Swanage Railway General Discussion

It was slightly tongue in cheek but the point is / was that so many eateries have gone up market that doing something totally different may attract some custom (and is very easy for volunteers to cook).

Its along the lines of chips beans and fish fingers for kids.

 

Just an observation - there is no point at all in running a commercial enterprise unless it makes a profit. Especially if the parent organisation is struggling financially.

I wholly agree that an analysis based on individual days will be problematic, as cutting to only the profitable days will undermine trust in the offering.

 

So by the sounds of it from us on the forum. The main focus of a kiosk should be Nordon. With reasons highlighted above. Believe it was only staffed was it 60/80 operating days ??.

Swanage is nice but apart from the very highest 'yellow timetable' probably way more hassle than its worth.

 

Fair comment.

 

Phew, thought a whole new heinous dish had been retconned into existence there.

 

No one seems to have picked up on the simple fact that a DC concession food outlet runs at the entrance to Norden station, therefore a huge chunk of possible custom has already been serviced and lost to the railway.

 

I had heard that like the Norden SRC kiosk, it too wasnt always open but that may be just rumour.

Hopefully those passengers coming to the railway at Norden will be keen to get to the platform and bypass the concession kiosk and get to the railway's instead.

Without wishing to be negative if a volunteer run kiosk at either Norden or Corfe Castle isn't viable financially or cant be resourced (volunteers) then the only conclusion is to abandon catering altogether. A contractor who has to pay for staff is unlikely to be able to run it viably or be able to give SRC a meaningful contribution.

I was very shocked to read in Swanning Around that the station catering operation was marginal / possibly loss making. Whilst I do not think that big profits were likely I had always believed that pre covid it had made a worthwhile contribution. One wonders what has changed. Were the op costs of Corfe Castle Buffet too high and the contribution of Norden (due to not being open) too low?

 

But it certainly isnt open at the times when I have been there unlike the Swanage Railway outlet

 

Am slightly confused by this?
Remember years ago going to Norden station by car and getting a tea on the platform. (Plain tea/coffee, but not barista specialist coffees).
Then reading there was later a buffet carriage, which was removed due to track work for Wareham.
Has Dorset Council replaced this buffet with a new commercially run "lost luggage" cafe (from the website), as well as the station platform going back to a Swanage railway run kiosk?

Swanning Around says there has not been enough volunteers for the Norden kiosk?
From the report there will be a commercial tender to run services at Norden, Corfe buffet and Swanage ticket hall kiosk.
But volunteers will still get free tea and coffee.

It could be one of the existing Corfe pubs could run the Corfe buffet carriage alongside the pub?

Now more tickets are sold online the Swanage station ticket hall could hold more seats and tables to be a proper tea room/cafe run commercially? But there is enough competition in town.

 

The SRC kiosk at Norden is in one of the waiting rooms on the platform. It is volunteer run. It offers hot and cold drinks, prepackaged confectionery and IIRC ice cream. There have been too few volunteers to open the kiosk on every operating day.

The wardens hut in the car park has been leased out by Dorset Council to a private operator who also offers aiui a kiosk type refreshment service. SRC bid for the lease but was outbid.

Previously the pubs in Corfe Castle have blown hot and cold in their involvement with the railway. Sometimes they have shown a great interest in getting involved and on other occasions not. Given their challenges in recruiting and retaining staff they may not wish to have a member of staff "isolated" at the station.

There is a small counter type service in the booking hall at Swanage offering a slightly wider range of hot and cold drinks etc etc than at Norden. The booking hall is actually quite small and there is insufficient room for tables and chairs in the hall however some tables and chairs have been put on the platform to encourage patronage. Offering hot food increases the level of complexity quite considerably as well as the risk of much higher levels of food waste. In the past it has proven challenging to recruit volunteers to prepare and serve hot food hence the reliance on paid staff however there are no paid catering staff employed currently. Some were made redundant during COVID, one has left to pursue an opportunity elsewhere and I believe but am not sure that one was made redundant during this winter.

Yes as Swanning Around says a commercial tender to provide catering at Swanage, Corfe Castle and Norden is to be published. Given the levels of competition at Swanage and Corfe Castle it will be interesting to see what bids are made and any conditions attached. My concern is that if SRC struggles to make a profit then will a private operator be able to do any better not having the "luxury" of some volunteer labour.

If there is a pot of gold in catering at either Corfe Castle or Swanage it has been bagged by one of the incumbent operators. The real driver of change in SRCs catering fortunes in Swanage was firstly the arrival of Greggs and secondly as the Co-Op has focused more on their meal deal and other take away foodstuffs.

 

New email from Swanage begging for more money ,so far raised £120,000 from a target of £450,000. The one thing that pits me off is the comment at the end.


This is appeal is made by the Swanage Railway Trust (04115126), a registered charity No. 1087318. The proceeds from the appeal are intended to be used to support the general purposes of the Swanage Railway Company (01412568) but in the event that this is not possible, the Swanage Railway Trust reserves the right to use any donations made for their own charitable aims.

So if they can't use it to support the general purposes what will they use it for ? There will be no Railway to use it for !

 

It's standard wording for an appeal, which allows the funds raised for that appeal to be used for other purposes by the charity. It's normally a little more obvious what the split is (e.g. intended to reboiler 563 but if we can't, then use for the railway as a whole), but it is necessary to give the charity freedom to move the funds.

 

Here is an example of another charity begging for more money:-
https://rnli.org/

It’s what charities do.

 

Yes but even if there was no Railway, there would still be the residual commitments of locomotive hire leases, photocopier and other equipment leases, property leases unless the owners agreed to waive any residual monies owing under the terms of the lease, cancel the lease and accept their property back. A lessor does not have to waive any commitments. Many a retailer who has taken out a long lease on premises discover that the landlord will hold them to the lease even when the business has closed. If any form of guarantee (personal or otherwise) has been given they will hold the guarantors liable.

 

It depends, as lawyers say. Depends on the ownership structure and nature of contracts. If the company was to go into administration it isn’t necessarily the case that trust would be liable for its leases and debts. It might, but it might not.

I think the statement is quite reasonable. They are stating that they want money in order to support the railway company to continue. But, it is an interesting statement too, because the fact that they feel they must point out that they are not creating a reserved fund for that company perhaps ought to be read as an indication (if more were needed) that this is serious. There is clearly a chance of the company becoming insolvent. If you care, I would suggest now is a good time to donate and to put aside frustration with being asked. It seems to me that the SR is really up against it. They are not alone.

 

I'm not completely convinced - I can equally well believe (but have not checked) that it is standard practice for all appeals, and the specific significance has been missed here.

 

Having no specific knowledge one can not say what the implications would be. However the current proposal to restructure the existing SR Company into the principal charity, reduce the SR Trust to simply be the recipient of legacy bequests made in wills and create a new company to handle commercial sales (catering and retail) suggests to me that virtually all the contractual liabilities would reside in one entity and should that entity cease to trade then SR as we know it would cease to exist.

There has been some discussion about the personal liability of the Charity's Trustees in the event of the charity and / or its principal subsidiary becoming insolvent. Charity and Company law can be quite complex but becoming insolvent particularly when ignoring "the writing on the wall" and continuing to trade can result in the Trustees being held liable.

It is absolutely essential that (a) SRC has a financially successful summer and trades profitably hereafter (b) the fund raising campaign raises ample funds to pay off existing debts, fund capital works and provide a substantial reserve / buffer against fluctuations / unforeseen demands going forward.

 

As a former trustee of another organisation, we enjoyed insurance, but if compliant in the failure of the business, then no payout

 

Yes holding Officers and Directors insurance is standard practice. One of the problems when "things go wrong" is what may have seemed a sensible and well reasoned decision at the time can look irrational with the benefit of hindsight. The Administrators will have to take a view on the evidence in deciding whether to report that there is potentially a case to answer.

 

Ye gods, arguing about words when the railway needs money. Wjhat's up with folks? Don'y you care?!