Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC

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Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC is a Public Company with a Share Capital, company number 01046274. The Company was incorporated under its original name of Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) Limited on 15 March 1972. It was re-registered as a Public Limited Company (PLC) on 15 March 1982.[1] The Company is commonly referred to within the SVRSevern Valley Railway as "the Holding Company" or "Holdings", and in writing is often abbreviated to SVRSevern Valley Railway(H). A Severn Valley Railway shareholder owns a share of this Company and is entitled to attend the Annual General Meeting.

SVRSevern Valley Railway(H) owns the SVRSevern Valley Railway's infrastructure such as lines and stations. It also owns three steam locomotives, four operational diesel locomotives and a number of carriages, and enters into running agreements with operators of other locomotives and rolling stock to be based on the line. It employs the SVRSevern Valley Railway's paid staff, operates the trains, is responsible for safety, and provides contract engineering services. It also operates the line's shops, pubs and refreshment rooms at Bridgnorth, The Engine House, Bewdley and Kidderminster.

The Company is an unlisted company, and its shares are not currently quoted on any trading platform, nor are there any matched bargain facility arrangements. There is currently no secondary market in the shares and shareholders may only sell their shares by way of private bargain if they can themselves find a buyer.[2] It is difficult to obtain reliable information about the secondary value of shares. The 2012 Share Offer document commented that the average price of transactions in the previous year was 45 pence per 100 pence share.[3]

Share offers

The SVRSevern Valley Railway Board retains the authority to allot shares when approached from time to time by people interested in subscribing for shares.[4] Since 2007 such ad hoc allotments have averaged approximately £145,000 per year.[5] In addition, SVRSevern Valley Railway(H) periodically makes public share offers for particular projects:

Year first offered Amount of offer Amount raised
1972 £150,000 £150,000 Original share offer, fully subscribed at £110,000 with the remainder being issued to Severn Valley Railway Company Limited
1983 £300,000 £370,000 Building of Kidderminster Town station
1988 £500,000 £500,000 Construction of Bridgnorth boilershop
1994 £750,000 £515,000 Freehold of Kidderminster (£450k) plus working capital.[6]
2012 £4,000,000 £2,001,391 Overhaul of GWR 4930 Hagley Hall, Bridgnorth Development Project et al
2016 £2,500,000 £2,548,595 Bridgnorth Development Project

Notable shareholdings

Some bodies connected with the SVRSevern Valley Railway maintain shareholdings, taken from the full list of shareholders at 24 June 2016 at Companies House as below. For subsequent years these are not available online, only on CD-ROM by application.

Bodies currently associated with the SVRSevern Valley Railway Shareholding at June 2016[7] Notes
The 2857 Society 714
The 75069 Fund 1,501
Arley Station Fund 100
Class 50 Alliance Limited 9,560
DTG Trading Limited 15,000
Great Western (SVR) Assoc. 1,026
Hampton Loade Station Fund 85
Highley Station Fund 600
Severn Valley Railway Company Limited 1,690,557 See Notes 1 and 2. Severn Valley Railway Company Limited has the largest shareholding, in 2017 it was 17.75% of issued capital.[8]
Stanier 8F Locomotive Society 23,810
Stanier Mogul Fund 4,286 See Note 1
SVRASevern Valley Railway Association South East Branch 15,000 See Note 3. Branch closed
SVRASevern Valley Railway Association Stourbridge Branch 500 See Note 3
SVRASevern Valley Railway Association Cheshire branch 1,705 See Notes 1 and 3
SVRSevern Valley Railway Junior Club 100
Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Ltd 24,535 See Note 1. In the 2012 Share Offer existing shareholders with small numbers of shares who did not want to increase their shareholding were invited to donate their shares to the Trust.
SVRA Wolverhampton Branch 4,640 See Note 3

The list of shareholders at 24 June 2016 also included the following entries:

  • The largest private individual's single holding was 390,024 shares and there are no persons with significant control for this company.

Shareholder benefits

Shareholders are entitled to the following benefits as set out in the November 2016 Bridgnorth Station 'Building for the Future' Share Issue document. Although benefits are renewed annually and amended from time to time, the Company advised shareholders these will remain unchanged until at least 2020:

Shareholding Annual Benefits currently in operation
100 – 224 A voucher for 1 Third Class “Freedom of the Line” ticket
225 – 399 Vouchers for 2 Third Class “Freedom of the Line” tickets
400 – 799 Vouchers for 4 Third Class “Freedom of the Line” tickets
800 – 1,199 Vouchers for 4 First Class “Freedom of the Line” tickets
1,200 – 1,799 A non-transferable Silver Pass giving unlimited Third Class travel on the SVRSevern Valley Railway for the holder and up to three guests
1,800 – 2,999 A non-transferable Silver Pass giving unlimited First Class travel (when available) on the SVRSevern Valley Railway for the holder and up to three guests
3,000 – 5,999 A non-transferable Gold type Medallion and Pass giving unlimited First Class travel (when available) on the SVRSevern Valley Railway for the holder and up to three guests, throughout the period of the shareholding
6,000 – 9,999 A non-transferable Gold type Medallion and Pass giving unlimited First Class travel (when available) on the SVRSevern Valley Railway for the holder and up to three guests, throughout the period of the shareholding, plus 4 Sunday Luncheon Vouchers per annum
10,000 – 14,999 A non-transferable Gold type Medallion and Pass giving unlimited First Class travel (when available) on the SVRSevern Valley Railway for the holder and up to three guests, throughout the period of the shareholding, 4 Sunday Luncheon Vouchers per annum, plus 10% off Charter Train Hire and Footplate Experience Days
15,000 – 29,999 A non-transferable Platinum type Medallion and Pass giving unlimited First Class travel (when available) on the SVRSevern Valley Railway for the holder and up to three guests throughout the period of the shareholding, 10% off Charter Train Hire and Footplate Experience Days, plus either a midweek exclusive observation saloon charter attached to a service train (for up to 23 people) or 4 Sunday Luncheon Vouchers per annum
30,000 plus A non-transferable Platinum type Medallion and Pass giving unlimited First Class travel (when available) on the SVRSevern Valley Railway for the holder and up to three guests throughout the period of the shareholding, 10% off Charter Train Hire and Footplate Experience Days, plus either a midweek exclusive observation saloon charter attached to a service train (for up to 23 people) or 4 Sunday Luncheon Vouchers per annum. Name added to the Roll of Honour board at Bridgnorth Station.
  • Note 1. Free travel vouchers, Silver, Gold and Platinum medallions & passes are valid for all timetabled trains and for special events denoted as eligible in the annual SVRSevern Valley Railway timetable.
  • Note 2. The Directors will review the above entitlements periodically and may from time to time adjust them. However, the Directors confirmed at the time of the issue of the document on 1 November 2016 that no changes would take place within the next three years.
  • Note 3. Shareholders of 3,000 or above shares will be entitled to free car parking in SVRSevern Valley Railway car parks.
  • Note 4. For Shareholders who wish to consider disposing of their shares, these can be donated to the Severn Valley Railway Company Limited

Legal Charges

Since at least 1975 the Company has given Legal Charges over its land and fixed and floating assets. Companies House lists 17 charges registered, 14 of which are outstanding, in favour of HSBC Bank plc, County Council of Hereford & Worcester (re. Bewdley) and The Trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund (HLFHeritage Lottery Fund (National Lottery Heritage Fund from 2019)) (re. The Engine House).

As a condition of Heritage Lottery Funding the Company's Articles were amended in December 1997 so that no dividend shall be paid and, in the event of winding up, no surplus shall be distributed to shareholders.

See also

The SVR Organisation
List of rolling stock owned by SVR(H)

References

  1. Companies House
  2. 2016 Share Offer Document
  3. 2012 Share Offer prospectus
  4. SVR Website
  5. Share capital per Companies House at December 2007 and November 2017 net of two public share offers
  6. Target, SVRSevern Valley Railway News 110. £515k raised in 17 months, SVRSevern Valley Railway News 116
  7. Full list of shareholders at 24 June 2016
  8. SVRSevern Valley Railway(G) Accounts 2017
  9. SVRSevern Valley Railway News 30

Links

Bridgnorth Station share offer
Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC (company 01046274) on Companies House