Simon Kohler to leave Hornby

[mattingleycustom]

I've had much email correspondence with Simon Kohler over the years; usually on an SR subject and have found him to be a very pleasant man to discuss matters with.

 

I found it very reassuring that someone from a big company would listen to the views and advice of an individual and take on board some of the points I made and change things accordingly.

 

Hornby will be hard pushed to find a better replacement.

 

I wish him well for the future.

 

Glenn

[Ian Hargrave]

Mr. Kohler was the public face of Hornby and as far as I am aware he was paid to take the rough with the smooth.  But his employer has lost its way on a number of fronts and who could explain that every day of the week over an extended period without feeling the strain. I wish Mr.Kohler well. 

And its way might not be to follow its history in the world of model railways.SK has been the face of Hornby for many,many years.Can you replace a person with such a wealth of knowledge and experience ? "Apres moi le deluge",said Louis XIV......Whither Hornby Trains now ? It would be nice to have a public statement from their new much-heralded C.E.O. on the matter to restore confidence and stop speculation.

[Godfrey Glyn]

I too have always found Simon to be very approachable and helpful, indeed he has, on a number of occasions gone well beyond what might reasonably be expected of a good customer care level of service. Having watched him deal with some very 'interesting' customers at shows (and indeed some of my own rants) I have great respect for his ability to be the face of Hornby. Recently it must have been an almost impossible job - it remindes me of Geoffrey Howe's resignation speech "It is rather like sending your opening batsmen to the crease, only for them to find, as the first balls are being bowled, that their bats have been broken before the game by the team captain".

We and the hobby will miss him and without knowing anything about the reasons I am sure that this is very bad news for the Hornby business.

Good Luck Simon

Godfrey

[Andy Y]

Simon's dropped me a line to reply to the kind comments so far.

 

As many of you are aware there have over the past 12 months been some very major changes at Hornby.  One of the most significant of these changes has been the complete reorganisation of the Marketing Department which has affected all the Hornby brand teams – Hornby, Scalextric, Airfix and Corgi.  These changes have resulted in the complete reorganisation of the various functions of marketing with the intention of the Hornby Marketing operation becoming more efficient and proactive.  These changes have coincided with thoughts of my own relating to my future career and it is with a great deal of sadness that after some considerable thought I shall be leaving Hornby at the end of this month.

 

I have been with Hornby for 35 years and in that time I can honestly say that there has never been a single morning when I have not wanted to go to work.  The genuine pleasure of meeting enthusiasts at the various Hornby Roadshows, the joy of seeing a long planned for model arriving in the shops and the friendship and consideration shown to me by my work colleagues and those in the “trade” have made my time at Hornby incredibly enjoyable.

 

So what of the future?  I am pleased to advise that I have decided to establish my own Consultancy and Advisory business utilising the breadth of knowledge I have gained over the years and to this end I am equally pleased to announce that I will continue to assist and support Hornby as they require for at least 12 months after I leave. However before that day I have much to do but in the meantime I would like to thank you all for your good wishes, they are greatly appreciated.

 

Hornby is a great brand with an enormous future and I would like to thank the Directors and Staff for their help and support which has allowed me to take this next step in my career.

[3737]

I have seen Simon a couple of times at shows and have once or twice had a word with him.

To me, as the friendly and helpful person he was, he was especially the most needed PR man who kept Hornby's credibility up for the public in these difficult times.

 

Leen.

[10800]

 

Simon Kohler said

 

I have been with Hornby for 35 years and in that time I can honestly say that there has never been a single morning when I have not wanted to go to work. 

 

 

Now there's a lucky man - best wishes for your future career Simon.

[Pandora]

The rumour is Hornby had an internal reorganisation,  ie everyone is thrown into the melting pot and you have to re-apply to get your job back.

 

As for Hornby, might as well face the inevitable and sell  the tooling to Bachmann

[Prometheus]

The rumour is Hornby had an internal reorganisation,  ie everyone is thrown into the melting pot and you have to re-apply to get your job back.

 

As for Hornby, might as well face the inevitable and sell  the tooling to Bachmann

 

A view I suppose.......

 

Tony

[40F]

Deja vu?

 

Dave Jones now Simon Kohler.  

 

Pure coincidence or conspiracy theory?

 

I take no side.  I met SK once and whilst I found him approachable his attitude in regards to then-future products was to my mind unhelpful consisting as it did of a silent shrug of his shoulders.  It might have been a bad day or the 20th identical enquiry he had fielded.  But it didn't endear me to the man.

 

Let's wait and see how the dust settles.  It may be that Hornby is being shaken form the top down in order to survive improve the performance across the whole business.  

 

Of course I wish him the best in the future and likewise for the somewhat tarnished Hornby brand he has tried gamely to uphold for some time against increasing flak.  I too shall be interested to see if he resurfaces elsewhere in the hobby or simply and quietly moves to pastures new.

The reasons for leaving are entirley different and nothing should be read in to them

[Dunsignalling]

I have spoken to Simon several times over the years, usually at the Warley show and had occasional correspondence with him.

 

He always came across as excellent ambassador for Hornby in the way he dealt with young, old, fan and critic alike.

 

I wish him much success in his new venture though I fear that, from Hornby's standpoint, he will be a very hard act to follow.

 

John

[Gwiwer]

The resons for leaving are entirley different and nothing should be read in to them

 

As has now been made apparent.  That was not the case at the time of my original post and there remain parallels in that high-profile individuals who have been the public face of their businesses have both quite abruptly moved on.  And both to "do their own thing" as we now see.

[CathcartCircle]

A sad day for the hobby and particularly for Hornby which is on a slippery slope! I too met him a few times and he always seemed very helpful! He came across as very passionate about the hobby and more than that appeared to be a man of integrity which doesn't sit well with the corporate masterminds of today! For what it's worth I wish him well in his new enterprise!

[pete_mcfarlane]

Another day, another thread full of Hornby bashing and speculation.

[Brit70053]

Very surprised to read this announcement. I've never met or communicated with Mr Kohler, but the majority of RM Web members seem to hold him in high esteem for performing an extremely demanding job over the years.

 

My best wishes to Simon for the future.

 

Regards,

 

               John

[7013]

"Hornby is a great brand with an enormous future " We shall see.

[Ron Ron Ron]

The rumour is Hornby had an internal reorganisation..........

 

No rumours, it was a well publicised fact, mentioned by Hornby's new CEO and in other Hornby communications.

If you know where to look, you can find out who holds which post and about some of those that have been moved to new job titles.

 

 

 

.

[woodenhead]

One shouldn't look at this that Simon was pushed, it sounds like he had plans already (a sensible thing in business) and an opportunity came that allowed him to fulfil those plans.

 

People leave organsitions all the time, for people with long service like Simon it can be because the financial benefits of leaving outweigh staying and you have dreams which you still have time to fulfil.

 

He's given Hornby 35 years, they give him a good send off and he gets to try something new, good luck to him I hope it all works out well. And his first client is..........Hornby.

[Bulwell Hall]

I wonder if I shall ever see 'British Monarch' which I have on order!  This all has a horrible ring of familiarity with my own former emplyer which was on the slippery slope to oblivion a few years ago!  I too ended up as a self-emplyed consultant and advisor because when you reach a 'certain age' there ain't any jobs out there!  Recovery - my a..!

[M.Riddell]

What is more worrying is what impact this will have on the future of the model railway part of Hornby Group, especially its place in the British market. 

 

 

This is a good point.

 

Whilst the railway part has effectively been stuck, the Airfix side of the business is going full steam ahead (no pun intended!). There was a slight delay getting the new 1/72 Tiger Moth to market, but that was only a week or two. Test shots of the sprues and even prototype build ups appeared at Nuremburg for all the new 2014 toolings. The new 1/72 Blenheim Mk I appears to be imminent as the box art has appeared on the Airfix site, so there certainly isn't any issue with that side of the business.

 

Perhaps, pervesely enough, after rescuing Airfix from oblivion, it's now the Airfix brand that's helping to keep Hornby afloat?

 

How much of an impact will that have on the rest of the group?

 

Mike.

[TheSignalEngineer]

...... And his first client is..........Hornby.

Sounds just like the prototype.

 

Good luck to Simon and I hope his enthusiasm isn't lost to the industry in the longer term.

[Ozexpatriate]

The rumour is Hornby had an internal reorganisation,

No rumours, it was a well publicised fact, mentioned by Hornby's new CEO and in other Hornby communications.

Indeed it was. Significant reorganization of the business was telegraphed by Hornby's official statements. Companies are never faceless corporations, they are comprised of people.

 

With all Hornby's woes since the failure of Sanda Kan in 2008, Mr. Kohler had a very unenviable job at Hornby. The new board is in a position that they need to demonstrate to their shareholders that they are not perpetuating the outcomes of Mr. Martin's management and changes get made.

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Never met Simon but in email replies from him he always appeared honest and open.

 

I wish him the very best for his future.

[60027Merlin]

Whilst it is sad to hear the news of Simon’s departure from Hornby it is not a surprise. For the past few decades many companies have “re-organised/downsized/re-engineered” along the well worn path of experienced company management employees being moved on in one way or another under the aforementioned headings. Consequently, newly appointed senior management prefer to have junior and middle management layers made up of people brought in from the outside whose knowledge of the business is less than their own as this affords them a greater degree of comfort. From my experience of such business changes a couple of decades ago the signs of this at Hornby were all too familiar recently.   

 

Simon Kohler was the public face of Hornby Railways over the decades during which time he drove the model railway side of the Company forward by being the driving force behind the introduction of the highly successful super detailed range. In addition he was more than willing to meet a great many people in the hobby at exhibitions, events etc. in addition to corresponding with modellers in a speedy and informative fashion. This is quite a novelty for us members of the public/customers as we are so used to hanging on a phone line for ages pressing numerous buttons before speaking to a recorded voice when dealing with present day business.

 

For us modellers who are super detail purchasers there is a concern as, without us knowing the breakdown of all the relevant figures, the possibility exists of the super detail range being either discontinued/downgraded/sold off. It is possible/probable that it is only a small part of the complete Hornby Group range of products. Hard cash i.e. profit is the name of the game bearing in mind that the Company has major shareholders and stock market analysts on their back on a continual basis. A view could perhaps be taken that the super detail range does not generate a sufficient return on capital to satisfy the market – time will tell.  

 

I take this opportunity to thank Simon not only for his wonderful service throughout the years but also for giving us LNER modellers these great A4 and A3 models! Finally may I add to the previous posters my good wishes for the future.

[brushman47544]

I've always felt that with Simon Kohler at least you knew someone in Hornby was listening to us as enthusiasts/modelers. Good luck and best wishes for the new venture.

[trisonic]

All the best, for the future, Simon. You're a good guy.

 

Spend more time on here - it can be relaxing!

 

Best, Pete.