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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.<ref>Companies House</ref> The Company is commonly referred to within the SVR as "the Holding Company" or "Holdings", and in writing is often abbreviated to '''SVR(H)'''. A Severn Valley Railway shareholder owns a share of this Company and is entitled to attend the Annual General Meeting. Issued share capital exceeds £10,000400,000.
SVR(H) owns the SVR's infrastructure such as lines and stations. It also owns three [[Steam Locomotives | steam locomotives]], four operational [[Diesel Locomotives | diesel locomotives]] and a number of [[Carriages | carriages]], and enters into running agreements with operators of other locomotives and rolling stock to be based on the line. It employs the SVR'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.<ref>[http://www.svr.co.uk/pdf/SVR%20Share%20Offer%20Document%202016.pdf 2016 Share Offer Document]</ref> 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.<ref>2012 Share Offer prospectus</ref>
Shareholders wcan can also donate their shares to the [[Severn Valley Railway Company Limited]], [[Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Ltd]], one of the [[List of preservation groups|SVR preservation groups]] or to other bodies associated with the railway. Donations to [[Charities associated with the SVR]] may attract tax relief.
==Share offers==
| 1994 || style="text-align:right;" | £750,000 || style="text-align:right;" | £515,000||Freehold of [[Kidderminster]] (£450k) plus working capital.<ref>Target, SVR News 110. £515k raised in 17 months, SVR News 116</ref>
|-
| 2012 || style="text-align:right;" | £4,000,000|| style="text-align:right;" | £2,001,391||Overhaul of [[GWR 4930 Hagley Hall]], [[Bridgnorth#Bridgnorth_Development_Project|Bridgnorth Development Project]] et al. Costs were £89,950.
|-
| 2016 || style="text-align:right;" | £2,500,000|| style="text-align:right;" | £2,548,595|| [[Bridgnorth#Bridgnorth_Development_Project|Bridgnorth Development Project]]. Costs were £121,247.
|-
|}
As the [[2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic]] unfolded the SVR launched its 'Fight Back Fund' appeal for both donations and shares. In the six months to June 2020 the number of shares issued grew by £152,399.
==Notable shareholdings==
Some bodies connected with the SVR maintain shareholdings, taken from the full list of shareholders at 24 June 2016 at Companies House as below, with updates as shown. For subsequent years these are not available online, only on CD-ROM by application.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|[[The 2857 Society]] ||714||
|-
|[[The 75069 Fund]] ||1,501||
|-
|[[Arley Station Fund]] ||100||
|-
| [[Class 50 Alliance Limited]]||9,560||
|-
|[[Coalyard Miniature Railway Model Engineering Society]] || || Thanks to their passengers, the miniature railway have been able to donate funds to the SVR Share Offer for Bridgnorth Station.<ref>[https://www.svr.co.uk/NewsItem.aspx?a=572 Coalyard Miniature Railway news item, SVR website] (Retrieved 8 November 2020)</ref>
|-
|[[ Diesel Traction Group |DTG Trading Limited]] ||15,000||
|[[Highley#Highley_Station_Fund|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 2020 it was 17.758% of issued capital(1,807,679 shares).<ref>SVR(GH) Accounts 2017Financial Statements for the year ended 5 January 2020</ref>
|-
| [[Stanier 8F Locomotive Society]] ||23,810||
|[[SVR Apprentices|SVR 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. Figure still correct at 30 June 2019.
|-
|[[SVR Wolverhampton Branch|SVRA Wolverhampton Branch]] ||4,640|| See Note 3
|-
|[[Western Locomotive Association]] ||1,000|| Added 2020.
|-
|}
The list of shareholders at 24 June 2016 also included the following entries:
*[[David Owen#Rubery_Owen|Rubery Owen Holdings Limited]] hold 150,000 shares, arising from an agreement in 1973 which included the rebuilding of the [[Bridgnorth Footbridge Trust|Hollybush Road Footbridge]]. SVR News reported at the time that the voting rights of those shares were vested in [[Severn Valley Railway Company Limited]].<ref>SVR News 30</ref>
*The largest private individual's single holding was 390,024 shares and there are no persons with significant control for this company.
==Shareholder benefits==
{| class="wikitable"
! Shareholding!! Annual Benefits currently in operation
*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 SVR 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 are entitled to free car parking in SVR car parks. They and receive an annual windscreen parking pass which. Where car parks have exit barriers, shareholders may obtain a free exit token on production of a parking-eligible travel pass at Kidderminster and Bridgnorth ticket offices, shops or at [[The Railwayman's Arms]]. In October 2019 a new Shareholder Travel Pass came into use for the 1,800 eligible passholders, a photo-bearing credit card-sized pass to replace during 2020 the previous version and medallion that were open to abuse.<ref>[https://www.svrlive.com/blnov19 SVR Live, Branch Lines November 2019] (Retrieved 9 November 2019)</ref><ref>SVR(H) letter to passholders November 2019</ref> It contains a bar code to monitor usage levels.
==Legal Charges==
Since at least 1975 the Company has given Legal Charges over its land and fixed and floating assets. [https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01046274/charges 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 (HLF) (re. [[The Engine House]]).
As a condition of [[:Category:Lottery funding#National_Lottery_Heritage_Fund|Heritage Lottery Funding ]] 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==
