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James May's Big Trouble in Model Britain. - Hornby's decline and struggle to survive.


Ron Ron Ron
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I'm sure it'll be a bit one sided and 'Kohlerist', and pretty predictable with May in charge, but it's overall no bad thing.  Hornby are no doubt out of the woods, but still a long way from the sunlit uplands of prosperity, and if Auntie wants to lend them a hand, I've got no objection.  I'm overall a Kohler supporter, the best pair of hands available for the company whose general health we all, even Bachmann, have an interest in seeing promoted!  

 

The brand name's strength is undoubted though; the response of the majority of those who will be viewing this programme to any mention of Bachmann will be 'who?'.

 

I'll be watching!

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11 hours ago, woodenhead said:

Shows the power of the brand, there wouldn't be a similar programme about Bachmann.

 

To the general public, Hornby = Train Set. They're interchangeable and it is such a strong brand name. Another one of these 'national treasure' companies that the country doesn't want to see disappear but not longer actually supports by doing the fundamental thing... i.e. buying the product. Think HMV, local department stores, the list is endless. 

 

3 hours ago, Silver Sidelines said:

Is this another example of the BBC trying to stage manage the future?

 

Ray

 

Is that some kind of bizarre Daily Mail-esque conspiracy theory about left-wing bias etc and Corbynista's plotting the downfall of the country!?! :rolleyes_mini: Mind, as you don't have a telly you are safe and you don't have to worry about being brainwashed......

 

Anyway.....

Hopefully, despite the pretext/context of a struggling company, the exposure will only do Hornby good and boost sales and revenue. Any publicity is good publicity as they say! James May will hopefully present a positive front for the hobby again. 

Edited by south_tyne
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6 hours ago, south_tyne said:

 

To the general public, Hornby = Train Set.

I think many modellers could benefit from getting back into this way of thinking.

We all started out with something simple. Some of us may be happy to stay with these but others have moved to something a little finer. Who is to say which is right or wrong?

It doesn't matter how much we pay for models or how long we spend making them look or run better, they are still toys..even if they are P4, S7 or Gauge 3 live steam.

 

As for the programme itself, It clashes with club night so I will set my timer for it.

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To be fair Mr K made it pretty clear at the time why he left so hardly a new tune from him. The fact he remained high profile and is now back inside with the very positive 2019 announcements surely gives him credence on being outspoken. He’s laid his cards out and can’t hide from that so I look at that as a positive attitude for the long term :) 

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23 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

Episode 1.

Weds 6th March 2019

@ 21.00

BBC 4

 

Follows the decline of Hornby and its struggle to survive.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00030wh

 

 

.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up. Certainly will be watching it . It maybe one sided but I think the story of Hornby over the last 20 years will be fascinating .I wish Pat Hammond would do volume 4 of his history.   I just wonder how much depth it will go into. Eg the effect of moving production to China and really the inadvertent door that that opened up to others who realised they could do it themselves .  You are not going to get trade secrets but hopefully we will find out more about whether Hornby think the trainset market is still viable for them and their overall direction for the future. The 2019 range is really good and deserves success, so hopefully on road to recovery. 

 

BBC 4 , I find do have some really good programs . Like everything you should keep an open mind and not just follow corporate spiel.  

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1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

I think many modellers could benefit from getting back into this way of thinking.

We all started out with something simple. Some of us may be happy to stay with these but others have moved to something a little finer. Who is to say which is right or wrong?

It doesn't matter how much we pay for models or how long we spend making them look or run better, they are still toys..even if they are P4, S7 or Gauge 3 live steam.

 

As for the programme itself, It clashes with club night so I will set my timer for it.

 

Totally agree. We are all just playing with toy trains at the end of the day, no matter what the scale, genre or ability. Sometimes some folk forget about that and lose insight and perspective. It is supposed to be for fun, relaxion, escapism, nostalgia etc. - we all have our reasons.  It is why this is such a great hobby - everybody and every approach is welcome and equal, from the trainset on the carpet to the Copenhagen Fields of this world. There is no right of wrong approach and no method is now valid, righteous or ultimately better than any other. 

 

If this programme, as with the Channel 5 one, brings a handful of new folks into, or back into, the hobby the  that is only a good thing. Every addtional Hornby (**insert any other brand as fitting here**) trainset purchased is good for all of us. 

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20 minutes ago, Silver Sidelines said:

We might not have a television , but we do pay the licence fee and we do use the iPlayer.  As South-Tyne says - stops you being brainwashed.  You get to pick and choose.

 

Cheers  Ray

 

 

 

We're all different and have different views, opinions and perspectives. That applies equally to the hobby and life in general. Thank goodness for that too, it would be a very boring world if we were all the same! 

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1 hour ago, Silver Sidelines said:

You get to pick and choose.

 

You do indeed, but here we find that we still have the option to either 'change the channel' or 'turn the television off'.

 

We even sometimes record a programme and watch it at our convenience. There's also a 'fast forward through the boring bits' button.

 

I'll get rid of our TV, when they introduce Programme Watching Enforcement Police in every sitting room.

 

Incidentally, we can't be the only folk who now prefer the comfort of watching new movie releases via the convenience of a DVD, rather than sitting through other people's phone or text conversations in a cinema?

 

I'm looking forward to this show, anyway. Any company that introduces cute little industrials like the Pecketts and the Ruston 48DS can literally do no wrong, in my books.

 

Edited by Captain Kernow
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18 hours ago, Edwardian said:

"Hornby Director Simon Kohler assesses the decline of his beloved company during his four-year absence. "

 

History is being written by those presently in charge!

Alas this is usually the case.  However if they are not the ultimate victors it will no doubt be somebody else writing that history.  Great shame  however that LCD does not appear from the synopsis to figure highly in the programme because that I believe is where the true driving force lies when it comes to saving the fortunes of the company and revitalising it as he has made some fundamental decisions.  

 

Let's not overlook the fact that new toolings in the 2019 range were largely, if not wholly, underway before the present regime took over although the decision to release some of them this year might well be 'new' and be a consequence of the company securing a new borrowing stream.  Nor should we forget, as far as the future of the company is concerned, that the borrowing stream has come with some very taut strings attached by a sometimes predatory lender who has used in the past similar loan and subsequent takeover tactics to gain control of companies.  It would be particularly interesting to hear how that is seen by Hornby's board.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Silver Sidelines said:

We might not have a television , but we do pay the licence fee and we do use the iPlayer.  As South-Tyne says - stops you being brainwashed.  You get to pick and choose.

 

Cheers  Ray

 

 

As do those of us WITH a television set or 6!

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I think Hornby needed the market savvy direction back, the technical ability has been good even if the choices of what to do with it have been unpopular. 

A bit of outspoken comment from Mr K gets people talking Hornby and on tv ;) I think that’s a result after the negative profits press of the last period. 

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12 hours ago, Andy Y said:

 

Drop them a line asking them to shelve it as you've already decided you don't like it. 

 

I love the BBC. Every month, I package up all of my savings, and post it off to broadcasting House. I don't like to watch the television, as the thought of all of those working whilst I'm sat down, makes it all seem a bit unfair.

 

Instead, when it gets dark, I take my candle to the bedroom, and when the candle goes out, it's beddy- byes....

 

Oskar Shrinkk. 

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