]

Although that does give some hint I think - Coventry is often cited as the nearest major settlement to the centre of England, although in accordance with the above Leicester could also be argued to fit that description. As lovely as I'm sure Atherstone is it's not really a likely place, much less a small village.

Of course, what really matters is Journey time, not distance. Anybody care to work out the notional centre of England on the basis of rail transport journey time?

 

[Mag_seven]

I'm surprised no none has suggested not bothering and just let the staff "work from home" since apparently that's the "new normal" now.

 

[zwk500]

I'm surprised no none has suggested not bothering and just let the staff "work from home" since apparently that's the "new normal" now.

Equally, nobody has said how many staff will work in the new HQ.

 

[EllieAquitrain]

Of course, what really matters is Journey time, not distance. Anybody care to work out the notional centre of England on the basis of rail transport journey time?

On top of that, it might be ideal to weight by population or maybe station usage, to minimise person-hours of journey time?

 

[PG]

I wonder if the railway industry gets any say? Or is it just down to whichever constituency is marginal

 

[TheGrew]

I think Birmingham as it's centrally located with good links to everywhere.

There is now a rather large ex-John Lewis unit available inside New Street station. Probably few places better connected in the UK.

 

[PG]

Equally, nobody has said how many staff will work in the new HQ.

Surely the government/DfT wouldn't bother itself with such a trivial detail!?

 

[InTheEastMids]

There is now a rather large ex-John Lewis unit available inside New Street station. Probably few places better connected in the UK.

Why put it in the best connected point in the UK? It just gives you a false sense of how well the railway connects up so much of the country. Standing on MK Central, minutes from the Network Rail office and watching modern, rapid, capacious LNWR and Avanti services zipping through will create complacency. They should put GBR HQ where the train service is currently useless. Unfortunately, I don't think that narrows potential locations down a great deal.

So given a very long list of possibilities, I'd go for Worksop because the recent lamentable performance of EMR services (slow, infrequent, short-formed, scruffy).

If GBR Board members missed important meetings, because they'd had to take the tram as far as Hucknall due to short forming, then minds would definitely be more focused on real issues that the railway - to an outsider - seem to have little sense of urgency in solving.

Perhaps, in our hybrid working world, this is the future. Rotate the GBR HQ, a bit like City of Culture? Next up, Wellinborough (which I think has in fact been put forward). The ridiculous fare anomaly that dates back to pre-privatisation would be sorted out within a week.

 

[Bald Rick]

Equally, nobody has said how many staff will work in the new HQ.

Nor how many will be based there, which is a rather different thing

 

[PG]

Rotate the GBR HQ, a bit like City of Culture? Next up, Wellinborough (which I think has in fact been put forward). The ridiculous fare anomaly that dates back to pre-privatisation would be sorted out within a week.

Not if the staff have free travel facilities and so aren't aware of it!
I'll stick my tuppence worth in and nominate Whitby as not the easiest place to get to...

 

[Elecman]

Not if the staff have free travel facilities and so aren't aware of it!
I'll stick my tuppence worth in and nominate Whitby as not the easiest place to get to...

As GBR staff are not TOC staff they won’t have free travel facilities!!

 

[Clansman]

Does anybody know the timescale for the bidding process? I understand the deadline was March 16th for interest registration but I can't find anything beyond that.

Edit: Found it.

 

[AM9]

On top of that, it might be ideal to weight by population or maybe station usage, to minimise person-hours of journey time?

Which would mean remaining in London where two thirds of UK rail travel starts from and/or finishes at. That's part of why most of the rail expertise lives around the capital.
Former centres of railway operation are irrelevant to the needs of administering the national railway. That doesn't need factories and workshops next to the head office. It's also naïve to think that putting a few (even hundred) office employees in a provincial city will revolutionalise local travel and certainly it won't lift a whole region, - it's all about promises, bribes and election prospects.

 

[Purple Orange]

Which would mean remaining in London where two thirds of UK rail travel starts from and/or finishes at. That's part of why most of the rail expertise lives around the capital.
Former centres of railway operation are irrelevant to the needs of administering the national railway. That doesn't need factories and workshops next to the head office. It's also naïve to think that putting a few (even hundred) office employees in a provincial city will revolutionalise local travel and certainly it won't lift a whole region, - it's all about promises, bribes and election prospects.

I disagree. A few hundred office employees situated in York, or wherever it may be, won’t on its own revolutionise anything. However the more government functions are spread around the country, the greater the chance that collective thinking will be more representative of the country as a whole. Stick everything in London and strangely enough a London centric mindset is established.

 

[AM9]

Reply

I disagree. A few hundred office employees situated in York, or wherever it may be, won’t on its own revolutionise anything. However the more government functions are spread around the country, the greater the chance that collective thinking will be more representative of the country as a whole. Stick everything in London and strangely enough a London centric mindset is established.

I doubt that government thinking will benefit from spreading the jobs around the country, - it hasn't so far. Few real policy decisions are made by public servants, the politicians treat them as information gatherers and tell them what to actually do.
It only changes when the politicians think it will affect their ballot box opportunities. Can you give any examples of where it has had anything more than marginal effect on house prices, - and not just the type of houses that managers shipped out of their current location buy.

 

[Sir Felix Pole]

The rumour mill has started regarding Crewe as a possible HQ site - NR have purchased their existing office building and the adjoining former Total Fitness gym.

Mannin House

Cariad Developments has sold a former Total Fitness gym and an office building to the transport organisation, which is currently amid a hunt for a national HQ.

The 15,838 sq ft office building is known as Mannin House and is already occupied by Network Rail.

Cariad, a privately-owned Chester property company, acquired the Macon Way site in early 2020 as a medium-term development opportunity. The company’s plans were altered when the gym group, hit by the Covid pandemic, closed the site last year, leaving two-thirds of the six-acre site redundant.

The sale price was undisclosed, although prior to Cariad’s ownership it had been marketed at close to £2.9m.

Matthew Pochin, director at Legat Owen, acted for Cariad along with Hatrick. He said: “This was not the easiest transaction to bring to a conclusion mainly due to the competitive market place for opportunities of this nature.

“However, seeing Crewe as a key location for the business and ultimately the railway sector, Network Rail ultimately came forward with a strong offer and moved from agreement to completion within five working days.”

The move is sure to raise eyebrows, with Cheshire East Council having two weeks ago submitted a bid to make Crewe the home of the new Great British Railways.

GBR will effectively replace Network Rail as operator of the nation’s rail infrastructure, and also take on the Department for Transport’s contracting of train operations and timetabling.

 

[The Planner]

The rumour mill has started regarding Crewe as a possible HQ site - NR have purchased their existing office building and the adjoining former Total Fitness gym.

Mannin House

They will need that space for all the people dealing with Crewe Hub, that and Mannin House are not HQ standard buildings.

 

[Gareth]

I disagree. A few hundred office employees situated in York, or wherever it may be, won’t on its own revolutionise anything. However the more government functions are spread around the country, the greater the chance that collective thinking will be more representative of the country as a whole. Stick everything in London and strangely enough a London centric mindset is established.

It's far better to decentralise government and allow counties and municipalities to largely run themselves. Central government could then be leaner and more focused on national and international issues.

Boondoggles like this, while you wouldn't refuse them if offered, don't really do anything practical and are largely a grandiose PR exercise.

The BBC's a good example: it doesn't matter how many TV shows or departments they move to Manchester, it'll still be the London metropolitan institution it has always been and will never be Manc in the way Granada Television was.

 

[Elecman]

They will need that space for all the people dealing with Crewe Hub, that and Mannin House are not HQ standard buildings.

Correct and also that NR are taking occupation of Mercury House on Tommy’s Lane as well