Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC

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. 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 £10,000,000.

SVR(H) owns the SVR'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 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. 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.

Shareholders can also donate their shares to the Severn Valley Railway Company Limited, Severn Valley Railway Charitable Trust Ltd, one of the SVR preservation groups or to other bodies associated with the railway. Donations to Charities associated with the SVR may attract tax relief.

Contents

Share offers

The SVR Board retains the authority to allot shares when approached from time to time by people interested in subscribing for shares. Since 2007 such ad hoc allotments have averaged approximately £145,000 per year. In addition, SVR(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.
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

As the 2020 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic unfolded the SVR launched an appeal for both donations and shares.

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. For subsequent years these are not available online, only on CD-ROM by application.

Bodies currently associated with the SVR	Shareholding at June 2016	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 2019 it was 17.8% of issued capital.
Stanier 8F Locomotive Society	23,810
Stanier Mogul Fund	4,286	See Note 1
SVRA South East Branch	15,000	See Note 3. Branch closed
SVRA Stourbridge Branch	500	See Note 3
SVRA Cheshire branch	1,705	See Notes 1 and 3
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.
SVRA Wolverhampton Branch	4,640	See Note 3

• Note 1. Two shareholdings are listed. The figure shown is the aggregated figure.
• Note 2. The Severn Valley Railway Association merged with Severn Valley Railway Company Limited from 4 October 2015.
• Note 3. The former SVRA Branches are now branches of Severn Valley Railway Company Limited.

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

• Rubery Owen Holdings Limited hold 150,000 shares, arising from an agreement in 1973 which included the rebuilding of the Hollybush Road Footbridge. SVR News reported at the time that the voting rights of those shares were vested in Severn Valley Railway Company Limited.

• 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 SVR 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 SVR 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 SVR 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 SVR 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 SVR 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 SVR 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 SVR 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 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 entitled to free car parking in SVR car parks and receive an annual windscreen parking pass. 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. 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. 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 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)

Links

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