[woodcote]

Hornby continue to struggle. This informative and concise video explains the latest financial figures, released just a week before the 2026 catalogues are unveiled…

https://youtu.be/FmcvfA-KjHY

[ScorpiusWireless]

They need a businessman to run it.
The future is digital. 
Yet nothing new released digital for almost a decade.
Then marketing. Do they use it?
Distribution. Non existent.
All these are tell tale signs.

[woodcote]

With all due respect…

• Phoenix have got some of the UK’s best-known businessmen involved.
  
• Hornby have developed a cutting edge new digital system in HM7000.
  
• HM7000 was released in 2023, less than three years ago.
  
• Hornby marketing is pretty good in the UK - it pops up on all the socials and I have seen ads on commuter trains and on the London Underground as well as in magazines and newspapers.
  
• Hornby products dominate UK hobby stores. The starter sets (Hornby, Scalextric, Airfix) are everywhere - in toy shops, supermarkets and online, including very prominently on Amazon, the biggest UK marketplace.
  

Scalextric is a small part of the Hornby portfolio. Australia is a relatively small marketplace for them. Of course, distribution in Australia is handled by the local distributor, not the parent company.

The traditional mass-market toy industry is struggling - that’s the headline I see everywhere. The sector’s biggest market (by far) is the USA. Trump’s tariffs have pushed some toy and hobby companies over the edge, but all have been damaged, even those who don’t manufacture in the Far East.

Some of that is mentioned in the video.

[BAracer]

Slot Car News reported last week that Scalextric have just appointed a distributor for North America. Hopefully that won't do them any harm.