Newbury vs Maidenhead, YOU DECIDE

Exibit One:
Newbury Station platform sign – Headquarters of Vodafone

Exibit Two:
Maidenhead Station platform sign – Headquarters of 3UK

What’s missing?

Well, Vodafone seem to own the whole of Newbury Station — to the point that when you arrive at the station, you can’t help but register that it is the home of Vodafone. It is a little proprietary, but I do — secretly — like the brashness of the statement.

Which is why I was mildly disappointed to arrive at Maidenhead this morning to find no ‘home of 3UK’ signs at the station. You can even see the 3UK office from the station platform! Maybe they don’t need it. Maybe that’s a good thing. Vodafone’s HQ is miles from the Newbury station — so much so, you have to get in one of their courtesy buses. There is, perhaps, nothing so soul destroying than a courtesy bus.