Squires in administration

[spamcan61]

 

Agreed and that may have been part of Squires viability problems.

 

However, item cost plus postage has to be seen as the total cost of buying by mail order/online. Too often the P&P charge is a profit centre in its own right, which is rather annoying if you are only after one item, possibly of low cost and then have to pay considerably more by way of a minimum delivery charge.

 

The trouble is, irrespective of whether the order is 5 quid or 5 grand, it has to entered onto the books, stock checked, payment processed item packed and dispatched. All of those activities take time, OK hopefully not much, and most are applicable over the counter, but there's a bit more to 'P&P' than the jiffy bag & stamp.

[Enterprisingwestern]

At what price? Squires were excellent for proving many similar lines, but at different prices for different qualities. The Tesco of our hobby.

 

That's why Eileens are still trading and Squires are not.

[Jol Wilkinson]

 

The trouble is, irrespective of whether the order is 5 quid or 5 grand, it has to entered onto the books, stock checked, payment processed item packed and dispatched. All of those activities take time, OK hopefully not much, and most are applicable over the counter, but there's a bit more to 'P&P' than the jiffy bag & stamp.

 

Stock management, etc. should be accounted for as part of operating costs and paid for out of the profit margin in the item, not the P&P charge. Would you expect an exhibition trader to add a charge for "exhibition overheads" each time he made a sale?

 

Charging for P&P is an interesting topic. It's part of the cost of running a mail order business, so should the customer be charged extra for it? It's on a par with a restaurant cover charge, presumably to pay for laundering the table cloth, providing a napkin, etc.

[Kenton]

 

Charging for P&P is an interesting topic. It's part of the cost of running a  mail order business, so should the customer be charged extra for it? It's on a par with a restaurant cover charge, presumably to pay for laundering the table cloth, providing a napkin, etc.

No it is not, and never has been.

 

True it is an operating cost but is also a variable cost of business. It is also accounted differently regarding VAT.

 

If I order something heavy from abroad why should I pay the same rate as you would pay for a small item locally. P&P is greatly dependent on the distance, type of service (2nd class, 1st, next day, insured) and on the time to pack and amount of packaging. It therefore needs to be adjusted for each customer. If it is "free" that is included as a global cost (like the cost of stationery, banking, telecommunications, ...) then some customers would lose out and some other business could have the advantage of undercutting prices.

 

Quite different from a restaurant's operating cost where all customers eat at a table so there is no differentiation, presumably every table requires a table cloth etc. Also laundry is a very small part of overheads.

 

The biggest cost of all small supplier business is the capital hat has to be tied up in stock. This not earning any revenue and is lost money.

 

... after that it is the cost of employment.

[Guest notascoobie]

Steady on folks

 

There appears to be several posts speculating about what has happened to make Squires go into administration. I don't know why and I guess the other posters won't, but casting aspersions at Roger's business acumen is a bit steep at what must be a difficult time for him and his staff.

 

For me, I'm sorry the company's gone, but I hope Roger can resurrect something in the future. He's a hardworking guy who's been through the mill and I wish him all the best.

 

Vernon

[Mod5]

For the time being I think this is about as far as we would like this to go. If and when we know more then of course we will make an announcement but comments about why the business is having problems are speculative and help no one.

[Andy Y]

Thanks to Mozzer for flagging up the following:

 

http://www.squirestools.com/announce.htm

 

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Oliver Lewis is delighted to announce; that he is to ensure the continued supply of Squires’ famous ranges of Modelling Tools, Materials and Electronic Components by Mail Order and from the well know Squires Trade Stand, at many Model Shows and Exhibitions throughout the UK.

Squires Tools Shop is closing in Bognor Regis. Oliver is pleased to have secured new business premises where he will operate the Mail Order and Exhibition Teams.

Oliver is also very pleased to announce that he is launching a new online store, (www.squirestools.com) which he hopes will be ready to go live on the 1^st January 2012.

Squires Tools will have new telephone and fax numbers, which we will advise as soon as numbers are confirmed.

Web address (www.squirestools.com) and email (sales@squirestools.com) will remain the same.

Please keep checking this page for more information. I look forward to being of service to you in the future.

 

Kind Regards

Oliver Lewis

Squires Tools