Severn Valley Railway Society Limited
The Severn Valley Railway Society Limited (SVRS) is registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. Registration No 9742. It is a Company with Shareholders, although no dividend is paid, with all profit used to support the running of the Railway. It owns the infrastructure and assets of the SVR, employs the paid staff, and is responsible for the operation, finance, governance, planning, customer service and management of the SVR.
Chris Walton
Chairman and Director
Chris has been actively involved with the SVR since 1969, as both a guard and then as Bridgnorth station master for 33 years. He’s served at board level for 40 years. Before retiring as a chartered management accountant, he held roles at senior management level across several leading automotive companies.
Diane Malyon
Chairman, Guarantee Board.
Director, SVRS Board.
Diane became a director of Guarantee Board in 1993, taking over as chairman in 2020 and becoming a director of the Holdings Board at the same time.
Diane became a working member at 16 on the Severn Valley Limited and on Bridgnorth based buffet cars in 1978. She moved to the Plant & Machinery Department, assisting with trolley and diesel shunter maintenance, passing out as a shunter driver in 1980, before joining the station staff, concentrating on booking office and station gardens. She also helped found the Severn Valley Venturer dining service. She was co-ordinator for the Santa operation from 1995 to 2019, retiring from the role in January 2020. Diane sits on the Accommodation Forum - a group committed to trying to improve facilities for volunteers on the SVR.
In her "real life", Diane worked in schools for over 30 years before taking early retirement.
Andy Barr O.B.E.
Director
Married with two grown up children, Andrew has been a director since 2014. He assisted the former General Manager with the high level Safety Documentation for Incident and Emergency Management and also reviewing the safety case documentation. He worked for for London Underground for 50 years where he led the 150th Anniversary celebrations, running steam trains in service through central London tube stations. He also headed Heritage Operations for the London Underground and London Buses.
Mike Hulme
Director
Prior to retiring from Alstom in March 24, Mike was Site Managing Director of Alstom’s Derby Rolling Stock Site delivering projects in both development and execution phases: most notably the Aventra fleets and HS2. His initial assignment to Derby, immediately post acquisition of Bombardier Transportation in January 2021, was as Engineering Director focused on the completion of Aventra engineering work packages, and securing Derby as the Train Development Site (Global) for the Monorail Product.
From leaving University in 1989, Mike spent 16 years with British Nuclear Fuels covering various project, engineering and operations management roles associated with nuclear power generation. Since joining Alstom in 2001, he has held various senior positions in Alstom Transport UK, including Supply Chain Director West Coast Main Line, UK Engineering and Tender Director, and UK Services Vice President.
Mike has co-chaired the Northern Rail Industry Leaders Group focused on promoting the north’s rail industry, was a board member of Liverpool City Region LEP, and is an Honorary Professor at Aston University Business School, providing support and guidance for the Advanced Services Group.
Mike was educated at Durham University where he achieved a 1st class degree in Engineering Science & Management. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Jonathan 'Gus' Dunster
Deputy Chairman
Gus is married with two sons, and has been involved in railway preservation since 1988, joining the Railway in 1991 and having been an active volunteer ever since. Jonathan is a career railwayman, having joined British Railways straight after leaving college in 1987.
A Member of the Institution of Railway Operators, in his career to date Jonathan has held a number of operational management positions and in 2022 retired as Avanti West Coast Trains' Executive Director of Operations and Safety, to take up the role of Director at R09 Consulting Ltd. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Severn Valley Railway Society Limited.
Mark Whitehouse
Director
Originally from Birmingham, Mark trained as a chartered accountant with Deloitte before spending seven years in a variety of international finance roles with Cadbury. He has worked in the rail industry for 11 years, having joined Virgin Trains in 2011. He was promoted to executive finance director in 2014 – a position he retained through the transition to Avanti West Coast in 2019.
Mark left AWC in 2022 to pursue a portfolio career in the charity/not-for-profit sector and is pleased to have been invited to join the board of SVR(H). He looks forward to supporting the organisation on its journey to securing a financially sustainable future.
Mark lives in Leamington Spa with his wife Nicky and their two children. He is also a member of a running club and an amateur chamber orchestra.
Charlie Wright
Director
Director, SVR Society Limited.
Charlie is a chartered accountant, running a small portfolio of businesses as CEO, including manufacturing businesses related to access equipment and spectator seating. As a volunteer on SVR he is a steam fireman and JCB operator, based at Bridgnorth and a member of the SVRG Finance Committee.
Paul Appleton
Director
Director, SVR Society Limited.
Paul is passionate about the SVR, having been a member of the SVR since 1973, an active volunteer (as a guard) for the past seven years and, in 2021, achieved his long-standing ambition of moving to Bridgnorth in order to take a more active role at the railway.
Paul is co-chair of the Staffing Committee.
Paul has a lifetime’s experience running his own businesses including organising and running events, and his current event activities are mainly indoor model railway shows, including the Great British Model Railway Show at the British Motor Museum, Gaydon.
Other professional skills include retail management, marketing and publishing. Paul is the publisher of Trackside magazine, of which he is a part owner and also edits various quarterly magazines for other clients.
Peter Pearson
Director
Peter grew up near Stourbridge. He joined the Railway in 1967 later becoming a guard. Absent for some years through family commitments, in 1998 he re-joined the Bridgnorth team, then re-qualified as a guard. Joining the Board in 2013, he has chaired the Audit Committee since then. A barrister, Peter is now retired following a prosecuting career, starting in the Director of Public Prosecutions Department, London, and finishing with over seven years as Legal and Technical Advisor to the Director, Anti-Corruption Bureau, Malawi. He was a governor of an NHS Foundation Trust, and a local councillor.
Steve Featherstone
Director
Steve is a career engineer, having worked in both the gas and railway industries. He is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a past president of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers and a past president of the Permanent Way Institution. He is a fellow of the Institution of Gas Engineers, the Permanent Way Institution and the Institution of Civil Engineers.
After a 20-year career in the gas industry, Steve joined the railway industry in 2007 as Network Rail’s national maintenance director with responsibility for 18,000 people and a £1.4 billion annual budget to maintain the national railway infrastructure.
During his four years in the role, Steve reduced the maintenance backlog from 25% to virtually zero, reduced headcount by 3,000, reduced annual costs by £200 million and reduced infrastructure failures by 30%, setting the foundations for some of the best train performance in modern railway history.
After a short spell working for Network Rail’s chief executive, Steve took on the national track renewals and enhancements portfolio in 2012, leading this team for the next eight years. During this time, eight Safety Council Sword of Honour awards were achieved, along with a Globe of Honour for sustainability excellence, engineering overruns reduced by 80%, alliance contracts were introduced and high-speed handbacks became the norm, all of which significantly reduced disruption to passengers.
In 2020, Steve established his own consultancy business providing him with an opportunity to work with multiple clients in both non-executive and advisory roles.