Clarification of whether LNER is actually publicly owned.
Dear London North Eastern Railway Limited,
I have heard that LNER is publicly owned however i have also heard that it is being operated by Arup Group / Ernst & Young / SNC Lavalin Rail (which are all private companies) as well. So could you please confirm is it publicly owned like East Coast was or is it privately owned like other franchises. It seems to be very confusing. If you could provide a detailed response clarifying exactly what this situation is that would be great.
Yours faithfully,
Paul Davis
Dear Mr Davis
I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your below Freedom of Information request.
Yours sincerely,
Matt Short
London North Eastern Railway
FOI
e: [email address]
Dear Mr Davis
Please find attached our response to your below request.
Yours sincerely,
Matt Short
Matthew Short Head Of Government Partnership Working
East Coast House, 25 Skeldergate, York, YO1 6DH
t:0116 366 3059 m: 07766 308711 e: [email address]
Paul Davis left an annotation ()
What does sponsoring the Doncaster Rovers football club have to do with this? What difference would it make whether LNER is publicly owned or privately owned? Aren't public companies allowed to sponsor football clubs as well as private companies? Are there rules about this that i wasn't aware about?
Paul Davis left an annotation ()
Thinking about it maybe it is due to VTEC previously sponsoring them so LNER are just continuing. As maybe they had a contract where VTEC sponsored them so LNER had to just continue when they took over. I am not entirely sure but i think that this is definitely a possibility. This seems the most likely reason.
Paul Davis left an annotation ()
I have just read an article that VTEC did start sponsoring them and then LNER continued when they took over from VTEC so i imagine it was just a continuation of the contract? I don't think that they would have been able to just end the contract because the franchise changed owners? I would imagine that there are probably some rules about this? Although the question is whether LNER will continue to sponsor them whenever the contract ends?
Paul Davis left an annotation ()
So yes it looks like they are allowed to sponsor the Doncaster Rovers football club. I don't think there is any issues or any problems with them doing that at all. They seem to be just simply carrying over and continuing with the previous contract that VTEC had previously signed and started. So i think that LNER are definitely allowed to do this.
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Andrew Bennett left an annotation ()
If LNER is wholly publicly owned, how can it sponsor Doncaster Rovers football club?