North Yorkshire Moors Railway General Discussion

Most organisations should have procedures about most things including letting out contracts etc,this is certainly something the charity commission should look at if their is suspicion of improperly letting contracts, particularly large ones and that due process has been done.

 

That's a very comprehensive analysis of all the attributes that the NYMR's present CEO doesn't seem to possess!

 

The first person to talk sense on here about this, it is absolutely true.

I've also been following this closely, since Philips appointment as when I did my research on the chap it came back very worrying. He has a very very limited engineering back ground, it seams he is more at home doing single storey extensions in Spain than an complex bridge project. A simple Google search will show some interesting things.

I have a good friend who was until very recently involved with the NYMR management, who still talks to people in the know. Phil left the country about a week after closing the bridge, he has not been seen since, other than via Skype and will not return till at least next week. Which makes the last update we received about the bridge a lie, as he would not have been present to meet with anyone! I mean who thinks you can prop a bridge without significant ballast in a river that has average level range of .5m to 2.5m, the EA would unlikely approve this, but as said over a month has been wasted on this option. Many other railways have repaired stone bridges via rope access and membrane works from above. Ie the SVR and GWSR.

More worrying is how much are the NYMR are paying this chap, when they are trying to cut costs elsewhere. Even worse is the Head of People and CEO are now fully aware of the fact he may be a fraud and has not been present in the country, but they have gone so far as they now cant turn back. While the trust board cant do anything about the situation other than stand back and watch, as they have been banned from speaking out.

The reports just last year have been that the bridge is in need of repair, but still servicable, these were from two companies that have past knowledge of this bridge. Surely the first thing the railway should have done is get another report as if these original companies were as wrong as the new Head of Structures says then surely there is recourse to be had! His quotes are coming in over the top and seam to be using companies that he has a vested interest in, surely this is a conflict of interest as a charity I've sure this needs to be declared as part of the charity commision rules, where is the extra 5ook going to go?? But again the Executive Leadership team have turned yet another blind eye to it, the plc board and trust need to get this sorted.

We still need the appeal as the work will need doing but, if the CEO backs down and admits the fault lies with this new chap. The railway could reopen fully this season and give the appeal some much needed time to get going, rather than rushing into this blindly as they have done. Works could then be sorted for next years closed season and more money and planning and time for better quotes.

As to other Bridges on the line, a bridge just before Newtondale halt is heading towards failure apparently. Whilst many others need work, plus the two footbridges are not in a good state at all, a bit like the NYMRs current finances sadly.

 

This is very worrying indeed, from the perspective of someone who loves the NYMR and has spent a lot of money there over many years. Alarm bells are ringing very loudly, having read this post, for several reasons.

Mark

 

This all sounds really really worrying, on a number of fronts. It seems clear that for whatever reasons, senior leadership are not grappling with this issue. Clearly some ordinary volunteers/staff have some level of knowledge of this and are dismayed. So what can you do, other than sign up for a NatPres account which several seem to have done this week? The allegation of handing a contract over to a mate's company with no tender process feels like the "best" one to hang your collective hats on, that's a pretty clear prima facie case of misusing charitable funds and worthy of reporting to HMRC/charities commission. Anyone can do that, the guidance is here https://www.gov.uk/guidance/report-serious-wrongdoing-at-a-charity-as-a-worker-or-volunteer . It may be worth gathering some names together, and that's perhaps where NatPres can be of some help in finding those names. But please, do something, it sounds pretty shocking from 200 miles away.

Out of interest, what was the appointment procedure for this new civil engineering director? I'm wondering how the skills matrix that's trumpeted up there has worked?

 

Here's one of his websites: https://pjsash.com/about.html Most of the jobs given in his project list seem to have been as an estimator/quantity surveyor. I note that they are all appear to be UK based but the website says 'Offices in London, Europe and Dubai.' That reminds me of a certain Del Trotters independent trading co with offices in New York, Paris and Peckham. Am I the only one getting vibes about similarities?

 

Just to observe, many of us (myself included) do not have first hand knowledge of this. CC are not known for being a proactive regulator (too much to do, too little resource), and are VERY cautious about getting involved in internal disputes within a charity.

The really important thing is that NYMR sorts itself out. Which is where the constitutional changes of a few years ago are so dangerous, as they remove an important safety valve from the membership at large.

 

My late Father-in-law was a Charity Commissioner and it was obvious from talking to him that they wouldn't get involved with the likes of this. They were too under-resourced and would only get involved if there was a allegation of major fraud involving very large sums of money. They expected charity trustees to sort out their own management problems.

 

Totally agree on all points. That's why if going to the CC I'd avoid any of the other issues and just focus on the alleged contract awarding, as that seems to be in a different category to me to the rest of the concerning things we've been hearing. With all the changes I'm genuinely unsure what formal mechanisms exist for NYMR members and volunteers now - is an EGM possible practically? Certainly sorting things out internally is the far preferable option, both for the railway and the CC would rather they did it too! But after a long period of (wholly justified) moaning, I am often the one that goes "Right, what can we actually do to try and take some practical steps to do something about it?" Genuinely not sure what those internal steps might look like at the moment.

I knew they had a fairly high bar to get involved, I had thought the alleged contract awarding might attract attention but sounds like you doubt even that would get anywhere? If so, a pretty poor reflection on the teeth of the CC, and even more worrying for what can actually be done by anybody to try and resolve the issues at the NYMR.

 

Cough, L&BRT, cough

 

Practically speaking the only way to influence in an organisation that has adopted the rather silly rules that the NYMR has adopted (and which are presented as best practice by the Heritage Railway Association quite wrongly in my opinion) is for volunteers to organise themselves to present a united front through a letter of protest or similar to begin with. Such a petition is unlikely to be ignored entirely. The next level up from this would be a withdrawal of labour. I know of one railway in recent times where the board was forced into a pretty big reversal of direction by a threat of the loco crews “striking”. As with all such actions you do have to be pretty united though. The great temptation is always to believe that such action is unnecessarily risky or harsh or risks the future of the organisation.

It is very hard to get people to agree on the need to protest. Even harder when they are volunteers and really love the work they do. When the love of the work out weighs the love of the place, you’re in real trouble. Then people say “well I will just carry on doing my thing until the trains don’t run anymore”. This is the situation by the sound of it at the Moors, but I know that isn’t the only place.

What I would say to members and volunteers at the Moors is this: start emailing and writing. Make as much fuss as you can. Inundate the management and the board with expressions of your concern and tell others that you are. If you do, you may influence change.

 

I’m not sure what process or matrix was used to appoint the new civils director but I do know it took 18 months to find one. 2 were interviewed then both pulled out, one was starting then pulled out, one got to the night before and pulled out then this one appeared.
I do know that the CEO insisted that the new person be a fully qualified civil engineer which excluded all of the existing staff even though one would have applied who was very qualified in his field but wasn’t a civil engineer and would in my opinion have been a good appointment.
Shame the same rules weren’t in place when she promoted two of her supporters into new roles that hadn’t existed with a pay rise and head of title and no change to their duties.
I’m afraid that posting in this forum or venting as it’s known is as far as we can go, the only positive being that this has united the paid staff and volunteers who can see where this is going to end.

 

I agree with you on your comments about the HRA guidance on best practice. Unfortunately there is a common architect involved with both the NYMR and the HRA in this respect. A lot of volunteers blame the current situation on the constitutional changes brought in a few years ago. I’ve tried to engage with Trust board members I know on the subject but all I got was “ I can’t discuss it with you” and “Don’t go there” as though they had been threatened if they stood outside the party line. I get the impression that newly elected Trustee board members have also been gagged. I’ve also had similar from two paid staff who have both said they would be sacked if certain senior management knew they had been speaking to me about what’s happening.

 

Well... following through the links on his website brings up this page.

https://pjsash.com/services.html

Scroll down to the reviews...



Maybe don't rob photos off the Internet to pad out your site, especially when a Google Image search traces one of them (the third photo) back to a dentist in Massachusetts!

I'm guessing one of the companies who have offered to carry out the repair work is Project Manager Yorkshire Ltd?

 

The website gave me the signs of someone with a good railway engineering adjacent career, whom I would expect to do a good job of project management.

I did NOT get the impression of someone with deep understanding of engineering, and especially the expertise to determine the usability of structures. If it is correct that he has gone away and is doing the job remotely, I also seriously wonder how effective he can be as a leader.