Hornby's financial position worsens.

[Mountain]

With a little adapting of design I have an idea that can be the next big thing for old and young alike!

Then you need to have the finance ready in case the piece(s) you want for such a product ever become available in a restructuring.

Would be good!

[centenary]

The impact of hornby's financial position and price rises laid bare: Class 43 HST power car set, one motor unit, one dummy, with TXS sound decoder, RRP 1 penny under £450. If you fancy a pre order with Rails, yours for £404.99

this sort of pricing worked for Games Workshop, because they have a fan base that is not entirely rational to be polite, I don't think Hornby are in the same position

GW will charge you £500 odd for a game army, but in bits, not one lump usually

I wonder what the price point for the HST would be if the power car and dummy were available individually? and without the sound decoder pre-fitted.

I dare say its a very nice model, but with the coaches RRP being a fraction less than £50 a coach the price is now firmly in the "ridiculous" zone, and also I dare say at or past the point where you make up in individual price what you lose in reduced sales

to charge this you need a captive fan base who "need" that product, and cannot get it elsewhere, and for your own factory to be at capacity

According to Rails, the power and dummy units without TXS decoder is available in BR blue grey for pre order at £355.49 with an RRP of £394.99. I'd suspect if you could buy a power unit or dummy separately, the cost would exceed that of buy both units as one, with the power unit itself being around £290 RRP?

[aleopardstail]

even ~290 is way too much for a diesel loco, or heck any loco

I mean none of this will be a causal purchase, but its at the point of even on a decent income you have to stop to think

[centenary]

even ~290 is way too much for a diesel loco, or heck any loco

I mean none of this will be a causal purchase, but its at the point of even on a decent income you have to stop to think

I was considering an HST set in Intercity livery with the blue grey a 2nd choice. Even the green Rail Chatered Service was on the list. But add the fact that the power and dummy car would be DCC for me and sound, that's another £200 to shell out and that's before you buy the coaches.

Another manufacturer needs to enter the OO scale HST market because as we all know, competition tends to holds price inflation down.

[mrobs2002]

this sort of pricing worked for Games Workshop. . .

GW had revenues of £525 million according to this page. So pretty much 10 times that of the entire Hornby group. I think I know which one I'd be investing in.

[aleopardstail]

this sort of pricing worked for Games Workshop. . .

GW had revenues of £525 million according to this page. So pretty much 10 times that of the entire Hornby group. I think I know which one I'd be investing in.

GW also have a somewhat "interesting" fan base who have the curious tendency to foam at the mouth when someone suggests using, oh, say a cheaper version of the exact same pair of cutters.

very good business model though, getting people to buy the same thing over and over

*hides 40k collection*

they are a company that has cash in the bank too so not hindered by financing costs

*hides middle earth collection*

though GW a few years back were not so healthy, they turned it around

*tries to hide Legions Imperialis collection and finds no space*

plus side, its easy when someone whines at how much GW costs to point to Hornby and laugh, and vice versa..

What the fork do you mean a lump of resin *that doesn't even have sprung buffers* costs over a grand and has quality control issues that would make Sam's Trains cry?

[centenary]

Hornby to de list from AIM and re register as a PLC in effort to cut cost and remove administrative burden etc of AIM.

https://www.investing.com/news/company- ... CH-3925812

[centenary]

The Telegraph a bit late to the party with this article and, I personally dont think it would be 'the end' for model railways if Hornby did gounder. Bit one sided as it only focuses on Hornby and doesnt really mention there are other players in the market now.

These are tortuous times for model railways. Earlier this week, the venerable model maker Hornby delisted from London’s Aim stock exchange.

The move came after a period of turmoil for the company, which owns Scalextric, Corgi and Airfix as well as the eponymous model railway brand, and a 60 per cent slump in its share price over the past year.

They are the most prominent name in an industry that has been generally struggling in the face of rising costs, shrinking living spaces, an ageing population and abundant electronic competition.

“The board is well aware of the place Hornby has in the hearts of its loyal shareholder base, and the announcement today is not taken lightly,” the company said in a statement in March announcing the plan to go private. It had been listed for more than 40 years, but with 91 per cent of the company owned by two businesses, they no longer believed it made sense to have the remainder available on the stock market.

The company said that delisting will save it around £400,000 per year, adding that being private would “improve its decision-making” and let it make necessary changes to the business “at pace.”

Over nearly a century, Hornby has endured through recessions, depressions, insolvencies, the Second World War and the advent of video games. But the past few years have been notably difficult. Last year, two of the linchpins of the model railway world, the Warley Railway Club exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham and Hatton’s Model Railways Shop in Liverpool, closed amid reports of rising costs and ageing enthusiasts.

Some wonderful highlights from my visit yesterday to Alexander palace and the London festival of railway modelling. ⁦@ModelRailClub⁩ pic.twitter.com/OHdEJByJ3o
— jason francis (@jasonfrancis71) March 16, 2025

Hornby posted surprisingly strong revenues after Covid, when locked-down Brits discovered – or rediscovered – the joy of making a miniature train set in the garage. But it was a rare bit of good news, their first profit in nearly a decade.

Otherwise, the recent past has often proved gloomy. In November, the company announced a round of redundancies at its headquarters in Margate, Kent, after posting increased pre-tax losses of £5.1 million in the year to September 2024, up from £4.9 million the year before.

“Hornby are a vital part of the hobby and if they go under we would all be very sorry, but something is not right,” says Antony Cox, chair of the Model Railway Club, Britain’s oldest model railway fan club, where fans meet every Thursday just off the Pentonville Road in north London to discuss gauges, listen to guest speakers and generally do the miniature locomotion.

“I hope they come through whatever problems they are having. But Hornby have made three or four management changes in the past 20 years and some of their decisions strike me as a bit odd,” Cox adds, stressing that he is speaking for himself rather than the club. “Their products aren’t bad, but somehow, something is not right on the inside with Hornby at the moment.”

Phoenix Asset Management, a firm that specialises in turnarounds, owns 82 per cent of Hornby. Another 9 per cent, worth around £2.1 million, is owned by Mike Ashley, the Sports Direct boss.

Ashley was brought on as a consultant last March, having built up a significant stake in the business. The eccentric billionaire is not much given to press announcements, especially after the criticism he endured as owner of Newcastle United, so we must presume that he sees in Hornby a version of what he has created with Frasers Group: an umbrella brand holding famous brands that have fallen on hard times.

Hornby was approached for comment. It has previously said its restructuring plans were on course. The most recent figures were promising, with sales in the final quarter of 2024 up 10 per cent year on year, propelled in particular by the Black Friday discount day, when 50 per cent of purchasers were first-time customers.
Antony Cox holding a model train
Antony Cox is the chair of Britain’s longest-running model railway club Credit: Julian Simmonds

An optimistic version of the decision to delist is that it is part of a restructuring that will enable the company to stay nimble in a fast-changing world.

For the uncertainty around the hobby, there are also signs that it has a niche as a tactile, family-friendly activity that gets children, their parents and grandparents off their screens for a few hours.

“Hornby have always been uniquely placed because they are such a household name,” says George Dent, the editor of Model Rail Magazine. “The remit has always been to appeal to a much broader spectrum of enthusiasts. Their product range is good. Like any company, they have had their challenges, but I think the consensus is that they are on the right track.”

Besides, the company has long mixed good times with bad. Frank Hornby patented Meccano in 1901; they produced the first clockwork train in 1920. The first OO gauge model train was launched in 1938. In 1964, Hornby was bought by a competitor, Tri-ang. Two decades later, in 1981, it was bought out by management after the parent company went into administration. Five years later, it was listed on the stock market. Phoenix took over in 2017, after a controversial process in which the company said Phoenix’s offer “significantly undervalue[d]” it.

“Hornby goes up, it goes down, it has good times, it has not such good times,” says Simon Kohler, sometimes nicknamed “Mr Hornby”, who worked for the firm for more than 40 years in total, latterly as marketing and development director. “In the heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, there was no 24-hour television. Boys played football, girls did other things. Trains were a game, a family entertainment. People got it out at Christmas. The world changed in the 1980s with electronic games. Virtually overnight, train sets became old-fashioned.”

Yet, while the children’s market diminished, another rose to take its place: older enthusiasts, with deeper pockets and a desire for ever-more detailed replicas. By continuing to focus on younger audiences, Hornby initially missed out on the burgeoning new demand. But by 2000, they had changed course and launched their Southern Railway’s Merchant Navy class locomotive, the rebuilt “Clan Line,” which marked their move into higher-class models. The business prospered until 2008, before it hit another downturn in its topsy-turvy history.
Two children watching Hornby trains
The children’s market for model railways has largely diminished with the rise of technology Credit: PA

“[Then] they had the financial crash and issues with factories in China,” says Kohler. “Costs started to increase and it began to struggle once again.” Kohler left in 2014, after which he says “it all got a little bit confusing and I have to say they lost their way a bit.” He rejoined in 2017 after the takeover and retired in 2023.

The move from child’s toy to collectable has given rise to a new fear; that model railways will become “an aged hobby”, popular with the older generation but struggling to attract new fans. To counter this, in recent years, Hornby have introduced new products aimed at re-engaging younger fans, including an app to let you control the trains with a phone or iPad, bluetooth technology that lets users control trains separately, rather than having every train on a track run at the same time, and a new TT:120 gauge system – smaller than the traditional OO gauge but larger than the N gauge.

And Hornby aside, many involved argue the hobby is in robust health. Cox says the membership of his club has risen 25 per cent since he took over a decade ago. At Alexandra Palace last month, thousands of visitors flocked to the London Festival of Railway Modelling. Model railway accounts on Instagram, such as the one operated by the owners of the Miniatur Wunderland museum, which houses the largest model railway system in the world, attract millions of followers. The Gen Z enthusiast Francis Bourgeois, who got into trains through models, has introduced a new generation to the joys of all things train-related.
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“I’ve been in the game for 25 years now, and there has been talk of doom all that time, with the arrival of computer games and things like that,” Dent says. “But it was pretty steady in the early 2000s, and then even before Covid, there was starting to be a resurgence of interest. Lockdown just accelerated that, with people rediscovering old-school hobbies, getting away from screens and doing something physical and tactile. That’s the beauty of this hobby – it’s not just about trains and track, it’s miniature worlds. It’s very therapeutic.”

“It is a broad church of people,” he adds. “There are kids and families, a lot more women. It’s more vibrant than at any point I can remember.”

Kohler agrees. “I’ve been in this business well over 50 years, and it’s an exciting time,” he says. “There are other companies out there, and you have to keep looking towards your laurels and be better and more efficient. I’m excited. Hornby’s in my blood. My wife always said Hornby was my first love, and she was my second, which is fairly accurate, I suppose. When things are good [Hornby’s] up, when things are bad it’s down. It gets affected by innovation but it bounces back. It’s a whole world.”

“It’s not the same as it was in the 1970s. A train set is not on every child’s Christmas list. But which other hobby or pastime can teach you about geometry, physics, logistics, social history, basic electronics, topography, mathematics? When people operate a train, they don’t realise they are learning.”

In the age of the iPhone, a model railway is a way for generations to come together and enjoy something real. For now, at least, it is a hobby that endures. And despite its difficulties, where there are model railways in the UK, there will likely always be Hornby, somehow trundling on.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/0 ... l-railway/

[Mountain]

It is a company that does need to change with the times as all companies and businesses do. They have to! Yes, and admittedly this is not easy. Also, debts are not easy either. The young are still very much interested in trains, but the element they love is different from the direction Hornby think they love, because to them they feel it is like an adult telling them what they should like. In other words, the computer, phone and I pad idea is more for the adults of a certain age. It missed what lights up the eyes of the young. When I had my nieces and nephews round, I was once making waggon chassis, and they all wanted a go. They wanted to make a chassis. The girls kinda wanted to take over from the boys, but both were fascinated that one could actually make them out of lollypop sticks and things like that. Now kits of parts such as wheels and couplings with a basic 0-4-0 loco they can build into a narrow gauge 7mm scale version using wheels to make waggons with and a little book explaining how to do it using basic tools such as a junior hacksaw, small files and glue etc and they are hooked!
Give them an I-Pad operated trainset and they soon get bored. They actually want to make things themselves which is an aspect that most children rarely get to do! (Admittedly adult supervision is needed with glue and a hacksaw, but what fun this is for them! Their eyes really lit up and one of the older ones said "Hey! I can make waggons to sell!" (So he saw it as a potential business venture which is great! He now has a toddler so has his hands full so not sure he will do it as he wanted me to keep the loco and three waggons he made when he was 17, but that is fine as we all learn what we love to do by trying things).

My take on this is not to try and take over the building aspect but enable it to work. So rather than providing complete kits, sell wheels and other essential parts such as axle boxes, leaving the rest for the builder to make. That way one will encourage others making it possible,, and be rewarded in sales.

I think the market for high detailed locos and stock is still with us for a while, but only with those of us who are in our 50's onwards though a few are younger, but not so many. BUT try the freelance scratchbuilding method (Which is a whole lot easier in 7mm scale as coffee stores and lollypop stick sizes seem made for this scale) with the young and watch their eyes light up! That to me is the future. They have computers and modern technology all day in school. They are fed up with that. They "Switch on" when they realize they can build things themselves! Watch them hunting round the house for things to make things with! To me, this is the untapped future of model railways. Is where the children's eyes open up, and the parents see how they can make things without the big spend and learn while doing so, so it is a tick box for them!

[I hope what I write is not seen as a criticism, but rather a potential new direction which re-invents the old].

[Bigmet]

Hornby's main problem in my opinion is too much of 'trying to be everything for everybody' and not focussing on what's 'hot to trot at' present.

There's nothing currently amiss with demand for high grade RTR OO model railway product, and the new entrants are eating Hornby's lunch catering to this: in this respect the hobby is definitely in good heart, for any business prepared to offer what the customers want.

Hornby have produced a good number of competitive models, so the capability is there to meet the competition and get into profit. What Hornby need to do is stop the majority of their product range not aimed at this market (and quite likely there is similar action to be taken with the other brands they own). Slim down and focus like fury on superior product. Give up your dire DCC freak show and standardise on compatability with what everyone else uses.
And you only need to release one kids toy train set per year, which can be made from amortised tooling.

Hatton’s Model Railways Shop in Liverpool, closed...

Now this is something to be concerned about. An efficient retailer, which also operated as a 'model exchange'. Closed up in a well controlled process because there were no prospects of profitability: IMO, largely due to the actions of the two largest brands which acted to make it uncompetitive by limiting its supply of the new releases. If this affects the free-spending customer base by lack of a reliable purchaser for 'my once exciting but I am over it' models, that potentially squeezes all the brands, and the weakest go to the wall...

[centenary]

Give up your dire DCC freak show and standardise on compatability with what everyone else uses.

By 'freak show' do you mean HM7000?

[FatController]

I have to say that my impression of Hornby's stall at Ally Pally was that they didn't really know what they wanted to be, whereas their direct competitors (e,g. Bachmann) definitely did know what they wanted to be, as did the various upstarts, usually by concentrating on a few models.

[Bigmet]

By 'freak show' do you mean HM7000?

Not that specifically, but the attempt to maintain their branded product against multiple specialist DCC competititors. Bachmann have pretty much given that up, and all the others go to the specialists...

[Mountain]

By 'freak show' do you mean HM7000?

Not that specifically, but the attempt to maintain their branded product against multiple specialist DCC competititors. Bachmann have pretty much given that up, and all the others go to the specialists...

Actually you do raise a point that is interesting. How many would have bought a DC trainset and then converted to DCC when they were ready had there been no DCC trainset available? (As DCC users really need a DC controller for converting locos to DCC, and a DC trainset will provide a simple DC controller to do this even though those trainset controllers are far from ideal as most do not have any form of visible or audible indication of a short).