Great Western Coffee Shop

Over the last month, we have seen more operational and societal changes that we might normally see in a decade.  And that has put rather a load on the GWR customer and partner support team, and the managers and directors too.  Like all 'of us', only those who cannot work from home are now working at GWR offices such as Milford House, with others working at home. 

I am very familiar with the (correct (IMHO)) situation that partnerships, co-operative marketing design, planning for the future, training and so forth are important but rarely urgent, and that the staff who's main role is to undertake these tasks will be diverted to other urgent matters to help overcome immediate issues.  That has been very much the case in the last month.   I did, however, over Easter weekend catch up with our main Coffee Shop contact (and have been in brief touch with a couple of other GWR friends and official contacts) and can confirm that the people I've spoken to are (a) well, (b) have been rushed off their feet and (c) are now getting a little quieter and are looking forward to having an opportunity to resume their positive roles with a view to future partnership.  I'm impressed by the devotion / activities of this GWR team - and knowing what a high standard they usually set, it takes an extraordinary standard to impress in this way; a big "thank you" to them for what they have picked up and been doing.

I'm posting in "Meet the Manager".  "Meet the Manager" sessions at stations and on trains would be extraordinarily inappropriate during the current peak of lockdown, and none of us really know the metrics of how we'll come out of this, so I'm not going to suggest any timeline for resumption.   We had pencilled in a "Meet the Manager" session with Matthew Golton - to a vague 'late April' date - but that was a month or two back before life changed.   That session won't happen - but I can see and the admin / moderator team will progress a further online session long, long before they can resume in real life.  And I can assure members that there's a partnership desire - The Coffee Shop and GWR - for that to happen.

Meet the Manager sessions - update, 7th May 2020.

From 6th May GWR / Coffee Shop liaison. Both GWR and your admin team are keen for these to continue.

a) Previous "Meet the Director" sessions were excellent, and we are planning another event later this summer. a number of potential names were mentioned, though with so many unknowns at present and such major concentration on emergency arrangements, date and person are unclear.

b) Additional "Meet the Manager" sessions will be scheduled every couple of months - to look at specific topics at each session. Plans are well advanced on a closer timescale than "Meet the Director" - details after the weekend.