Neil Butters interviewed by Brian Clementson

Oral history interview with Neil Butters, conducted and recorded by Brian Clementson at the Guild Hall, Bath on 29 June 2018. Duration: 1 hr. 42 min. 48 sec. Personal background; early career; Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) implementation; Western Region Management Services Reading; Arnold Kentridge; Management Development & Training Officer Freightliner; secondment to Enterprise Agency Bath 1985-1987; setting-up Salford University Transport Management MSc course with Bill Bradshaw; railway activities in secondment to Enterprise Agency seconded role; responsibilities at Transmark; Development Manager at The Grove; investment plan prepared; possibility of privatisation; decision to close The Grove 1995; interest in historical railways; role on Railway Heritage Committee; difficulties in legal interpretation of Railways Act 1993; establishment of Railway Heritage Committee (RHC); National Railway Museum (NRM); work of RHC; designation of records under Railway Heritage Act 1996; Secretary role became full-time; effects of privatisation on personal life; reflections on career

One of over 150 oral history recordings made as part of the Britain’s Railways All Change (BRAC) archive project. BRAC was set-up to cover gaps in documenting the railway privatisation process in the United Kingdom, between 1994 and 1997, when the government-owned British Rail was dismantled into over 100 privately-owned companies. The interviews capture the recollections of people involved in the planning and implementation of the privatisation process, the management of change and running the railway during privatisation.