Widnes Model Centre

Hornby announced to the trade on the 23rd December 2023, that the Tier System was to end. The information was that it would be phased out and ended during January 2024.

Preorders seem to becoming a ‘let’s wait and see’. To the point of ordering, providing…..delivery time, price, reviews etc. The Customer really is King. Hornby announcing the end of the Tier System is working well and customers have more confidence in their products arriving at the likes of our shop. What no one can guarantee is price or delivery time, hence the wait and see. There really is no fortune to be made in model railways and retailers have had to tread carefully with the price increases. Customers had taken up in the recent past, ordering from several retailers . Then buying from the retailer who received the stock first. Retailers were turning away customers as they had sold out on preorder, only to be then left with stock cancelled at the point of arrival. It’s difficult times, as more than proven with Hattons closing. Believe me, they had no choice. Any retailers who rubbed their hands at their closing could be the next to go. We are struggling to convince customers that we are not closing down. Local media headlines of “Widnes Model shop closes” a few months back. A lot of people didn’t realise that Hattons was based in Widnes and presumed it was us.

If we order on the day of announcement with any main supplier / manufacturer, we don’t get the item at the price. We pay the price of the item at time of delivery. None of the main manufacturers lock us in at the preorder price. There’s absolutely no incentive for retailers to preorder. As we have found out to our cost, preorders don’t even guarantee us receiving the product. l have never been advised of any ‘advanced warning of price change deadlines and associated options’. Not that long ago an item was invoiced, l had ordered it in 2014. Price was double what we preordered at. l would add that in the case of many manufacturers,even if we could afford to even do so. Selling at more than the x% below RRP for a stated time period is not looked on favourably.

A few misquotes. Notably when the journalist asked if l owned the miniature railway shop? I said it was quite large! Model shops hitting the media has got to be good. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/couple-took-chance-after-coming-28648213?utm_source=app

From todays BBC North West News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-68317449

This an extract from our shop Facebook, Friday update, as ever written by my wife, Gill. As usual she reads it out to me prior to posting. In between sobs she eventually managed to read the post to me. This hopefully answers the question that we must be pleased to see the back of Hattons. Most definitely not. Friends and dear Neighbours. Last update Gill and Barry went and had a brew with Richard Davis Managing Director of Hatton's last Monday. It was a strange situation as we sat in an office alongside the warehouse that was now quiet still and empty of people and stock. This was once not too long ago a hub of frenetic activity but no more. I think we can say that we can only give credit to Richard for the years of hard work that he committed to Hatton's but also now what a brave man to recognise how times have changed mainly financially and he alone was able to hold his hands up and take the giant step away from it all. We understand despite this evenings television scheduled slot on the BBC Local news about the Hatton's closure this will possibly take place at a future date.

If the Bachmann spend was redirected to other big box retailers, how much did all retailers take up is the real question? The difference now is that the really big buyer has left the market. If Hattons purchases were steadily in the region of £8/9 million annually is the whole of the trade, never mind the big guys going to take up that that sort of financial risk? Ever increasing costs would make any retailers think more than twice in hugely increasing their annual spend. Not forgetting we are in a time of massive financial crisis. Hattons made their reasons for closing abundantly clear. Any retailer deciding to take over would potentially find themselves in the same situation. The real losers, in trade terms could well be all the suppliers. Don’t think of these posts as a negative outlook for the model railway industry. We firmly believe that the light is still on at the end of the tunnel.

Interesting point of view. Retailers doing deals for overstocks or suppliers clearing their warehouses of slow moving inventory? Most people are of the view that Bachmann won’t be affected. When Hattons stopped being able to supply Bachmann, you would be forgiven for thinking that our Bachmann sales would have increased. They didn’t. Bachmann appeared to reduce the quantity of items that were manufactured. Sold out became the order of the day. Hypothetically, with the main retailer leaving the market, does that leave the likes of our shop with an increase in say PECO, Dapol, Gaugemaster demand? Money is finite so do l have to spend even less with Bachmann in order to finance the purchases from other suppliers. As Osborne Models state, ‘interesting time’s ahead’.

Without going through 43 pages. Has it been highlighted about the knock on effect from the disappearance of Hattons purchasing power? Who is going to buy from UK suppliers in the way they did? We all know stocks of Hornby were lower than they used to be, that bridge seems to have been mended, albeit possibly too late. PECO, Gaugemaster and many other suppliers had huge amounts of stock listed on Hattons website. Who will take up the mantle with those companies? As for ourselves? We are in a bit of an argument with some sections of the local media who announced that Widnes was losing its local model shop. To some customers, that was our shop. Security at the local shopping centre advised one customer asking for directions that the model shop had closed. Thankfully she decided to telephone us to find out that we were still open for business. In relation to EU purchasing. Our only supplier was based in Scandinavia. Paperwork from the government arrived in piles. EORI’s. Customs declarations, appointment of shipping and handling agents, VAT etc. We were quoted £93 per consignment to administer our paperwork. On a low profit margin it wasn’t worth it. We haven’t brought anything in from the EU since.

Sorry, it’s not Jason.

They came after we had closed but we were expecting a delivery. Didn't want the courier complaining about why he was late. They had hoped to be there earlier and speak to customers, especially young customers. No customers were hurt during filming.

Not sure if this is in the right place. Yesterday, Friday 26th January 2024, a BBC tv crew visited Hattons and ourselves re the condition of the model railway industry. This will be available to viewers in the north west and surrounding area. Will be advised of the date it is being aired. We were usurped by a certain Liverpool FC manager announcing his retirement……. Don’t ask me what was said as l had to stand outside to prevent anyone coming in! Just hope my wife, Gill and son Tom did okay.

Just received this from Hornby. Class 67, TFW is on its way.

I was over at Hattons late this afternoon to say goodbye to some of the staff l have had the pleasure of knowing. Also to wish them well and offer our thanks for their help throughout the years. No banter today just an incredibly sad occasion. Warehouse was very busy, seemingly lots of Lockers and Trunks being packed. I’m sure l will be back for one last visit.

Buckingham House 1965-1979. You must have lived in Buckingham Avenue when the group, Real Thing lived in the upstairs of number 15. They lived in a friend’s house and my girlfriend at the time lived opposite. Hattons have brought us all together after all these years!

I didn’t realise how many railway modellers lived so close to me when l lived on Ullet Road near to Hattons. One poster was even the paper boy in the newsagents opposite, just like me. Great memories There is an interview with Richard Davies currently available on BBC Sounds, Radio Merseyside. l can’t see how to share it, so Google might be your friend. Attached the image so you know what to look for.

We would like to put on record our deepest sadness at this announcement. Only found out a few hours ago. Echoing Andy Y’s comment, we are in total shock. My first model railway item was bought from there in 1966. The help we received from Hattons during the pandemic was the only thing that kept us going. They have been great friends and neighbour’s since we first opened. That will never be forgotten. We wish Richard and Christine and all their local staff the very, very best for the future whatever they decide.

Hi Fran, Not sure why you think l was referring to yourselves? I didn’t mention Accurascale but referred to manufacturers in general when dealing with this type of issue.

I agree, Hattons have been placed in a very awkward position. Most manufacturers can be difficult to deal with when it comes to situations like this. Very recently we have had to deal with issues of warranty returns. Sometimes waiting months and the customer rightly so becomes impatient and asked for a refund. We agreed with his stand and refund was given. Customer contacts manufacturer and told to return to retailer. Customer posts it back to us at our cost, we forward again at our cost to manufacturer. Manufacturer return to us, we send it back at our cost to customer. At the end of the day l really can’t understand that level of service, albeit the customer remains our responsibility. Shouldn’t customer service should also be the responsibility to retailers from the manufacturer? Only Hornby make this process relatively simple.

That about sums it up. My immediate reaction was one of, sorted, at last! Thumbs up to the new management team.

Hi Mike, For the sake of accuracy and also by way of an explanation for Rails customers who were unable to purchase Hornby. Rails lost their Hornby account…. Something to do with the same person who thought aptly, in this thread, Tiers were a good idea. The day Rails lost their account was a Black Day for Hornby as l believe Rails had the wholehearted support of the whole retail trade.

Sort of reverting back to the topic. Repeating the fact that we certainly are glad the tier system has ended. Would we stock TT120? Yes, it has been requested many times in our shop. A model shop without Hornby, Airfix. Just wouldn’t be a model shop. Tomorrow, 30th January, is the last trading day for 2023. Just finished reviewing our overall sales. The outstanding product? Believe it or not, Paints. Not obviously in £’s spent but in percentage sales increase. My wife Gill reckons we sell more paint than B and Q! Not going to lie, l just agree……… Since the start of the financial crisis we have seen modellers keen to actually make some models and finish them. Keeps their costs down and actually finish something! Without giving away too much of our sales figures as we don’t sell on line. Three days trading. Paints sold? £947.59p. Of which very little was Humbrol. Cements, varnishes etc are not great sellers anymore. The enamels remain fairly popular with those modellers who started using them when there was literally nothing else. Hornby have reduced their enamel range and replaced those colours with acrylics. As with model railway manufacturers increasing, the amount of paint manufacturers has exploded. Sorry to say any given paint is more popular than Humbrol. I don’t know what the profit and loss is regarding Humbrol, if it’s not great, l am not surprised. Maybe time to concentrate on other products? Airfix have brought out some tremendous plastic kits this year and for the first time have gotten really close to Tamiya. Even reintroducing vintage kits using old moulds. Absolute winners, demand in some kits has been phenomenal. We are not big on diecast, but Corgi TV series from the 60’s have sold out on preorders. Good luck to Hornby in 2024, we have high hopes.

We have today received notification that the Tier System has indeed gone. Also we shall see the return of Business Development Managers. We welcome this. A great pity that it was introduced in the first place. Railway modellers et al should now be able to place orders with their preferred retailer with no preferential treatment for any retailer. This will presumably be in place for the New Announcements in January 2024.

Just an update: Two separate parcels are due for delivery sometime this week. The rest of my Airfix order is among them. I had contacted Hornby regarding the missing Airfix, only to be told that they had been cancelled in late October 2023. No one seemed to know why. Thankfully they still had stock. Reordered last Monday and the slowest pick and pack service in the industry swung into immediate action……. The other parcel contains one Hornby wagon. This forms part of my Tier 2 allocation, one loco, (but not all locomotives), one coach and one wagon. I believe l have more items in picking and can only hope that it/they, is/are sent out this week. l do hope someone from Hornby reads this and takes distribution back in house.

We ordered one of each for Christmas Day. Unfortunately, as we looked forward to receiving them…… we had our allocation cut. Seemed legit!