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Nabarro suggested raising money through the flotation of a public company, to be named Severn Valley Holdings Limited. The flotation began in early [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1970-1979#1972 | 1972]] with Nabarro duly appointed Chairman and [[Viscount Cobham]] as President.
The [[Severn Valley Railway (Holdings) PLC#Share_offers|share issue]] was a success, raising £110,000 of new funds by December 1972. However Nabarro had a forceful personality and began to refer to the SVR as ‘my railway’, often making operational decisions without consulting the volunteer workforce (his management style was also described as ‘a committee of one’). It also appeared that he was planning to abandon [[Bridgnorth]], with the site being sold for development and the proceeds being used to pay dividends to shareholders. Evidence of this included installing a run-round loop at [[Eardington]] and moving the [[Head Office ]] to [[Bewdley]], where he had the buildings redecorated at cost to the railway despite offers from the volunteers to do this.
Matters came to a head in early [[Severn Valley Railway Timeline 1970-1979#1973 | 1973]], following Nabarro’s dismissal of the Operating Superintendent from his paid position. The deteriorating relationship with the volunteers led to the very real threat of a strike by the workforce. In the event, Nabarro agreed to step down in March 1973, being succeeded as Chairman by [[The Earl of Lindsay|Viscount Garnock]]. Nabarro was suffering from ill health at that time, having recently suffered two strokes. Having announced a decision to retire from the Commons on health grounds, he died on 18 November 1973.
