amwells

Not sure about that, but you’d have something prototypical with the other left overs (47 body / 56 bogies) wouldn’t you?

I agree with the sentiment, although you’d be more pleased with Oxford’s bottom line than Hornby’s given respective sales. One thing though (I know I keep saying this as I think it’s important to bust the myth) - a line from the results: Borrowings in the year ended 31 March 2021 were zero. though they are paying 1% on a £9m indrawn facility... and some way to go to recover the £15.5m of accumulated losses

Very good and detailed caption too

They turn up on eBay from time to time but be prepared for a surprise on price - in the last week two have sold, one for £175 and one for... £300!

The reason that Ixion was special back in the day was because it was the first preserved diesel allowed back on the mainline (appreciating that there are lots of other examples of preserved diesels on the mainline, this one was the first to be certified for regular use).

I’ve come to this one late... is it possible to still order?

Hornby clearly still need to do something - they aren’t making any profit and have backers that have supported them to a big amount. Though I do wish people would stop saying they have big loans to pay off - that’s not what the public financial statements say. They do have big (relative to size of the company) equity investors who will be looking for a return on that investment. Whether this is the right action, time will tell but while the CEO says that the ‘engine is fixed’, the public financial statements suggest that it’s not fixed in a way that gives a satisfactory return (would anyone be happy with pumping in £millions and getting £0 return)? To me, Hornby is still in a critical situation. Yes much better than it was before (much, much better), but still not where it needs to be to be sustainable. This is not about corporate greed as some have suggested, it’s about survival. And many retailers that we are talking about have a mutual need on that survival, so as an enthusiast and customer, I hope it works out well for all.

Any ideas when this might be released?

But presume by going public then they must be happy for retailers to now go public?

Are you planning to do this one totally correct?

two things on this: 1. What debt? It seems to have all been wiped out through share issue last year 2. There’s about £4.6 million at risk on the balance sheet in respect of goodwill if they got rid of them... https://wp-Hornby-2020.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/media/2020/11/12114059/Hornby-interim-report-Sept-2020.pdf

I would think the reason is margin. Hornby got on top of the debt by issuing equity in the year to 31/3/20. Sales went up during Covid (up by one third in the first six months of the financial year). But their net profit on that upturn in sales was basically zero - £55k, of which £38k was a tax benefit and £14k was (presumably) the 49% of net profit from Oxford. so with supply still limited, why not sell where you get higher margin - the shareholder will be looking for returns in this upturn given the amount of cash put in. to your point about the symbiotic relationship though - those retailers are likely to be needed when there is a downturn in sales... but there is a line in the half year statements that shows the strategy... and this thread shows how it is playing through... Quote (with my bolds): The Routes To Market Physical retailers are an important part of our supply chain. They promote our products, provide personalised advice to customers, and offer comprehensive after sales support. The work they do is important to customers and we want to ensure that those of our retail stockists who invest in this side of the business can survive and we have striven to provide a fair playing field for all. Vast upfront investment is required to create the products that our customers value and cherish. My focus going forward, now we have ‘fixed the engine’, is to ensure that both maintaining the integrity of our brands and creating an excellent experience for our end customer remains paramount. This should hold true no matter where our products are sold. No-one could have foreseen the acceleration in online shopping that took place this year. We want to engage more with our existing customers and to recruit new ones, and we all know that retail will never be the same again. We need to create 'Community' and have more direct engagement, where customers come to us to learn about our products. This is now more important than ever, but unfortunately the pandemic delayed the release of our new website. We expect completion over the coming months; in its early days it will have to be functional, but over time each of the brands will develop their own identity and will move in the direction that best suits their needs. As we move forward our website will feature rich content with images and videos generated by ourselves and our customers, a place where we can interact.

Had an email today - only for a couple of generic coaches. interestingly, I’ve also been following up on my order for all of the Coronation coaches from another supplier - Jadlam. Despite selling out in lots of places, Jadlam still haven’t had any (and have not received an answer from Hornby as to why not). Fortunately (for me) I’ve cobbled a set from a couple of other retailers who still have them in stock.

@Hugh Flynn

But there are the rakes that were proposed for Grand Central sittingcc by at Worksop I think?

I had pre-ordered a couple of generic coach rakes and this week had two individual items cancelled by Hattons. Strange things are: - one of these, and some others pre-ordered, are in stock elsewhere, so I’m now trying to purchase the rakes elsewhere. Seems I’ll have to do that in parts as nowhere has complete rakes left - the same coaches that I’ve had cancelled are still available to pre-order on Hattons site I appreciate that none of these cancellations are personal, but it does make me wonder how they are done - is there some form of algorithm or is it manually done? Because it’s a little illogical to cancel an item for a customer but then still have ore-orders coming in that either will be unfulfilled, or will be fulfilled at the expense of cancelled pre-orders.

I was in the same situation. My request to honour my original order / price was declined (very politely). They explained that these are from a wholesaler, not Hornby direct so the cost to them is different...

Typical... after cancelling my order from the same day of announcement (or very close!!)

The one ‘series’ that doesn’t seem to be in the link is that if Kay’s Catalogue. My parents were never members so it was always a mystery when these turned up (to me anyway!). There was at least an A4 (which was when my interest arose)

Like the opposite of Scotch tapes...

And another Exec pair would be good... I gave up hope of a FGW Barbie set and sold my coaches, maybe one day...

hi Fran, do you think there will be repeat runs? like @sc2016, specifically 9016 in purple...

Lion, or is that just provocation?

Surely it’s closer than either of them!!

The unit was painted in 1994 for the route