Ok lots of counter criticism going on here so lets have a show of hands.
How many of the contributors here are (or ex) SERCo employees and how many of them actually had to deal with 'Head Office' on a day to day basis?
How many of you were 'shop floor' workers who let their line manager deal directly with SERCo's internal audits, reporting procedures, internal investigation procedures and the whole myriad of forms and company policies that rained down from upon high?