 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Railways |
| Genre | Online |
| Founded | 25 June 2008 |
| Founder | Glyn Murray |
| Headquarters | UK |
Area served | WorldWide |
| Products | Retail and discussion among railway enthusiasts |
| Owner | Glyn Murray (Forum Owner-Conrad Windham) |
Number of employees | 5 volunteers |
| Website | http://www.national-preservation.com |
National Preservation is the trading name for Nat Pres Ltd, a British-based online company that specialises in retail and discussion among railway enthusiasts. The company was created on 25 June 2008 as an extension of the original National Preservation forum, which began on 10 March 2005,[1] and has since moved to its own server. Nat Pres Ltd soon expanded beyond the original forum by running RailTours-Live that is now no longer operational. However, its popular 'What's Going On' section continues to provide useful links to other sites where Rail Tour information is published including commentaries on extant tours plus links to national train information such as Real Time Trains.
The company was run by Glyn Murray,[2] who managed the entire website and was the CEO. Other directors were Alexandra Murray. The forum is maintained by a team of volunteers acting as moderators, settling disputes and ensuring users stay within the pre-determined forum rules.
The company has forged a working relationship with Steam Railway and The Railway Magazine, two of the biggest selling railway periodicals in the United Kingdom, thus expanding the forum's audience, and attracting input from professionals within the railway preservation movement. The forum also hosts representatives from the National Railway Museum to discuss matters relating to their individual areas of expertise as well as providing them with a platform to promote their various publications or institutions.
In February 2018 the Forum was sold by the founder, Glyn Murray, to Conrad Windham who is the owner and director of Flamethrower Ltd. Since this sale the Forum has largely been allowed to continue to operate as before and members have benefited from less 'down-time' of the site and greater accessibility via a more robust server. Whilst this has necessarily involved higher levels of marketing and targeted advertising to raise income, members are able to opt out of this through a modest membership fee.
- ^ "Home". national-preservation.com.
- ^ "The Team". Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2009.