Developing the bid for Doncaster to become the new HQ of Great British Railways

The UK Government’s Williams-Shapps Rail Review set a new direction and asked for a “controlling mind” for the railway. This has led to the creation of a new body to develop and deliver a whole industry strategic plan for the railway to replace Network Rail. In 2022, the DfT asked local areas to bid to be the HQ of the new Great British Railways. The bid was to consider the benefits to the bidders within the Government’s Levelling Up agenda and associated benefits to GBR in terms of its mission to be more customer focussed, greener and financially efficient. We have prepared the bid for Doncaster and South Yorkshire to house the new HQ and to embed this within the Levelling Up of the town centre and the strategic opportunities to grow the SY rail cluster.

Steer-ED provided strategic guidance for the project – pulling together public and private sector stakeholders from across SY to unite behind a strong economic, social and environmental case. Our work included writing the bid, developing GVA impact calculations and promoting the bid to local and national decision-makers.

The bid was submitted with strong support from partners. We await the outcome, but in the meantime, we are continuing with a marketing and influencing campaign as the government reviews bids and makes a decision.