Ethos Public Relations Manchester

Three new Board Members will get new train co-operative Go!ing

by Ethos public relations

Go! Co-operative is gathering momentum in its aim to become the UK's first co-operatively-owned Train Operating Company (TOC). It has appointed three new board members to take the organisation forward to operational stage.

Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, Director of Operations, Chris Phillimore and Director of Safety, Chris Thompson will work together to help ensure the smooth transition from initial start-up to fully functional social enterprise.

Go! plans to provide a service initially in Southern England, as the first open access train provider running as a multi-stakeholder co-operative - linking main lines to smaller market towns and villages. It is currently seeking funding of upwards of £250,000.

With Board members who together have over 50 years experience in the rail industry, and expertise in successfully managing similar start-up rail projects - the organisation has the impetus to take it to the next level.

Tim Pearce, Chair of Go! Co-operative, said: "I am very excited that we are attracting people with real practical experience and strong track records. That, plus the immediate response to our first offer of withdrawable shares, has given us some real momentum."

New Chief Executive, Keith Vingoe, who is also Managing Director and previously Chair of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, is confident there is real validity behind the idea of Go! Co-operative and is embracing the challenge ahead.

He said: "The present Lynton and Barnstaple Railway was created from nothing so there is no reason why a similar business model using broad based community support cannot be harnessed to run much needed trains on track that is already there."

During his time as a Director of the Lynton and Barnstaple Railway, there was a complete reorganisation of the business model, a complete safety management regime was inaugurated, track was re-laid, and a romantic idea is now a successful, growing enterprise. There is no reason why this cannot be repeated.

"Having worked for many years in the field of business management, I am very confident that a sound idea like that of Go! Co-operative can be turned into a good social enterprise business," he said.

Chris Phillimore, Director of Operations, with a background in planning, construction and civil engineering as well as design and maintenance of light and narrow gauge railways said: "It's really exciting to be working on a project such as this where member accountability will keep the co-operative focused on delivering a high quality service."

Chris Thompson, Director of Safety, with 30 years experience in civil engineering and safety management, said he was thrilled to be part of the start-up team.

"This is a very exciting project to be involved in and I cannot wait to set the wheels in motion on the next phase and get this new train co-operative going," he said.

Tim Pearce added: "We are at an advanced stage of researching routes, and the input from our members has already helped us to see where there are gaps in the provision of public transport.

"The next step is to establish where the unmet demand is sufficient to support regular services."

More information about Go! Co-operative, can be found at www.go-now.coop.

Posted at 20^th November 2009