Simon Kohler to leave Hornby

[Andy Y]

So we have a situation where someone of 30 years experience and knowledge is replaced by someone from a bookies with  proven track record of a failure to deliver.

No; Richard Ames is the CEO, Simon is/was Hornby's Marketing Manager. Two different things.

[Fenman]

The new leader is Richard Ames, ex Ladbrokes, and Curries, seems he fell on the sword over the IT problems of Ladbrokes, online gambling apps etc over running and late to market.

 

His credentials/expertise have been discussed to death in this thread.

 

Paul

[The Stationmaster]

So we have a situation where someone of 30 years experience and knowledge is replaced by someone from a bookies with  proven track record of a failure to deliver.

 

Oh dear indeed.

No. Richard Ames is the new Chief Executive - an appointment which was announced some weeks again.  The situation regarding Brand Managers does not yet seem to be in the public arena although Nat Southworth is still showing on Linked In as Brands Director.

[Pandora]

His credentials/expertise have been discussed to death in this thread.

 

Paul

Reading the above thread , among all the PR puffery, not a mention of the situation at Ladbrokes, on the other hand he is has experience of working in the fast changing retail world where there is ever down ward pressure on pricing and slim margins

[pete_mcfarlane]

No. Richard Ames is the new Chief Executive - an appointment which was announced some weeks again.  The situation regarding Brand Managers does not yet seem to be in the public arena although Nat Southworth is still showing on Linked In as Brands Director.

 

And herein lies the problem with this thread. People are assuming that because Simon Kohler is Hornby's most visible employee, he must be running the whole show and the company will therefore collapse in a big heap when he leaves.

[brushman47544]

And herein lies the problem with this thread. People are assuming that because Simon Kohler is Hornby's most visible employee, he must be running the whole show and the company will therefore collapse in a big heap when he leaves.

 

I don't think I'd go quite that far. For me, with Simon Kohler we knew pretty much where Hornby was going, without him the direction the company goes in terms of its railway items (models or toys?) is unknown and there is inevitably going to be speculation about that until we see what his replacement does. I wonder if Simon will have finalised the products for the 2015 catalogue before he goes? If not, that may well be the first opportunity to see which direction Hornby has decided to go.

[Ron Ron Ron]

And herein lies the problem with this thread. People are assuming that because Simon Kohler is Hornby's most visible employee, he must be running the whole show and the company will therefore collapse in a big heap when he leaves.

 

It has never ceased to amaze me how some people seem to assume Simon Kohler was somehow the head man?

He is the marketing manager for the Hornby Trains part of Hornby Hobbies.

There are similar marketing managers for their other Hornby brands ( Corgi, Scalextric, Airfix etc,) and they all come below senior management level and the executive level (the CEO heads up the executive level).

One of the functions of these guys, would be to "front" the company in the public arena, such as at public and trade shows and exhibitions.

It appears that at Hornby Hobbies, they also have the responsibility to provide a customer service interface with the public/customers, through other channels of contact, such as email, direct enquiries etc.

 

 

 

.....The situation regarding Brand Managers does not yet seem to be in the public arena although Nat Southworth is still showing on Linked In as Brands Director.

 

Nat Southworth (SK's boss) has moved up a peg to board level.

He is head of Sales, Marketing, Product Development, and the general management of the business.

 

 

 

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[Unknown Warrior]

As for Hornby, might as well face the inevitable and sell  the tooling to Bachmann[/b]

Just seen this thread, so had to read all six pages before commenting.

 

Very sad to see Simon go and I hope it will not mark Hornby's retreat into the train set market.

 

I have a feeling that Bachmann will want to see Hornby survive to continue to provide competition, although judging from the Model Rail Awards this year, Hornby have not provided much of a challenge over the last 12 months!

 

Taking over all of Hornby's tooling would be a mammoth task, I remember seeing photos of the Lima tooling that Hornby acquired some years back .... Bachmann would need a very large warehouse just to store all the Hornby tools, let alone make use of them! Then there is the task of developing a coherent range. Bachmann might feel that it easier and cheaper to continue as they are.

 

Merl Evan's retirement has been common knowledge for sometime and although he has done a fantastic job and will be sorely missed, the discipline he brought to product development has, I think, been passed on.

[Brian Indge]

The new leader is Richard Ames, ex Ladbrokes, and Curries, seems he fell on the sword over the IT problems of Ladbrokes, online gambling apps etc over running and late to market.

Responsible for over-running and late to market???? He will fit in well at Hornby then!

[Pandora]

If I were Bachmann, I would be interested in acquiring the tooling for the best Hornby models,for the catalogue,  eg the Britannia, the class 60  and the HST to mention just three

Coherence in the range would be if Bachmann dropped their elderly ex -Trix A4 other than this very few items are duplicated,  not many Hornby wagons would make the transition,to the Bachmann  catalogue,   a reasonable number of coaches perhaps, some of the range might make into the low cost Toys R Us stores, I do not think I have ever seen  a Bachmann loco on their shelves. You cannot rule out sales of the Hornby railway range, new management at the helm means formerly sacred cows can be sacrificed.

 

Triang drove Hornby to the wall in the 60s,  Bachmann are capable of the same   

[woodenhead]

Why are people equating Simon Kohler leaving Hornby = Hornby selling up its railway modelling division?

[Andy Y]

If I were Bachmann, I would be interested in acquiring the tooling for the best Hornby models,for the catalogue,  eg the Britannia, the class 60  and the HST to mention just three

Why put something forward that isn't on the table? The trouble is someone will read such stuff/guff and take it as fact and then repeat it elsewhere.

 

That's twice today you made incorrect statements presented as pseudo-facts; can you please be more careful in the way you word things?

[Riddles]

 

"Nat Southworth (SK's boss) has moved up a peg to board level.

He is head of Sales, Marketing, Product Development, and the general management of the business."

 

And Nat was appointed by Hornby to run the 2012 Olympic programme (Project Tat?). If you recall, the Olympics venture was a different direction for Hornby with huge amounts of unsold stock, virtually being given away at the end of the year. Nat is a very pleasant personable chap who at the AGM convinced me that the Olympics were good for Britain and especially Hornby. My initial thoughts were sadly proved correct, certainly as far as Hornby was concerned. Despite the huge losses made by Hornby with the Olympics merchandise, Nat was made overall Marketing Director.

 

If the Hornby board had not followed this course and had more actively sought alternative sources of supply to Sanda Kan and Kader, I suspect that Simon would not be leaving.

 

Just an opinion!

 

 

 

 

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[iL Dottore]

Whilst it is clear that SK was not "Hornby", don't underestimate the power and influence of the marketing manager within a company. R&D have their priorities influenced (if not set) by marketing and marketing drives income generation. Should - and I speak hypothetically - SK's replacement decide that the market for Maunsell coaches is saturated or that the perceived number of buyers doesn't justify the costs of developing a replacement for the very aging 14XX, then such models won't be made/developed.

 

A good MM can help generate huge profits for a company, a bad one can help sink it. We've been lucky in having SK, but in future.....?

[Ozexpatriate]

I'm not sure in which thread this belongs, but it was spurred by the following thought, so I'll put it here.

If the Hornby board had not followed this course and had more actively sought alternative sources of supply to Sanda Kan and Kader, I suspect that Simon would not be leaving.

There's a long chain of events there but perhaps we could imagine an alternative reality where Frank Martin and Neil Johnson gambled on borrowing a lot of money to secure alternative manufacturing back in 2009 and they and all their team might still be in place today.

 

Managing a toy company is hard.

 

About a year or so ago the Bachmann Collectors Club finished a series on the history of British outline model railway companies summarizing about 90 years worth or so of fluctuations between success and failure. I'd seen much of the content before but I applaud them for putting it all in one place. My biggest observation from the chaos and turmoil of all the failed toy companies was an impression of just how hard it must be to manage one. (Mind you it's just as hard for tech. companies* or grocers or high street electronics emporia or booksellers or whatever.)

 

* Anyone buying an Ericsson telephone these days?

 

Frank Martin's "Operation Olympic Tat" (sorry I borrowed "Project Tat") appears like an act of desperation, and while most of us saw it for the disaster it turned out to be, it could have worked. Sadly it didn't.

 

We are well informed customers of a toy company. I think many of us fancy that we could tell Hornby a thing or two about how to run their business. Were we actually asked to run it, most of us would probably be even more ruinous than their management was.

 

Having said that we certainly can tell them a thing or to about what we, as their end consumers, want from their products.

 

Mr. Kohler is a dedicated, personable gentleman and we appreciate his being the face of Hornby for all these years.

 

I'll close by noting that Hornby is really yet to step up to the comments made by Roger Canham last November that:

The brand teams are broadening our engagement with our enthusiasts who increasingly wish to access the brands through multiple channels. The consumer will decide how they wish to interact with our brands and we must play our part by providing simple and effective multi-channel options, backed up by excellent product choice and customer service.

 

I'd still like to see how Hornby would like to engage with us, the enthusiasts here on RMweb. Perhaps we can help tell them what we are looking for in model railway products.

 

After all, Nick Stone (Group Finance Director) remarked in the 2013 annual report:

The core of our business currently is the typically older consumer with more time and disposable income who has become an enthusiast and is retained by the production of new material in the high end Hornby locomotives, the Corgi premium ranges and the Airfix higher scale ranges.

[Mike Bellamy]

MRE has published a letter from Simon this morning thanking everyone for their kind remarks and best wishes - he will be at Ally Pally if you want to meet him . . . . . .

 

http://www.mremag.com/news/bulletin.asp

[Andy Y]

Similarly Simon has sent a note for RMweb readers:
 

Dear Andy,

 

Since Monday and the announcement that I will be leaving Hornby at the end of this month I have been amazed and literally humbled by the number of postings that have appeared on RMWeb.  And it has not stopped there, the sheer quantity of emails I have received has quite honestly astounded me and brought my normal working day to a halt.

 

What can I say or write in response to such a quantity of well-wishing contributors?  I truly do love what I do.  I think this industry is amazing and I cannot help but be enthused when corresponding or meeting like-minded persons. This industry is rich in characters who have an immense knowledge and are more than willing to share that knowledge, and for me to meet this individuals is a pure joy.  Yes of course there are those who I meet that want to have a good moan and why not if we have let them down.  Helping those that are disillusioned with Hornby is for me a priority and although I do not do it for thanks, the personal satisfaction in correcting a problem and having a happy modeller is reward enough. At the end of the day it is not rocket science just straightforward common courtesy

 

I am a very lucky person in enjoying a job for as long as I have and I thank all those who have made each day a good day.  I will be wandering the aisles of Alexandra Palace this Saturday so if you see me there do stop me and say hello, I will be grateful of the company!

 

 

Sincerely

 

 

Simon Kohler
Hornby Marketing Manager

 

 

[Multiple identity account]

Does anyone have Simon's email ID, I'd like to send him an email....

[Andy Y]

It's simon.kohler@Hornby.com

[Multiple identity account]

It's simon.kohler@Hornby.com

Thank you Andy.....

[tomparryharry]

So, Mr Kohler does indeed browse RMweb.

 

I wonder of how many 'other' people do the same. We know about DJM, and Ixion, as well as most of the smaller suppliers.

 

This leads to a view that, instead of frothing about the latest 'blue' or 'red' product wishlist, a degree of well-reasoned reflection might take place, before we clamour for product X,Y or Z. I will admit that I have been part of that process of 'frothing'.

 

Well done Mr Kohler. Remember to take a hard hat when you return to Hornby after April 1st....

 

Ian

[Gwiwer]

I have never doubted that SK browsed RM web and absorbed many a comment posted hereon.  It would be part of his job to note and act upon the negative along with the positive.

 

I also don't doubt that we are being actively monitored by the good folk of Barwell and indeed other locations.

 

What differs is the level of direct input and interaction.  DJ created an example of best practice at Dapol.  Whether SK was as free to speak but chose not to or whether he was in any way constrained by the good gentlemen of Margate might be wrapped in commercial confidence.  

[Cy Lindercocks]

One of Hornby's problems is that in real terms they are a very small company. There are lots of Private Limited Company's, as opposed to PLCs, that have far higher turnovers and profit margins that are lead by a much smaller management team taking a much lower management charge (or salaries) out of the business.

 

Hornby, by the way they acquired the Corgi, Airfix  and similar brands have acquired a very top heavy management team which they are now trying to address.

 

Have they chosen the correct people to lead them forward, I think not but I hope to be proved wrong!

 

Appointing University graduates with a proven record of failure is not, to my mind the way forward. There are many more capable people out there in companies who would not expect a PLC sized pay packet who have more real talent and experience, one of whom they already had in their employ and who is leaving  at the end of this month to work as a 'consultant'>

[10800]

No. Richard Ames is the new Chief Executive - an appointment which was announced some weeks again.  The situation regarding Brand Managers does not yet seem to be in the public arena although Nat Southworth is still showing on Linked In as Brands Director.

 

As long as they don't use Siobhan Sharpe from 'Perfect Curve' as a brand manager ...

[7013]

I thnk we are all forgetting that Simon will be consulting for Hornby for the next year and hopefully using his expertise to help them over their recent problems. And by the time he does eventually cut the strings He will have contributed to Hornby being back where we want them to be.