Just for fun - where should the GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) headquarters be, and (post if you like) why. I am allowing multiple votes, and "somewhere else" if you want to write in somewhere already ruled out or not even entered.  I understand that there's an excellent pub that could be re-opened near the station if the HQ^▸ (Headquarters) were at Berney Arms, and such a location would strongly incentivise staff and visitors not to travel to work by car!

Proper poll is at https://gbrtt.co.uk/hq-competition-public-vote/

Sadly, it's not so unusual though to find a public consultation that seems to have been put together by a woolly-minded PR^▸ (Public Relations) consultant trying to impart the current government's mindless slogans (sorry - that should be "policy objectives"), reflected in the criteria said to apply.

I think applying these criteria as set out and repeated below means-

1 -  Alignment to ‘levelling-up' objectives - i. e. none in London or the South of England - all pass this test.
2 - Connected and easy to get to across the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) - well, all are on the railway system! But I'd guess Birmingham scores best, with York and Newcastle (subject to restoring direct trains to Reading  ) also doing well
3 - Opportunities for Great British Railways - what on earth does this mean? - places with lots of currently empty railway accommodation? (for which I leave our industry insiders to comment/advise) or places where it is likely to be easier to recruit good quality staff ?- which probably counts against Crewe, Doncaster and Derby. Citizens/natives of those towns are invited to correct me if I am wrong!
4 - Railway heritage and links to the network - all have as much railway heritage as you can get, I cannot work out what the "connected to the network element" adds to criteria 2.
5 - Value for money - depends on the availability and suitability of any current surplus railway accommodation - beyond my knowledge - see 3 above.
6 - Public support - this is a circular argument - when you vote, you have to bear in mind public support, but until everyone's voted, how will we know which location has most public support?

So my vote is -stop messing around - employ someone who knows what they are doing to survey the available office space (both Network Rail assets and others) near Birmingham New Street, York and Newcastle Central Stations, prepare a report and submit it to the board of GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) or Shapps (whoever really takes the decision) and then follow their recommendations!

I voted for Birmingham and for Crewe.

But anywhere reasonably central and with good rail links should be fine. Preferably also with empty offices that are available cheaply.
Not London as already full and therefore expensive.

Although I voted, I am also in the "dont really care" group.

One might hope that GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) will bring about improvements, but the location of the headquarters is not that important. Anywhere that represents good value for money and that has decent rail connections should be fine.

 

Hybrid/remote working is the future for many office wallahs, which should mitigate against that.