From Birdcage Walk

The latest in our ongoing series of updates about activities at the Institution.

Dear Member,

We held a Trustee Board meeting last week and one of the most significant items under discussion was the framework for our 2019 Business Plan.

The foci will be the now familiar ones of member focus and financial stability.  We are also looking to simplify our targets so that they reflect the desire to obtain the best return on investment that we can for the projects that we choose to pursue.  These now have to be worked up in more detail to ensure that they are affordable within the core target of making the Birdcage Walk-based activity self-sustaining financially.  This releases our commercial subsidiaries to feel confident that their own contributions will be going to strengthen our reserves and hence be available for future expansion.  Overall, it is too soon to be certain what projects will be chosen, but for those of you who were fans of the Volunteer Conference, it looks probable that we will once again have a significant active member event or events to thank you and support you in what you do.

Coming up this Friday we have the UK national final of the Design Challenge.  This has established itself as a high point in our start of university term calendar, and is looking to expand internationally with what is a very competitive, but also very affordable format.  This year’s Challenge is to make a ‘pig’ to travel inside a vertical pipe.  Like real pigs in oil pipelines, it needs to cope with an increasing drag as it travels along which is simulated in the Challenge by lifting a chain up the pipe.  With an absolute maximum of £20 construction cost there will no doubt be some very inventive solutions.  If you want to cheer someone on, then this year’s first year finalists are the universities of East London, Salford, Durham, Bournemouth and Coventry.  These students will now just be entering their second year having won their regional heats back at Easter.  We also have three finalists in the second year competition - students just about to enter their third year of study - with Brunel, Manchester Metropolitan and Coventry universities.  Everyone is welcome to attend at Birdcage Walk and admission of course is free.

Finally, it’s always nice when someone asks for your advice.  It gives a boost to your confidence, and even more so when that person is the new Chief Executive of Network Rail, Andrew Haines.  The next Regulatory Period starts in April 2019, and Andrew is keen to gain as much insight before then into how we can better interact with his organisation.  We will therefore be organising a roundtable discussion in the near future to share our experiences of working with Network Rail in the past, and of course our ideas for their future.  We will of course be drawing heavily on our Railway Division membership under its new Chair, Andy Mellors, but also no doubt our Qualifications Board and on our Young Member Board and our Education and Skills work to make sure that Andrew’s team can get the most useful input possible.

Colin Brown

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