NEWS

Hornby officially opens Margate offices and showrooms

Published on: 20th February 2019

TV presenter James May was among the guests who attended the opening ceremony.  

Hornby moved distribution to Hersden in 2014 and office functions to Discovery Park in 2015, ending more than 60 years of work in Margate, but the company has now returned to the Ramsgate Road site and unveiled expansive new trade showrooms.

The move was announced in November last year and the business showrooms opened in January. An official ribbon cutting took place yesterday (19th February) with North Thanet MP Sir Roger Gale doing the honours alongside Hornby marketing executive Simon Kohler, who began his career with firm in the early 70s at the Margate site.

TV star James May, best known for his role alongside Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond on Top Gear, also attended the event. James, who is known for his love of Hornby models, tried his hand at a spot of Scalextric racing and revealed his favourite model – the 1970s Flying Scotsman with realistic chuffing sounds – was now in storage.

Roger, Simon and James were joined by chief executive Lyndon Davies, who commented: “Business means building a relationship with your customers, your suppliers, and everyone around you, including your local community. So, what we have been trying to do is create those great relationships. Another thing we need is passion, passion to drive this business forward. We will beat our competitors and Hornby has passion. When we talk about new products and new things that are happening I feel that passion today in our business, I feel it with the people that are here, people, products, great relationships, passion.”

Lyndon added: “Hornby lost its heart five years ago when it moved away from here. Hornby belongs in Margate and coming back here is a huge move for the company.”

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