In a recent "Hornby Magazine" interview Simon Kohler came out and said that he believed that much of Hornby's recent supply problems were behind them, and that he hoped all of the items listed in the 2014 catalogue would be released during the forthcoming year. This means that 2014 should see a lot of exciting models appearing in the shops. The long awaited P2 should finally arrive and should be joined by the new GWR "Hall" as well as many new models announced in the new catalogue.

For me personally the announcement of the K1 was particularly exciting. As my home layout is based loosely on Goathland this will fit perfectly, especially if they produce a model of 62005. The new, affordable, TSO mark 1 coaches will not go amiss either!

This weekend, however, I read some disturbing news in the business section of a tabloid daily newspaper. The brief article claimed that

"shares in the company had slid on Friday, after it said that problems with a Chinese supplier would lead to a £1 million loss this year".

Does this represent further problems for the company, or is it a result of the supply problems from last year? The article also claimed that shares had "fallen by 9%, but recovered to finish the day's trading 3% down". It also claimed that it will cost Hornby "£600,000 to pull out of the supply contract."

I wonder if this perceived loss has been caused by the fact Hornby have decided to cut their losses and pull out of the contract with the supplier who has caused the delays. This outlay could contribute to such a loss. If this is the case, hopefully a new supplier will provide a better service and get Hornby back "on track" by meeting their promise of releasing all items during 2014. If this is not the case then we could be facing another frustrating year of delays.

I really hope that Hornby's promise of a better year is true. It certainly needs a good year, and some good publicity. I would hate to see it lose its way. Perhaps another James May's Toy Stories programme featuring another madcap Hornby challenge would not go amiss!!!