Hornby secure £18 million loan

[stewartingram]

Maybe this is o/t, but...?

 

I'm in a small Fenland town, where the High Street is a few hundred yards long, but has been effectively dead for years. An excellent newsagent that stocked most railway mags retired a month or so ago; he sold it to an Asian guy who says he isn't going to change it, but I doubt that. Excellent local bakers (chain) also retired about 5 years ago, when another local chain took it over, it isn't as good. A fairly big local ironmongers, fabulous place, old fashioned, went nearly 10 years ago, replaced by 3 or 4 smaller units that seem to change frequently. All supermarkets closed , Coop sold out to Aldi - what a disaster! But one small shop survives. I'd call it a "pound shop", except things are not £1, but similar range. Actually owned by my neighbour's family, so I've had an insight. She is past retirement age but still going. Been in the same trade all their life, with market stalls in various places, then shops, did have a small chain at one time. Now down to the one shop, but doing ok, about the only decent shop in town. They expanded into the adjacent shop a few years ago, giving them about 1 1/2 times the space. Now, with again an increase in council rates plus a change of landlord, they have had to rethink.

The new landlord in a London based property agent, with big London based ideas. She previously had a 'gentleman's agreement' with the old landlord, a local person, whodealt on old fashioned trust. The new man wanted a written contract, money up front for the lease, and a massive increase in price (no real idea of local prices). So the smaller section of shop had to go. It has remained empty for months with no interest. However this week she had a visit from a Turkish guy who runs a barbers in the next town, a fairly recent venture when he came to the UK. He apparently is moving into the empty shop next door. But, the landlord must be desperate - no contract, allowing him to move in on a trial basis for a year, pay rent as he goes, then review it next year! This does show I think that High St shops are facing tremendous cost increases nowadays. I've seen the local council rates hit a number of retailers over the past 15-20 years I've lived here, and the decline in local shopping in favour of retail parks - even here the Aldi store (only "supermarket" - I use that term loosely) in town, though a mothballed Tesco development on the bypass hasacquired a Poundstretcher. It will also shortly have a Jack's, a Tesco version of Aldi which they are trying out. Then of course we have the internet nowadays too.

Edited September 7, 2018 by stewartingram

[Phil Parker]

One reason for Ian Allan pulling out of the Manchester shop was the new rent demands from the landlord. I was told at the time that they were asking twice the price for about half of the sales floor area. The same landlord was reportedly asking £98K p.a. from a charity shop in the vicinity.

 

This story is interesting on this topic: https://www.toynews-online.biz/retail/number-of-retailers-taking-advantage-of-cva-procedure-is-distressing-say-landlords

 

However, landlords do seem happy to see shops stand empty. I've never understood how the laws of supply and demand don't kick in forcing them to take some money rather than none, but understand that it's a bit more complicated than this. Something to do with rates and also most landlords having vast pots of cash so unproductive assets can be tolerated. 

[Phil Parker]

A number of pages back, I did a chart based on Hornbys financials going back to the 1980’s.

 

One thing that stands proud to me there was the failure of direct selling...

If you note, Hornby ramped up the marketing machine, and outsourced the logistics to support the direct selling model those two cost went from a steady line to massive spike.

 

Those costs haven’t reduced much, added little to the top and certainly drained a lot from the bottom line and is in my opinion of that analysis, why they continue to hurt today.

 

Shipping 10 boxes to 10customers costs more than 1 box of 10.. and it’s not just logistics... it’s the costs of promotion, website etc.

 

Why are the major website retailers successful at it ? - apart from being geared with in house resources to wrap, pack and ship in-sourced, all too often when I buy from them..it’s more than 1 manufacturers product in the box, it’s a shopping basket of items ..something Hornby doesn’t provide.

 

To sumarise - Hornby had a go and discovered that Hattons, Rails, Kernow etc. are already very good at a job that is harder than it looks, so it makes no sense for them to try to beat them at it.

 

Of course, you can outsource the delivery of all those boxes. Locomotion might be able to suggest someone ;-)

[Trains4U]

 Who puts an order through for a single tinlet? 

 

It has been known!

[RAF96]

This story is interesting on this topic: https://www.toynews-online.biz/retail/number-of-retailers-taking-advantage-of-cva-procedure-is-distressing-say-landlords

 

However, landlords do seem happy to see shops stand empty. I've never understood how the laws of supply and demand don't kick in forcing them to take some money rather than none, but understand that it's a bit more complicated than this. Something to do with rates and also most landlords having vast pots of cash so unproductive assets can be tolerated.

 

I am surprised that local councils who issue the trading licences and apply business rates as valued by a different quango, etc don’t have an input into stabilising local business rents against these out of touch landlords.

 

Correction per comment in post #431

Edited September 5, 2018 by RAFHAAA96

[County of Yorkshire]

I am surprised that local councils who issue the trading licences and set business rates, etc don’t have an input into stabilising local business rents against these out of touch landlords.

 

No they don't.

 

CoY

[jjb1970]

I agree that there is a fundamental difference between online sales of shops and online direct sales from a manufacturer/distributer.

 

I think the market is already making its choice with respect to online sales, at the moment in our hobby it seems to be firmly in support of online shopping from shops but that could easily change. Direct sales from a manufacturer can work, effectively Hattons, Kernow and Rails are already following that route for their own ranges and Hornby never stopped selling direct. Other producers also sell direct. The question is whether direct sales should co-exist with supporting a traditional retail distribution channel. At the moment manufacturers can’t really optimise their direct sales as to do so would undermine their retailers, as Hornby already found out. If they decide that they don’t need retailers and go pure direct sales then that problem goes away but I don’t think they’re ready to do that yet. The main problem for a manufacturer is having to carry inventory if they go all direct sales, where with a retail network they can offload a significant part of that risk to retailers. However, if they combine a pure direct sales model with a manufacture to pre-order model then they minimise that risk. Potentially, if they charge even a nominal deposit when taking an order they could even ease cash flow.

 

Even though Hornby’s last attempt to move towards a direct sales model wasn’t a success, I don’t think the underlying concept was wrong. I know quite a few suppliers of specialist, niche goods, that operate a direct sales model. That removes a level of cost and the retailers margin and allows them to suppress costs. And when well implemented it works, some of these suppliers offer no quibble 30 day returns if you don’t like the goods and first class service. However, I suppose the recent difficulties of the NRM shop and some of Hornby’s earlier experiences highlight the fact that to work it has to be well implemented. And that means investing in a good system. The reason companies like Amazon and the bigger retailers (including model retailers) have systems which work so well is that they’ve made the investment needed for their warehouses, IT, e-commerce and distribution arrangements.

 

I think society in general is increasingly comfortable with online shopping, at the same time bricks and mortar shops are under increasing pressure from high rates and lower footfall for a variety of reasons. Online shopping isn’t just easy in terms of being able to shop from anywhere, it also opens up a far, far bigger choice of goods than any traditional shop could ever offer and generally you can exploit competitive pricing. Given that, if traditional shops are to survive then old style shopping needs to be made attractive. The current system of rates isn’t exactly helping shops, neither is the propensity of some authorities to make it harder for people to go shopping as they try and get people out of cars or see parking charges as a way to boost coffers. If I can already buy what I want online, probably more cheaply, then why would I jump through hoops to visit a local shop?

 

In terms of the smaller items, that has always been the reason why I have seen real local shops as being important. However, in my own case I buy scenic materials, paint, adhesives etc at Hobby Craft, where there is an excellent selection (much better than most model shops for many of these items).

[Legend]

If we want to grow the hobby, we need high street model shops. Hornby, Bachmann and many other manufacturers know this, hence they are making a real effort to support shops of all sizes. The new Hornby team are working really hard on this but Rome wasn't built in a day...

I really hope they succeed because I do enjoy visiting such shops and stocking up . But its difficult to see what support Hornby and Bachmann can give that compensates for increasing rates, trend to internet shopping etc . It maybe that shops can survive by becoming an attraction, as with the recent Rails opening , but not many shop owners have the resources to do that. I do think that its a bit like King Canute trying to hold the rising tide back . The time has come to accept the inevitable. As I said its already happened in Glasgow . Hornby are at least in Hamleys, Bachmann have no presence at all . There is a shop in St George's Cross but its mainly second hand. I think its too late

 

 

To sumarise - Hornby had a go and discovered that Hattons, Rails, Kernow etc. are already very good at a job that is harder than it looks, so it makes no sense for them to try to beat them at it.

 

Of course, you can outsource the delivery of all those boxes. Locomotion might be able to suggest someone ;-)

It does make sense to beat them at it if you retain their profit as well as your own. I think the reason they stopped was because they did not take fully into account the effect on their retail trade of selling direct . As a result the rate of drop off in retail was greater than the rate they could grow direct sales . The plan was muddled and they didn't do it very well. The rate of loss caused a rethink. Hornby do still sell direct but at much higher prices so as not to compete against their retailers , but its a half in half out approach. Hattons etc are very good at their job , but so too was Hornby and they've already had the expense of setting this up.

 

I think also Hattons could see this coming . Their response was 1.Get into second hand and 2.To commission their own models directly , to maintain their business.

 

As to the Locomotion episode it does highlight the need to have a full eCommerce capability .They quite reasonably contracted distribution out . It is difficult to understand how a company whose raison d'etre is logistics could make such a hash of it. I suppose it depends on the data they uploaded.

[Phil Parker]

I really hope they succeed because I do enjoy visiting such shops and stocking up . But its difficult to see what support Hornby and Bachmann can give that compensates for increasing rates, trend to internet shopping etc . It maybe that shops can survive by becoming an attraction, as with the recent Rails opening , but not many shop owners have the resources to do that. I do think that its a bit like King Canute trying to hold the rising tide back . The time has come to accept the inevitable. As I said its already happened in Glasgow . Hornby are at least in Hamleys, Bachmann have no presence at all . There is a shop in St George's Cross but its mainly second hand. I think its too late

 

 

Bachmann and Peco simply refuse to supply anyone who doesn't have a bricks'n'mortar shop. That's what they are giving to them already. No shop=no stock. 

 

As long as Hornby sells at RRP, the shops can discount and still get their cut to keep them viable, and no-one needs to set up a significant fulfilment section at Sandwich. 

 

You may be happy to let the hobby roll over and die, but fortunately, others aren't.

[Legend]

Bachmann and Peco simply refuse to supply anyone who doesn't have a bricks'n'mortar shop. That's what they are giving to them already. No shop=no stock. 

 

As long as Hornby sells at RRP, the shops can discount and still get their cut to keep them viable, and no-one needs to set up a significant fulfilment section at Sandwich. 

 

You may be happy to let the hobby roll over and die, but fortunately, others aren't.

Of course not, I've loved this hobby for 50 odd years . Lets hope it prospers and attracts even more new entrants( hopefully specialising in Scottish locomotives! We really need a Scottish Pete Waterman. We should be so lucky, lucky , lucky, lucky.......)

Edited September 5, 2018 by Legend

[Trains4U]

Regarding the direct selling,    I think Hornby were just too aggressive.

 

A number of my suppliers also sell direct to the consumer, however they pretty much all suggest trying your local stockist first.

Hornby do this now.  however going back 4-5 years their approach came across as very mercenary.

 

 

In principle, I don't take issue with manufacturers selling direct, provided they don't sell at below their own MSRP, and if they are to have a sale, those items are offered to the trade first. 

 

When Hornby started selling online, the overall impression was "Stuff the retailers" (even though that may have been unintentional)  - The terms and conditions were changed to become highly unfavourable, margins were slashed (since restored I might add) and Hornby went on a wild selling spree, slashing the prices of recently produced models on their websites.

 

The independent retail sector, justifiably, felt under attack.   the response - put Hornby to the back of the queue, buy and promote brands that support you (Bachmann, Peco, Dapol etc)  sell Peco track in preference to Hornby   - Revell kits and paints instead of Airfix -  Carrera instead of Scalextric -  I don't think Peco ever had it so good as during those few years!

 

On top of this were the silly decisions to pump out vast numbers of black steam locos, "Design Clever" EMUs  and substandard paint which still clog the shelves today.

 

The management seemed to believe that if they put their wares online, the people will come.  especially if they can undercut the retail base.       Some customers did come - but nowhere near enough to compensate for the haemorrhaging sales from the independents who, like me, were switching investment to other brands.

 

To their credit, Hornby have taken great strides to rebuild bridges, and they continue to do so, things aren't quite back to where they were in 2008-2010 but it gets better all the time.    The management of the time caused a huge amount of damage, and it is going to be a long and slow process to regain the trust of some of the more embittered retailers - and believe me, some are very bitter.

 

There is no reason to stop direct selling, and it can benefit their business if done properly .  it is unfortunate that the previous management had the hubris to believe they could do the job of the retailer better.  The results show a very different reality.

 

 

 

On a more general note - I've noticed a marked increase in footfall over the last 12-18 months.

Whether that is down to improved communications or advertising, or a general trend across the hobby, I'm not sure - but people do seem to like a good model shop (I still get a buzz when a new customer walks in and says "Wow!")

Things feel like they are getting better, people are spending a bit less time staring at screens and are taking time to get out and see things for themselves.   Computer games and screen based entertainment is here to stay, but traditional hobbies and past times are beginning to settle, and I'd say are actually increasing in popularity again.    

 

I'm hopeful for the future, and I hope we (and Hornby! )continue to have a place in it for many years to come.

Edited September 5, 2018 by Trains4U

[peach james]

Thought Andy had gone to 'moo moo land' for a bit there.

Its Mu Mu... stand by your JAM's

 

Not sure what that says about us as RMWeb, as quite a lot of us know about the last train to trancentral ?

 

 

James

[The Nth Degree]

This story is interesting on this topic: https://www.toynews-online.biz/retail/number-of-retailers-taking-advantage-of-cva-procedure-is-distressing-say-landlords

 

However, landlords do seem happy to see shops stand empty. I've never understood how the laws of supply and demand don't kick in forcing them to take some money rather than none, but understand that it's a bit more complicated than this. Something to do with rates and also most landlords having vast pots of cash so unproductive assets can be tolerated. 

I know a commercial landlord. When I say know, we simply have a mutual friend and see each other at the occasional bbq.

 

At one of these events we asked why so many of his lock-up shops were empty, when he proudly boasted it was to eliminate his tax liability, while still increasing his asset value. He intentionally keeps 15-20% of his commercial portfolio empty specifically to offset his tax bill. Everyone went quiet staring at him with open mouths.

[Legend]

Regarding the direct selling,    I think Hornby were just too aggressive.

 

A number of my suppliers also sell direct to the consumer, however they pretty much all suggest trying your local stockist first.

Hornby do this now.  however going back 4-5 years their approach came across as very mercenary.

 

 

In principle, I don't take issue with manufacturers selling direct, provided they don't sell at below their own MSRP, and if they are to have a sale, those items are offered to the trade first. 

 

When Hornby started selling online, the overall impression was "Stuff the retailers" (even though that may have been unintentional)  - The terms and conditions were changed to become highly unfavourable, margins were slashed (since restored I might add) and Hornby went on a wild selling spree, slashing the prices of recently produced models on their websites.

 

The independent retail sector, justifiably, felt under attack.   the response - put Hornby to the back of the queue, buy and promote brands that support you (Bachmann, Peco, Dapol etc)  sell Peco track in preference to Hornby   - Revell kits and paints instead of Airfix -  Carrera instead of Scalextric -  I don't think Peco ever had it so good as during those few years!

 

On top of this were the silly decisions to pump out vast numbers of black steam locos, "Design Clever" EMUs  and substandard paint which still clog the shelves today.

 

The management seemed to believe that if they put their wares online, the people will come.  especially if they can undercut the retail base.       Some customers did come - but nowhere near enough to compensate for the haemorrhaging sales from the independents who, like me, were switching investment to other brands.

 

To their credit, Hornby have taken great strides to rebuild bridges, and they continue to do so, things aren't quite back to where they were in 2008-2010 but it gets better all the time.    The management of the time caused a huge amount of damage, and it is going to be a long and slow process to regain the trust of some of the more embittered retailers - and believe me, some are very bitter.

 

There is no reason to stop direct selling, and it can benefit their business if done properly .  it is unfortunate that the previous management had the hubris to believe they could do the job of the retailer better.  The results show a very different reality.

 

 

 

On a more general note - I've noticed a marked increase in footfall over the last 12-18 months.

Whether that is down to improved communications or advertising, or a general trend across the hobby, I'm not sure - but people do seem to like a good model shop (I still get a buzz when a new customer walks in and says "Wow!")

Things feel like they are getting better, people are spending a bit less time staring at screens and are taking time to get out and see things for themselves.   Computer games and screen based entertainment is here to stay, but traditional hobbies and past times are beginning to settle, and I'd say are actually increasing in popularity again.    

 

I'm hopeful for the future, and I hope we (and Hornby! )continue to have a place in it for many years to come.

Wishing you all the best for the future Gareth . From what I've seen on here your shop could well qualify as one of these destinations in themselves . Regrettably I don't get much over the East of England now . Ironically , perhaps , the furthest I get is Barwell/ Hinkley. But for sure if ever in area I'd look you up .

 

Thanks also for your candid assessment of the Hornby approach which as you say appeared very mercenary. You do wonder if they'd thought that through , slashing the margins suggests they might have, in an effort to drive people to buy direct , or whether the whole thing was just a colossal mistake and they didn't foresee the effects.

 

I really wish Pat Hammond would write a book on Hornbys recent history. It would make fascinating reading .

[Pteremy]

The sustainability of the hobby depends on a conveyor belt of new entrants. Where in these exchanges is any consideration of what a new entrant wants? Those of us in our 50s/60s/70s with sufficient disposable income are just cash-cows for the existing main manufacturers. Look at the threads on RMweb - 'I have 3 of this and want 5 of that'. '50% increase in price? Never mind, I'll still have a couple'. ££££££. There is a future - but it needs some thought.

[phil gollin]

I am surprised that local councils who issue the trading licences and set business rates, etc don’t have an input into stabilising local business rents against these out of touch landlords.

.

 

As "County of Yorkshire" said  :-  NO !

 

This misconception is part of the government (OF ALL PARTIES) misinformation  -  Central Government sets business rates and takes the money, it then doles out grants to councils, the rates and grants aren't connected.

 

The parlous state of councils (in general) is due to Central Government offloading obligations onto them and also cutting back there funding, all the while blaming the councils for being inefficient.   This confidence trick has been going on since the 70's at least and a talk to your local councillor (if whichever party) will give numerous examples relevant to your local council.

[Ouroborus]

I know a commercial landlord. When I say know, we simply have a mutual friend and see each other at the occasional bbq.

 

At one of these events we asked why so many of his lock-up shops were empty, when he proudly boasted it was to eliminate his tax liability, while still increasing his asset value. He intentionally keeps 15-20% of his commercial portfolio empty specifically to offset his tax bill. Everyone went quiet staring at him with open mouths.

You see, I don't understand this. I own two commercial properties - one I work from, the other is rented from us by a different business and a tenant. When it was empty, we were still hit by council tax and rates - nearly £10,000 a year. Renting the building passed these bills to someone else and we got the I come fro their rent. All in all, £20k difference. Maybe I've just got a rubbish accountant

[phil gollin]

I know a commercial landlord. When I say know, we simply have a mutual friend and see each other at the occasional bbq.

 

At one of these events we asked why so many of his lock-up shops were empty, when he proudly boasted it was to eliminate his tax liability, while still increasing his asset value. He intentionally keeps 15-20% of his commercial portfolio empty specifically to offset his tax bill. Everyone went quiet staring at him with open mouths.

.

 

All of us ("of a certain age") will remember the saga of Centrepoint in London, a huge skyscraper which was left empty for decades because that was the best option for the owner who minimised their tax bill whilst the value of the property soared.

 

For a while Myself and my partner were both redundant and worked as "consultants".  For this we used a near neighbour as our accountant.  The first time he did our accounts (both company and personal) we were horrified/deeply concerned at just how little tax we ended up paying because of all the LEGAL get arounds.  We seriously asked ourselves whether it was ethical for us to go along, but we were weak and did so.  I feel "cleaner" now working back on PAYE, but it was educational for a few years.

 

.

[adb968008]

Only works in a rising market, as soon as property prices fall...

[JSpencer]

A number of pages back, I did a chart based on Hornbys financials going back to the 1980’s.

 

One thing that stands proud to me there was the failure of direct selling...

If you note, Hornby ramped up the marketing machine, and outsourced the logistics to support the direct selling model those two cost went from a steady line to massive spike.

 

Those costs haven’t reduced much, added little to the top and certainly drained a lot from the bottom line and is in my opinion of that analysis, why they continue to hurt today.

 

Shipping 10 boxes to 10customers costs more than 1 box of 10.. and it’s not just logistics... it’s the costs of promotion, website etc.

 

Why are the major website retailers successful at it ? - apart from being geared with in house resources to wrap, pack and ship in-sourced, all too often when I buy from them..it’s more than 1 manufacturers product in the box, it’s a shopping basket of items ..something Hornby doesn’t provide.

 

 

I agree and would add that retailers have built up their model through many years of experience as well. Aside that, Hornby Online cannot - for obvious reasons - compete with price and their postage rates a joke. I remember a bargain GWR bogie bolster reduced from £16 to £4 but I changed my mind when it asked for £16 postage!

 

Direct selling is not a new idea at Hornby, they kept talking about it in the 90s, when I worked at the Signalbox, we told them that if they start doing that and we will start manufacturing and Hornby needed to decide if they were a retailer or a manufacturer.

 

The Outsourcing model is probably cheaper for shifting out new locos etc where they need them to be stocked and distributed quickly. But it fails on bread and butter items like flocking and track pins and even track and paint, items they should carry all year round ready to be sent off to model shops as they need them. It is totally frustrating for both model shops and end customers to have to wait for that bit of track etc to finish a layout. Saying something like "we intend to release R607 in June 2019" equates to "I'll buy the set track equivalent from Peco". Not carrying constantly these bread and butter items is like Tescos not having tins of baked beans. Ultimately it affects the brand image of being the one that should have everything any beginner will need to make a model railway.

 

Humbrol do a nice range of paint, but each time I want to buy some, the racks are empty. Do they expect I'm going to wait months or years for them to do a new batch of mat black? No, I'll buy Tamiya or some other brand in stock. The Humbrol brand will die if they cannot keep this supplied.

[adb968008]

The Outsourcing model is probably cheaper for shifting out new locos etc where they need them to be stocked and distributed quickly. But it fails on bread and butter items like flocking and track pins and even track and paint, items they should carry all year round ready to be sent off to model shops as they need them. It is totally frustrating for both model shops and end customers to have to wait for that bit of track etc to finish a layout. Saying something like "we intend to release R607 in June 2019" equates to "I'll buy the set track equivalent from Peco". Not carrying constantly these bread and butter items is like Tescos not having tins of baked beans. Ultimately it affects the brand image of being the one that should have everything any beginner will need to make a model railway.

 

Humbrol do a nice range of paint, but each time I want to buy some, the racks are empty. Do they expect I'm going to wait months or years for them to do a new batch of mat black? No, I'll buy Tamiya or some other brand in stock. The Humbrol brand will die if they cannot keep this supplied.

One of the things about those covenants was keeping a minimum stock level. If you had to keep warehouse stock, you’d think it would be bread and butter stuff with high turnover...

Those P2s, k2’s and class 71’s have been around at an unrealistic price for a few years now, I for one won’t buy any more as I’ve got my fill already, which I suspect is part of the problem, maybe breaking them down for advertising them as spares might return some capital...

Edited September 6, 2018 by adb968008

[dibber25]

JSpencer - Absolutely agree with regard to Humbrol paint - the matt black acrylic was out of stock for months. I complained to my retailer and he suggested I try Revell instead. Now I go straight to the Revell stand - no idea whether Humbrol ever issued new stock or not, so I'm a lost customer as a result of not being able to obtain one small pot of paint. (CJL)

Edited September 6, 2018 by dibber25

[JSpencer]

One of the things about those covenants was keeping a minimum stock level. If you had to keep warehouse stock, you’d think it would be bread and butter stuff with high turnover...

Those P2s, k2’s and class 71’s have been around at an unrealistic price for a few years now, I for one won’t buy any more as I’ve got my fill already, which I suspect is part of the problem, maybe breaking them down for advertising them as spares might return some capital...

 

That is the thing though, when it's outsourced, they are paying a form or time rent for each item kept in storage until its sold. Each month, the margin gets eaten away on the item. No wonder they had fire sales all of a sudden, it most get to a point whereby the storage costs add up over time on the said single item that finally it equates to a monthly loss.

 

 

JSpencer - Absolutely agree with regard to Humbrol paint - the matt black acrylic was out of stock for months. I complained to my retailer and he suggested I try Revell instead. Now I go straight to the Revell stand - no idea whether Humbrol ever issued new stock or not, so I'm a lost customer as a result of not being able to obtain one small pot of paint. (CJL)

 

I would click "Like" meaning I like the post but obviously, what I "don't like" is the situation whereby Hornby loose customers needlessly.  No one is going to pre-order a tin of paint and wait a long period for it to come in.

[Widnes Model Centre]

JSpencer - Absolutely agree with regard to Humbrol paint - the matt black acrylic was out of stock for months. I complained to my retailer and he suggested I try Revell instead. Now I go straight to the Revell stand - no idea whether Humbrol ever issued new stock or not, so I'm a lost customer as a result of not being able to obtain one small pot of paint. (CJL)

 

I have said this before, but needs repeating, we ran out of 33 Matt Black Acrylic in November 2016. That is nearly two years ago and still the wait goes on. No one from Hornby has ever explained the problem. Unfortunately many others in their Humbrol range have gone the same way. Paint stand looks like we cannot be bothered ordering, so untrue! We sell lots of other brands, Humbrol is still the choice of many but their patience ran out when you cannot get even basic colours.

[adb968008]

That is the thing though, when it's outsourced, they are paying a form or time rent for each item kept in storage until its sold. Each month, the margin gets eaten away on the item. No wonder they had fire sales all of a sudden, it most get to a point whereby the storage costs add up over time on the said single item that finally it equates to a monthly loss.

Especially when you’ve sold your storage depot for use as storage for real locomotives, and are reliant on an outsourced logistics company to hold the stock too...

 

Seems to be a rock and a hard place whilst pouring cement into the sea... convenants say you need to hold stock, but your paying rent to someone else to store it, in an industry where the optimum business model relies on producing and selling out entire batches with minimal stock holding as the maximum potential for success.

Edited September 6, 2018 by adb968008