As mentioned under Project Planning the Commercial Planning Working Party(CPWP) is being formed to take over the strategic commercial activities of the current Commercial Planning Group (CPG).  CPWP will then be the senior planning working party and set the overall strategy and direction of the 5AT Project.  It will liaise closely with the other two working parties, the Marketing Planning Working Party (MPWP) and Engineering Planning Working Party (EPWP).  It is envisaged that CPWP’s role in the project will be equivalent to that of the board of directors of a commercial company.

The main objective of CPWP will be to help facilitate the formation and funding of the proposed SGS Steam Locomotive Development Company (SGS Loco DevCo) including the development of a demonstrator SGS locomotive.    To be most effective it will need a strong and experienced chair (who remains to be recruited) and some assistance regarding the legal aspects of company formation and funding.   

As part of its brief, CPWP will need to explore all possible sources of finance and also investigate the possibilities of a “not for profit” company as an alternative to a conventional commercial company format for the SGS Loco DevCo. 

Collectively members of CPWP will need to identify the promoters of the proposed SGS Loco DevCo and assist them in drawing up the formal business plan which will be required to gain finance.   Almost certainly this will include face to face discussions and negotiations with potential suppliers of finance and with relevant organisations within the rail industry.