diff --git a/SpiNNaker-allocserv/src/main/java/uk/ac/manchester/spinnaker/alloc/model/JobListEntryRecord.java b/SpiNNaker-allocserv/src/main/java/uk/ac/manchester/spinnaker/alloc/model/JobListEntryRecord.java
index 0a5ec4ada5..49096e5b3f 100644
--- a/SpiNNaker-allocserv/src/main/java/uk/ac/manchester/spinnaker/alloc/model/JobListEntryRecord.java
+++ b/SpiNNaker-allocserv/src/main/java/uk/ac/manchester/spinnaker/alloc/model/JobListEntryRecord.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 package uk.ac.manchester.spinnaker.alloc.model;
 
+import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
 import static java.util.Objects.isNull;
 
 import java.net.URI;
@@ -281,4 +282,12 @@ public void setOriginalRequest(byte[] originalRequest) {
 	public Optional<byte[]> getOriginalRequest() {
 		return Optional.ofNullable(originalRequest);
 	}
+
+	/** @return the original request as a string */
+	public String getRequest() {
+		if (originalRequest == null) {
+			return "";
+		}
+		return new String(originalRequest, UTF_8);
+	}
 }