Hornby pull the plug on Rails of Sheffield

[Railwaygun]

SOTP!! [Stay On Topic Please! )

Facts only , no idle speculation.

NickR ( also a Fat Earther)

[honk843]

I have a lot of time for Hornby because they try to get new people in to the hobby if not N gauge unfortunately. However over the years they do appear to want a quick return on things like things like all manufacturers (look at their various attempts at N gauge). Because of this I don't think they will go down a direct route and in fact one retailer told me that they had given up the idea over the first round of the Arnold Brighton Belle in N which was supposed to be direct only. It seems that they could not shift enough direct so made them available to retailers to clear. Obviously only hearsay.

Having said all that we are entering a new post covid world and perhaps mail order will predominate but in that case Rails would be an odd choice.

[longbow]

Some extracts from Hornby's latest financial statements that point to several areas where Hornby might be squeezing large retailers:

Measures implemented to cease deep discounting has helped stabilize the market, particularly new releases, and the benefit is evident in the improved gross margin. We have reviewed elements of our customer base and trading terms to make sure we support the right routes to market.

Reducing our reliance on middlemen (distributors etc) in our routes to market also helps to reduce the variable costs

Since the end of March, our sales have been in line with expectations, with a greater weighting towards customers finding us on the web directly. This skew towards customers shopping with us direct online has given us higher gross margins than we were expecting.

[Shropshire Lad]

I know at least one shop owner who is carefully looking at his Hornby sales as it seems to him that Hornby see shops as places to sell accessories. Their focus for new models seems to be full price on their website first with dealers picking up the slack.
Cheers Colin

[Newportnobby]

I never wanted a Brighton Belle. I don't believe Hornby will dip another toe in the N gauge market (happy to be corrected, though), so as long as it doesn't impact on Rails as a business then I really don't care (they are my 'go-to' emporium).
As for the title of the thread - sorry about the eff in Sheffield

[Bob G]

I never wanted a Brighton Belle. I don't believe Hornby will dip another toe in the N gauge market (happy to be corrected, though), so as long as it doesn't impact on Rails as a business then I really don't care (they are my 'go-to' emporium).
As for the title of the thread - sorry about the eff in Sheffield

Shouldn't the title of the thread be "Hornby, of Margate, pull the plug on Rails of Sheffield, of Sheffield"

Rails is also my go to emporium, since Hattons lost Bachmann. Plus they do free postage on new locos, like Claytons  

[Richard Taylor]

I never wanted a Brighton Belle. I don't believe Hornby will dip another toe in the N gauge market (happy to be corrected, though), so as long as it doesn't impact on Rails as a business then I really don't care

Seconded.  Whilst they continue on their current course of ignoring N/not taking the N market seriously, then Hornby as a supplier of model railway equipment are completely irrelevant to my (quite large) hobby spending. My only concern in this matter is whether their decision - and it is quite clear from subsequent Rails customer communications that this is Hornby's decision - affects the viability of Rails or Monk Bar Model Shop in York (my preferred two dealers.)

Discussion of this issue has been repeatedly closed down on RMWeb on the spurious grounds that it's speculation. Given that RMWeb is at least 50% speculation & frothing, that's a bit rich.  Worries about advertising spend in BRM?

Richard

[N_GaugeModeller]

They do like to make their bias known over there don't they

The three rules of RMWEB

Rule one, no criticising dealers or makers that pay RMWEB

Rule two the mods are always right

Rule three if the mods are wrong rule two applies and your account will be limited or suspended.

No surprise it's now a fraction of the size it once was.

Now watch me get banned over their for this

NGM

[njee20]

RMWeb is a commercial venture, so they're probably a bit more risk averse where it comes to potential litigation.

I've never had any issues with their moderation.

[Ben A]

Hi there,

The risk of litigation can be somewhat overstated IMO. 

Although you can be sued for libel as either a private individual or commercial organisation, in a situation such as this everyone has a defence of "fair comment"; this is important as it allows awkward questions to be asked and differing views to be expressed in public discourse.

If posting something potentially controversial it is always sensible to make it clear that the comment is your own opinion, and not something you are suggesting is fact.

In addition, libel actions are expensive and can be hugely counterproductive because they often draw an enormous amount of attention to comments that otherwise would be rapidly forgotten; so I would argue that the chances of anyone suing over comments on a model railway forum read by only a few hundred people are low.

cheers

Ben A.

[jthjth]

This dispute and the Hattons-Bachmann one are important to us as customers. There are lots of issues involved - manufacturers trying to stop retailers producing their own product lines, manufacturers trying to increase their own direct web sales, large manufacturers/distributors trying to control route to market for smaller more innovative manufacturers, etc. I'm not saying who is right or wrong, but it is most certainly wrong to try to close down discussion of these issues.

[woodbury22uk]

This dispute and the Hattons-Bachmann one are important to us as customers. There are lots of issues involved - manufacturers trying to stop retailers producing their own product lines, manufacturers trying to increase their own direct web sales, large manufacturers/distributors trying to control route to market for smaller more innovative manufacturers, etc. I'm not saying who is right or wrong, but it is most certainly wrong to try to close down discussion of these issues.

And just for balance you could add "retailers trying to produce items and wholesale/retail them to gain extra margin at the expense of sales of goods from traditional manufacturers".  As you say, lots of issues.

[snitchthebudgie]

At the risk of going off topic again.....

My observation is that the moderators here, and at RMWeb, all do a pretty good job.  But they have different 'triggers'.  The conversation on RMWeb can be far more robust than the family friendly NGF!  And different things get shut down quickly.

I value both.  My shout out for RMWeb has been their ongoing discussions on exhibitions, especially the on-line surveys as to when people might go back to shows again.  These have been good to see where people's thinking lies, and helpful for me as an exhibition manager (now furloughed!)

I think the internet is big enough for everyone!!!

[Chris Morris]

All those in charge of a business have a duty to the owners of the business make the best possible profit from that business. Businesses will work with others if both parties can see it is likely to improve their business/profit. When one party gets to a point where they see no benefit from working with another party then they quite rightly stop working together. It's just business. Either Rails or Hornby will have decided that their business is no longer getting a benefit from working together. It's a shame but that's what happens.

I wonder how things are working out for Hattons. They could have pulled back from becoming a fully fledged manufacturer but decided to go ahead and lose the Bachmann agency. Quite a brave decision and I applaud them for it. Having said that I think they got their choice of first N gauge model very wrong. Something smaller, simpler and less niche would have been a much more sensible start point. There are plenty of possibilities that fit the bill.

Also I hope Rails will not be too badly affected by no longer having the Hornby agency. Maybe there are exciting new items to come from them.

[N_GaugeModeller]

Its probably a simple case that from the last year they have seen quite a large interest in buying from them direct which would obviously see more profit for them as they don't have to provide discounts to the big dealers.

What we may well be seeing is the first steps in them only making Loco and large items available from them and leaving the dealers to sell the small basic accessories etc, that are a pain for them to sell in small numbers.

I can see a situation where all the big box shifters will have their loco supplies cut by not only Hornby but Bachmann and Others if they also decide this is a more profitable route to take, and in all honesty who can blame them, after all their first loyalty is with their financial backers not their customers

This is just my opinion and I am allowed that, even here

NGM