And there is the rub.....
Aberdeen and Luton Towers have about as much in common as Chalk and Cheese. Luton 1 runway Aberdeen 5 (all crossing and/or intersecting) plus the ability to "sectorise" (Line up at an intermediate point and land one behind.) Yes I know 40- 50% are "helicopters" but they all have an FPS and they all need to occupy the Runway bay. On a calm day it is entirely possible to have 4 cleared for take-off at the same time. Go figure how CSD works for that!
As for reversing the methodology - we currently work on the deps "floating to the top" at which point they are clear for take-off, (CSD = move to bottom) well I wouldn't like to sign off the safety accountability for when an ATCO under pressure looks at the board, sees the dep at the top and clears it for take-off when there are still others on the runway but at the bottom of the bay.
Personally I think they are barking up the wrong tree - I believe there are over 30 (33 was mentioned?) different strip layouts in use throughout NATS - if they want to standardise start there!
(There was a thread on this subject in the NATS forum a while back)