West Somerset Railway General Discussion

Just donated to the WSR

 

Welcome Andy to Nat Pres

Patrick

 

I have made the ESR trustees aware of this generous offer.

Many thanks.

 

At the AGM last October the FO outlined the then current financial position.

She stated that cash reserves of £500K were required to 'see the Railway (Plc ) through the Winter shut
from 2/1/2020 to the beginning of the 2020 operating season. ( She added that she was
concerned that the 'Santa ' budget might be too optimistic , which sadly appears to have
been the case. )

The (Plc) at the beginning of the 2019 operating Season had barely scraped through the
Winter shut so it is reasonable to assume cash reserves were zero ( or thereabouts ).
Although there have been savings in the fixed overheads ( particularly salaries ) since
then it appears probable that cash reserves as at 31/3/2020 were low ( less than £200K
I suspect ).

With no trains running cash must be dangerously short ( as others have stated profit does not
necessarily relate to cash ie previous provisions released, or conversely allowed for
depreciation written off e.g. 44422 in the past.)

The comments re the £300K positive vs £800K negative are probably unhelpful,
the position might better be stated as the haemorrhaging has been halted. However
Covid has introduced a new blood letting, not to just the WSR but all Heritage Railways.

The WSR needs ALL the help it can get. Donations are crucial ( as wîth other
Railways) to its survival

Michael Rowe

 

It's not so much the actual amounts of cash that concern me here (although I agree much is needed...) It's the way that previously the numbers appear to have been moved about to different areas of the accounts to present different pictures of the 'current' situation that is concerning me.

I fear that any "current situation" statement may not necessarily be fully representative without being accompanied by full accounts.

 

If the messages coming from the PLC were clear, manifestly honest, and friendly towards all parties, many more of us would be inclined to contribute. When those messages seem contradictory, of dubious veracity, and/or critical of other parties, our cash will go elsewhere.

 

There were previously questions whether since the last confirmation statement in May 2019 any significant number of shares may have been issued, sufficient to effect control of the PLC.

There hasn't been. At 17 May 2020 the capital is £2,412,957 (2019: £2,327,084), an increase of £85,873 in the year. The last annual report shows £64k was raised through share sales in the previous 15 months, the small 2019/20 incease probably due to appeals to buy shares?

Should someone have £1,029,207(!) and the board agree to issue them shares, they could purchase a 29.9% stake (the maximum before having to make an offer for the other shares).

So no material change.

Patrick

 

I think the part I have bolded is the key point there though - as any such attempt at a takeover of control would require new shares to be issued, the board could easily block any such request they were suspicious of.

 

What would "help to save the WSR" would be if the various factions learned how not to hate one another's guts or to throw their weight around. The impression gained from "outside" is that so soon as the memory of one bitter quarrel begins to dissipate, up pops another one. Not very good if, along with umpteen similar organisations, you are seeking money to survive.

If you don't learn to be better very quickly indeed, then you are toast.

 

Looks like the post you were replying to has been removed - but so has the post that was replying to - and the poster....

 

I believe they are under review. The despair inducing situation at the WSR which induced my previous posting sadly is unaffected by views in this thread.

 

Indeed, I was not suggesting paulthehitch should delete his post...

 

Pedant alert !! shouldn't that be n'est ce pas ?

 

A real pedant would know that its not n'est ce pas?, but n'est-ce pas?

Which adds nothing to this thread, like most of the other 25,794 posts

 

For true pedants .... n'est-ce pas.

 

Ah but it also depends on the region and country.. I have got into many a hot spot talking French with other countries who have French as their national language...
Best to stick to Somerset English so it will be clear for all.... No miscommunication and no flexible interpretations ;-)

 

Ooh aaah!

 

Please indulge me a little and I shall explain. My Mother has come home for palliative care and the other day she wanted to go through my late Father's photos. There are lots from family holidays through the years, the photos usualyy showing the self-catering cottage we stayed in and preserved railways and buses that we visited.

Included in one set are these 2 photos which I have scanned in (they have not lasted perfectly, sorry) and which I now know was my first visit to the West Somerset Railway. I was very young apparently.

I have added them here as I thought they might be of interest to WSR people and also they can have fun trying to work out the approximate date they were taken. Please enjoy.

Ed

 

I've had a fiddle with the colours. Is this better:



I can't get rid of the purple though :-(
Maybe someone can do better?