Hornby 2023 Annual Report

[The Stationmaster]

4 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Because Hornby OWN the Margate site outright!

 

The intention a few years ago was to move out and sell the place for cash - but having rented swanky offices in Sandwich they were unable to attract any interest* and found themselves paying rent plus keeping the old Margate buildings safe.

 

As such they moved out of Sandwich and back to Margate.

 

Yes the Margate site is underused - but equally its not costing Hornby rent.

 

* Possibly because the buildings are contaminated with asbestos meaning its not a cheap / straightforward site for a property developer to take on

Oh no they don''t;  it is made crystal clear in the accounts that the company does not own any property  

They sold the Westwood site some years ago and are now renting office space there.  

 

Hornby sold the Westwood site to Locomotive Storage Ltd for (i.e Jeremy Hosking) for £2.25 million.  They had contracted out districution to a company based in Hersden in 2014 and they departed the Margate offices in 2015 leaving only the Visitor Centre at Westwood in space rented from Locomotive Storage.  

As already noted in another post above, after the arrival of Lyndon Davies he moved the company back to Westwood renting the office space in addition to the Visitor Centre area.  In the accounts it is difficult to get at tthe figure they are paying in rent although there is a six figure sum which might include site rental costs although it could just as easily refer to other things. such as IT etc.

Edited August 4, 2023 by The Stationmaster

[Fireline]

1 hour ago, phil-b259 said:

...With the owner of LSL being a railway enthusiast (and most likely a buyer of railway models)...

 

Not to mention a substantial shareholder in Hornby....

[JohnR]

3 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Because Hornby OWN the Margate site outright!

 

The intention a few years ago was to move out and sell the place for cash - but having rented swanky offices in Sandwich they were unable to attract any interest* and found themselves paying rent plus keeping the old Margate buildings safe.

 

As such they moved out of Sandwich and back to Margate.

 

Yes the Margate site is underused - but equally its not costing Hornby rent.

 

* Possibly because the buildings are contaminated with asbestos meaning its not a cheap / straightforward site for a property developer to take on

 

No they dont own the Margate site. It was sold to a part of Jeremy Hosking's empire (he of LSL), and they moved out to rented accomodation nearby. They then got a better deal to move back, where they now rent a part of their former site. 

 

The big empty spaces you see on the TV are not the bits rented by Hornby. Thats the "factory floor" space next door to the office that is owned by Hosking. 

[JohnR]

1 hour ago, Fireline said:

 

Not to mention a substantial shareholder in Hornby....

 

Not any more he isnt. 74.9% is owned by Phoenix Asset management, and another chunk by another asset management company. 

 

Having quickly skimmed through the Hornby accounts, it seems he only ever had a small shareholding, usually 4%-5%, beginning in 2001, ending in 2014.

Edited August 4, 2023 by JohnR

[Les1952]

On 03/08/2023 at 20:14, ColinB said:

Well they haven't done that with my HM7000 that needs returning because their initial App pointed at the wrong piece of software. When did they bring that in. When Bure Valley returned my HD City of Lichfield for repair they had to take photos before they got a repair number it took about 2 months. Now it could be Bure Valley telling porkies but I somehow believe them having had similar issues.

 

On a par with a Fleischmann loco I returned to Gaugemaster as wholesaler/importer via my local model shop. 

 

Les

Edited August 5, 2023 by Les1952
make of loco added

[Barry Ten]

Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but I when I popped into Lidl this morning on my normal post-parkrun bakery stop, there was a selection of Airfix kits in the special offers aisle. They were all priced at 6.99 and included three 1/72 planes, some tanks and a jeep. They did well out of me as I picked up the three plane kits in addition to some tasty croissants. I don't normally model in 1/72 so wouldn't have given these more than a second glance at a model shop, but I'm easily persuaded when things turn up in unexpected places, such as in Lidl. A good initiative, especially as these are the beginner kits that come with paints included, so great little projects for a rainy afternoon.

 

(The planes were a Spit, a Curtis Tomahawk and a Folland Gnat, if anyone's interested).

[Faulconbridge]

Have not bought any Hornby stuff for at least 6 years ,too expensive, poor quality and only seem to make SR, BR stuff .And if I wanted TT120 down under prices at least 30% higher here .Reported this to Hornby  as they will not post overseas ,not at all interest about this fact

[Barry Ten]

1 hour ago, Faulconbridge said:

Have not bought any Hornby stuff for at least 6 years ,too expensive, poor quality and only seem to make SR, BR stuff .And if I wanted TT120 down under prices at least 30% higher here .Reported this to Hornby  as they will not post overseas ,not at all interest about this fact

 

I'm not surprised as it's a load of cobblers.

[Widnes Model Centre]

On 05/08/2023 at 12:42, Barry Ten said:

Apologies if this has been mentioned before, but I when I popped into Lidl this morning on my normal post-parkrun bakery stop, there was a selection of Airfix kits in the special offers aisle. They were all priced at 6.99 and included three 1/72 planes, some tanks and a jeep. They did well out of me as I picked up the three plane kits in addition to some tasty croissants. I don't normally model in 1/72 so wouldn't have given these more than a second glance at a model shop, but I'm easily persuaded when things turn up in unexpected places, such as in Lidl. A good initiative, especially as these are the beginner kits that come with paints included, so great little projects for a rainy afternoon.

 

(The planes were a Spit, a Curtis Tomahawk and a Folland Gnat, if anyone's interested).

The issue with this and its been going on for years, as well as Aldi?

 

Model shops pay more than this at trade prices. These kits aren’t offered to their own retailers. I’m reliably informed that the margins on these kits are 50%, we can only dream of 50% margins.

 

Hornbys response is that it draws new people into the hobby. We doubt this and if correct, how do they measure this? On the Facebook modelling pages, they are bought by existing modellers.

[The Stationmaster]

31 minutes ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

The issue with this and its been going on for years, as well as Aldi?

 

Model shops pay more than this at trade prices. These kits aren’t offered to their own retailers. I’m reliably informed that the margins on these kits are 50%, we can only dream of 50% margins.

 

Hornbys response is that it draws new people into the hobby. We doubt this and if correct, how do they measure this? On the Facebook modelling pages, they are bought by existing modellers.

Alas for  model shop retailers I wonder if Hornby might be entering the territory where we could ask when is a fire sale not a fire sale?  And the answer will be that 'we need to reduce inventory and get in revenue'.  

 

Bringing in new senior sales staff who might well lack experience in this market area but who will be getting some pretty stiff sales targets then might only exacerbate things like this   And walking the narrow line of 'maintaining brand integrity' might well get blurred and we're possibly heading  back to what LCD tried to stamp out.

 

The other side of the coin - which the Annual Report implies might have been recognised and will be/is being addressed - is the way in which inventory has grown over the years and clearly includes a lot of surplus  stock and not just new stock being built up  in anticipation of demand.  Somewhere, somehow, Hornby's marketing gives the impression that things went off the rails and they overstocked with various items - and not just for the recent past Christmas sales rush that never happened.

[Legend]

Ah yes Lidl . Go in for a loaf of bread and come out with a Divers suit because it was on offer in the middle row! Actually Airfix has done this before with Lidl. My nephew certainly picked up Hurricane , Spitfire, Mustang and FW190  in the previous releases . I think they just occasionally come up with a promotion with Lidl . I don’t see this as shifting old stock, more increasing the visibility of the brand . Is it particularly less expensive ?    Those that like the kits , may now seek out more intricate kits from their local model shop . 

Edited August 7, 2023 by Legend

[Barry Ten]

I've picked up inexpensive Revell and Airfix kits from Home Bargains and The Works, as well. I spend enough money at "normal" model shops not to be too troubled by the margins on these.

[Rich_F]

Lots of the small Airfix starter kits are based on ancient mouldings. When a younger kid tries to model the subject, he/she will be frustrated by the panel gaps, warped plastic and fiddliness that it might put them off Airfix 🤣

Edited August 7, 2023 by Weeny Works

[MyRule1]

46 minutes ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

Hornbys response is that it draws new people into the hobby. We doubt this and if correct, how do they measure this? On the Facebook modelling pages, they are bought by existing modellers.

Self fulfilling statement there as Facebook modelling pages are populated by modellers.

 

There have been a few people joining forums I belong to who have returned to the hobby as a result of picking up a kit this way. It's a valid marketing tool as is the Airfix schools offering and the paint and build sessions,

[Phil Parker]

31 minutes ago, Legend said:

Those that like the kits , may now seek out more intricate kits from their local model shop . 

 

It's (sadly) likely that it's likely to be Aldi, Lidl, The Works, or nothing at all as real model shops, especially those with a good range of plastic kits, are thin on the ground. That said, if they enjoy building a kit, then the interweb will also help.

 

Of course, if they are lucky enough to have a well-stocked local model shop, then it's happy days, although perhaps not for their bank balance, as we all know.

[MyRule1]

2 minutes ago, Weeny Works said:

Lots of the small Airfix starter kits are based on ancient mouldings. When a younger kid tries to model the subject, he/she will be frustrated by the panel gaps, warped plastic and fiddliness that it might put them off Airfix 🤣

They were once but now I think all the kits have been replaced with the more recent offerings. Actually due to higher quality of the new ones some are harder to build than the old ones. The Folland Gnat being one example.

[Widnes Model Centre]

9 minutes ago, MyRule1 said:

They were once but now I think all the kits have been replaced with the more recent offerings. Actually due to higher quality of the new ones some are harder to build than the old ones. The Folland Gnat being one example.

Absolutely.
 

These kits aren’t from the Vintage Classic range. Many are fairly recent tooling. 

We stock every one of the kits on offer from the likes of Aldi etc. All have an RRP of £11.99 and upwards. If I’m reliably informed if model shops paid the same as Aldi they would be less than the £6.99 on offer at these stores. The only difference is that ours are designed to hang on a rack, Lidl, Aldi etc come in a rectangular box. 
 

Some of these kits which are as l say regular purchases for your LMS, can sometimes be difficult for us to find. We think we know why. 
 

Should add that the Airfix Quickbuild  range is often available from these supermarkets. That range appears to have started around 2013 with very recent tooling. 

[Legend]

1 hour ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

Absolutely.
 

These kits aren’t from the Vintage Classic range. Many are fairly recent tooling. 

We stock every one of the kits on offer from the likes of Aldi etc. All have an RRP of £11.99 and upwards. If I’m reliably informed if model shops paid the same as Aldi they would be less than the £6.99 on offer at these stores. The only difference is that ours are designed to hang on a rack, Lidl, Aldi etc come in a rectangular box. 
 

Some of these kits which are as l say regular purchases for your LMS, can sometimes be difficult for us to find. We think we know why. 
 

Should add that the Airfix Quickbuild  range is often available from these supermarkets. That range appears to have started around 2013 with very recent tooling. 

I didn’t realise there was such a differential . In my day a Series 1 kit was 19p and came in a poly bag . No paints , glue or brushes right enough . That was all extra 

[RAF96]

5 hours ago, Legend said:

I didn’t realise there was such a differential . In my day a Series 1 kit was 19p and came in a poly bag . No paints , glue or brushes right enough . That was all extra 

Airfix was 2 shillings a bag in my day. Frog was more expensive as it came in a box.

[RJS1977]

9 hours ago, MyRule1 said:

 

It's a valid marketing tool as is the Airfix schools offering and the paint and build sessions,

 

Isn't that made by Dapol now? ;-)

[Ron Ron Ron]

On 03/08/2023 at 18:36, micklner said:

Has anyone replace Kohler ?    ………

 

On 03/08/2023 at 18:53, HExpressD said:

Yes, they have. ………

Is it a young lady, who was appointed in June?

 

 

.

Edited August 8, 2023 by Ron Ron Ron

[melmoth]

14 hours ago, RAF96 said:

 

 Frog was more expensive as it came in a box.

 

My local kebab house uses a similar excuse

[HExpressD]

1 hour ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

 

Is it a young lady, who was appointed in June?

 

 

.

No

[Ron Ron Ron]

18 minutes ago, HExpressD said:

No

OK thanks.

I had noticed they had appointed a new Marketing Manager in June (the person I was asking about).

 

 

.

[Legend]

15 hours ago, RAF96 said:

Airfix was 2 shillings a bag in my day. Frog was more expensive as it came in a box.

 Never realised FROG stood  for Flies Right Off Ground until I bought a book about its history .