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Hornby's financial updates to the Stock Market


Mel_H
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This applies to anything you buy in pieces "parts" go to your local car dealer and buy a engine, gearbox and clutch and it will add up to more than half the cost of a new car, or buy a new motor for a Dyson on line and pay about 45% of the complete new unit price. Like it or not that's the going rate.

 

Quite so. Again what quite a few folk on here (and in the wider modelling community) completely fail to appreciate that when it comes to consumer goods - be they childrens toys, motor cars, clothes or model rails - manufacturers DO NOT WANT US TO REPAIR THINGS! They want to sell us brand new products - not bits to keep old ones going. Hence many will frequently make spares difficult to get hold of or so awkward to fit that 'buying a replacement', particularly one with 'upgrades' of some form. In this they are aided by batch production methods which makes it very expensive / awkward to 'go back and make some more / make some spares' outside of the main production batch.

 

Its no good whinging to Hornby about this change - as a business, particularly one listed on the stock exchange, they are obliged to follow current business thinking - which is admiralty ultimately unsustainable in the long run (but longer than the lifespan of most decision makers lives so they don't care) in terms of waste produced, natural resources consumed and energy requirements.

 

People who don't like this state of affairs need to look long and hard at their own voting choices over past decades as ultimately business behaviour is shaped by international trading regulations / Tariffs etc - and its not rocket science to see that if you elect political parties on a pro 'liberalisation of trade' / 'pro globalisation agenda' / low tax agenda then business will arrange itself in the way it does today.

 

Going back to Hornby and spares, I note that if the primary reason for Chinese assembly is low wage costs, then employing someone in the UK on UK wages to try and undo the Chinese handiwork (preferably without breaking the bits you are trying to remove) won't come cheep. Hence the 'high prices' Hornby charge for spares is not exactly hard to understand by those who truly appreciate the realities of business in the 21st Century.

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I think Hornby and model railways in general are pretty good on the spares front. We are a 'make do' type market.

 

By contrast I needed to change the control board on my gate opener, it was 3/4 of the price for a complete new one! Half the price if you brought a board that was a repaired one. The problem with that for a business is when they don,t provide affordable spares, they are then at risk of me going elsewhere and buying a complete gate opener which is half the price of what my existing model costs when new.

 

For trains, if we can,t fix our favourite models because the manufacturer ceases to supply them, there are plenty of cottage industries out there.

Edited by JSpencer
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I think that was the point.

 

Some enthusiasts seem to expect grocery chain-level discounting and pricing in their model railway items.

 

Although Hattons used to do exactly that - very small margins but high turnover on many r-t-r items.  Fortunately that sort of distortion has largely vanished from the model retail scene after distorting it for many years and giving purchasers a very distorted understanding of retail prices which still lingers.

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For all the panic on the stock market... it’s failed to awake let alone scare the zombie.

 

Hornby shares are unmoved today.. literally, with so far no trading in these shares..at all... up nor down.

 

It's not very surprising when the large majority of shares is held by one controlling party, i.e. Phoenix.  There are not many shares available to be traded so who is likely to be panic buying or selling?

Edited by Riddles
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I've been in the NRM both yesterday and today. Regular visitors may be aware that the tunnel between the two main halls has a display of Hornby models. Yesterday it was in place. Today:

 

post-22698-0-37389300-1518531512_thumb.jpg

 

Either:

A) Hornby's supply chain issues have got such that they've needed to recall items on loan to the NRM to fill gaps in their warehouse

B) things are so desperate at Hornby Towers that they're selling anything they can

C) NRM is feeling the pinch and needs some more revenue itself

D) this presages a refurb of a fairly gloomy passageway..

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I've been in the NRM both yesterday and today. Regular visitors may be aware that the tunnel between the two main halls has a display of Hornby models. Yesterday it was in place. Today:

attachicon.gifIMG_1707.JPG

Either:

A) Hornby's supply chain issues have got such that they've needed to recall items on loan to the NRM to fill gaps in their warehouse

B) things are so desperate at Hornby Towers that they're selling anything they can

C) NRM is feeling the pinch and needs some more revenue itself

D) this presages a refurb of a fairly gloomy passageway..

Or..

E. The cabinet has joined the national collection and is awaiting conversion back to Triang Livery

F. New range of invisible models

G. It’s fake news.. the cabinets are full and the picture was taken in China 3 years ago.

 

Any advance on that ?

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Or..

E. The cabinet has joined the national collection and is awaiting conversion back to Triang Livery

F. New range of invisible models

G. It’s fake news.. the cabinets are full and the picture was taken in China 3 years ago.

Any advance on that ?

I think they’ve donated it to the Swanage Railway who will restore them to running condition Edited by Legend
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I) They've been de-accessioned to make space for some coffee vending machines. (Mallard next up to go; it's being replaced by a Pizza Bistro by the turntable, whilst a cocktail bar is being fitted inside the Dynamometer Car).

Having had the pizza in the Great Hall earlier, any upgrade to the catering would be very welcome. It was an authentic BR catering experience...

 

We have wood fired ovens. Why not convert Mallard's fire box to a coal fired pizza oven? Would be quite something! Sure it will upset a few people but its the best chance the old girl has of getting a fire inside her. Smoke out the chimney would help for photos and hot water from the boiler could be used for making tea and any steam to make lattes!

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Or the cabinets are going to be packed off to Barrow Hill where they will remain in unprotected outside store for 3-4 years until someone decides they want to make a model of them, when they will immediately become flavour of the month again. Lol

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Although Hattons used to do exactly that - very small margins but high turnover on many r-t-r items.  Fortunately that sort of distortion has largely vanished from the model retail scene after distorting it for many years and giving purchasers a very distorted understanding of retail prices which still lingers.

Yup. And now Hattons have taken things to the other extreme with some of their ridiculous used equipment prices.

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I believe there is a big project on the way to build a new linking section between the two Halls which will eventually require the diversion of Leeman Road.

There was a presentation going on in the library area entitled something like “NRM master plan.” I deemed it a bit rude to stare too obviously at their slides as I was passing.

 

It does feel both a disjointed site and relatively difficult to access, particularly with a pushchair. Neither the walk from the station (no step free access from the exit of the station - my son likened it this afternoon to a Chinese paddy field with the rainwater cascading down each level of the steps at the far end. He’s been watching Go Jetters again. In fact, you can’t get onto the footbridge in the station without climbing stairs) nor is the walk up Leeman Road particularly pleasant. Fast traffic. Narrow pavements. Pushchairs and exciting children - not a great combo. Internally, whilst the halls themselves are good in terms of step free access, the aforementioned passageway is dreadful with small capacity lifts at either end. Similar issue in accessing the Great Hall from the main entrance on Leeman Road.

 

David

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There was a presentation going on in the library area entitled something like “NRM master plan.” I deemed it a bit rude to stare too obviously at their slides as I was passing.

 

It does feel both a disjointed site and relatively difficult to access, particularly with a pushchair. Neither the walk from the station (no step free access from the exit of the station - my son likened it this afternoon to a Chinese paddy field with the rainwater cascading down each level of the steps at the far end. He’s been watching Go Jetters again. In fact, you can’t get onto the footbridge in the station without climbing stairs) nor is the walk up Leeman Road particularly pleasant. Fast traffic. Narrow pavements. Pushchairs and exciting children - not a great combo. Internally, whilst the halls themselves are good in terms of step free access, the aforementioned passageway is dreadful with small capacity lifts at either end. Similar issue in accessing the Great Hall from the main entrance on Leeman Road.

 

David

 

Definitely changed since the days when one side was the steam shed and the other was the good depot - I think the goods depot was a far better goods depot than its current partial role as a feeding (of visitors) area although its other contents are interesting.  Alas for some inexplicable reason the NRM catering (or at least the stuff you pay for as an ordinary visitor) has never been particularly good - the French equivalent at Mulhouse seems, in my limited experience, to be far better in that respect.

Edited by The Stationmaster
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