Axminster prices

[nickds1]

Axminster are in a bit of a fix. According to their last visible filed accounts for the year ending 5th April 2023, they turned over about £44 million however they made a pre-tax loss of just over £2 million (including exceptional restructuring costs of c. £1.2 million) (£1.9 million profit in 2022) and a loss of £815,000 if you exclude exceptional costs. Their net current assets also fell by £2.6 million - almost halving the 2022 amount. The wage bill is a not inconsiderable £7.3 million or £8.3 million if you include NI & pension contributions. They also used 1.9 million kWh, up on 2022 by about 5% but produced a bit less CO2, presumably by being a bit more sensible about usage.

Massive swing in fortunes between FY 2022 & 2023. YE 2024 accounts should be available pretty soon.

It's tough out there.

 

[mwinfrance]

Which I'm guessing is why they have been shutting branches of late, past few years. Wages and leccy and rent ( unless they own( ed ) all their buildings ) hurt any business.The cold winds of "cheaper elsewhere" can make any business wither and eventually die. How many sq meters space ( retail, warehouse and office ) do they have compared with a few years ago ?. It would also explain why they are now offering to sell via their website into France ( and maybe other EU countries ) , cheaper ( France at least ) than equivalent offers on the same or very similar stuff from Bordet.

Back when I was in the UK in the 70s, I had ( amongst other business ) a retail outlet, with a few staff. I used to work on a mark-up of "my buy in price without VAT x 130 % and then add the VAT on.

Here almost everyone works on "buy in price without VAT x 200 % +VAT, because the NI and other taxes will take over 50% of what you make , and then you have company taxes , compulsory local taxes, compulsory taxes to the chamber of commerce, rents, leccy, insurances of various sorts, etc, etc plus your income tax etc to take another bite out of your gross profit.

So many small businesses go bust every month it is horrifying.

Only the big ones make the headlines, or the media.

ArcelorMittal will be in the bunch of the next big ones to go*, ( north and south of France , with a few smaller things in other parts ) with all the "knock on" that will bring.

*Due to Trump's steel tariffs..although they were already limping along ( no investment ) and the head office's eyes were already on moving it all to the USA, new "incentives" there, they spent the ones that they got from France, on what ?

 

[johnnyb]

I think axminster have considerable goodwill capital in the UK being a generally great company. Its a shame that there struggling due to global circumstances as much as anything.
I would suggest some of there machines are super and used axminster machines often fetch decent money.

 

[Blister]

I think it is bad management , Why keep opening new stores ?
With a good delivery system , They did their own . I have said previously , Where do they get the funding for all this expansion ? Out of retail customers pockets , Yes you and me.
When the bubble burst with covid , World war's , coming out of the EU . Boom it burst
Then a bit of a panic , Closing stores trying to rain it all back and hopefully survive .
Joe public inc me now need to keep a close eye on our finances and have cut back on hobby purchases due to the cost of living price increases, Everything has gone up , some of it big time,

 

[Doris]

I used to buy exclusively from Axminster quite simply because they had almost everything underneath one roof.

Now I just google said item and there will be some little website hobbystore that sell it, "aka the little guys".
I'd much rather give them my money than the likes of Axminster, amazon and eBay, the last 2 which are usually cheaper but I have so much mistrust for where sellers are and even if the thing I've order will show up etc I'd rather use the little guys.

 

[Thedog]

Its a real shame if Axminster close any more stores. I think that thay have excellent customer service. They are easy to contact, no waiting on the phone for 20 mins and they seem to know their products and give good advice. I personally dont think you can beat a real shop to look around and buy stuff. I aways come out with items that i never went in to buy . I purchased some items recently from Rutlands. I needed to return an item. I couldnt even phone them as they dont haveva customer phone number. That was a real faff sorting it out. I also returned some clamps to Axminster recently as i ordered the wrong size. A quick 2 min phone call to Aximster and they sorted out and arranged a couier collection. Thats what you are partly paying for. Excellent after sales customer support. If you want cheap buy from a box shifter. But you may not save in the long run. Just my view. Oh, i dont normally sendvstuff back. Just in the last few weeks has to return a couple of items due to my own mistakes

 

[Mike Fletcher]

I like the Axminster stuff that I have bought, trade table saw, band saw, extractor, and more. All have been accurate, reliable, and (in my mind) good value for money. One item was a lathe chuck (SK100) and it is beautifully made, such that I was reluctant to use it and wanted to mount it on a plaque! Regarding pricing; compare the prices with Festool. You will pay a hundred or more for a similar item. You have a saw that is accurate, etc, how can £100 pounds make it more accurate? At the other end is Rutlands. I bought a few things from them long ago and the quality is not up to the Axminster level. I haven't bought anything from them for years. I don't mind paying for a good quality product.

 

[murphy]

I personally dont think you can beat a real shop to look around and buy stuff

Yes, I agree with that, I have been an Axminster customer for more than 20 years and I often visit the Axminster Sittingbourne store if I am going to buy a new tool or machine, it is about 1-hour drive away from me and I can see what I want to buy and more importantly, measure it to see if it will fit where I want it to go, if I try and get the measurements on-line they can vary from one place to another, so it is best to do it myself, anyway I went down to Axminster Sittingbourne a few months ago and the store looked the same from the outside but when I got inside it was a much smaller showroom than it used to be, it is just one big shed in the middle of nowhere, but they don't seem to use all the shed anymore, I have no idea if they own it or rent it, so maybe more cutbacks?

 

[mark w]

Axminster are in a bit of a fix. According to their last visible filed accounts for the year ending 5th April 2023, they turned over about £44 million however they made a pre-tax loss of just over £2 million (including exceptional restructuring costs of c. £1.2 million) (£1.9 million profit in 2022) and a loss of £815,000 if you exclude exceptional costs. Their net current assets also fell by £2.6 million - almost halving the 2022 amount. The wage bill is a not inconsiderable £7.3 million or £8.3 million if you include NI & pension contributions. They also used 1.9 million kWh, up on 2022 by about 5% but produced a bit less CO2, presumably by being a bit more sensible about usage.

Massive swing in fortunes between FY 2022 & 2023. YE 2024 accounts should be available pretty soon.

It's tough out there.

Would you post an update when they are out please.

 

[skeetstar]

I went on a turning course run by a chap from Axi. He explained their significant investment in CNC kit to make lathe chucks. I can't remember every point he made but I remember feeling impressed about their commitment to quality in manufacturing and the materials used. TBH, I've had nothing but good service from Axi, they were my go to supplier until the Nuneaton store closed.

 

[DaveCollins]

I can only imagine how competitive it is for them. My experience has been that they're not always the cheapest, but their prices are generally reasonable.

And I'd rather pay a bit more to buy from them than Jeff B's chain.

Plus they have phenomenal support and very decent products. I genuinely hope they make it. It's tough out there.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I went to a demo about thirty years ago by a pro turner working for a firm called South West Power Tools. There were about fifteen of us there, and chatting afterwards we all said we looked at stuff there then bought from Axminster as they were cheaper (the pro quietly admitted he did as well). The firm folded about 25 years ago. Others are now doing the same to Axminster.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I doubt Axminster have ever been the cheapest across everything at the same time. Their price position will ebb and flow against and as with other online retailers. They may have an offer next week on that saw that beats or matches ITS. It’s the way the market works.

They are not doing anything dodgy or illegal in offering a product for sale at their chosen price. No one is forced to buy from Axminster but if you do you can be fairly confident that it will be a decent experience and they’ll sort it if it goes wrong. You can also sign up if you want to and get loyalty points that convert to £’s off future purchases.

ITS bought the client list of FFX who seemed to compete purely on price … and went under.

I say good luck to both ITS and Axminster.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

No one has ever been the cheapest across everything, they all make money somewhere.

 

[Mike Fletcher]

I'll say it again, I don't mind paying for something that is accurate and will last my lifetime. A friend bought a drill press for a few pounds and was very proud of his "getting the best price". It sounded like it had square bearings and died after a couple of holes. No one to talk to get a refund.

 

[Spectric]

He explained their significant investment in CNC kit to make lathe chucks.

Probably not a good business move, they are after all a retailer of woodworking tools and machinery so rather than manufacture themselves they could have outsourced to a company who already have the tooling and people to make these chucks.

On the subject of investment just think of how much Ralph at Benchdogs must have invested in machinery, also to be able to sell many retailers will have a lot of money invested in stock just sitting on shelves waiting for a buyer so it is a tough game out there and for what is really a fairly small market compared to others so if you want quality and first class customer service then don't think bargain basement from asia is the answer, maybe spend a bit more and support the retailers we know and want to be around in the future.

 

[Katomi woodsmith]

I use Axminster in part because dad had an 1992 lathe that was still badged with the original office, in fact it’s so old that it does not have the 6 digit product number
When I called the number on the lathe I was redirected to a member of staff who in their words had to use the steam powered computer to find my lathe. Having done so informed me on all the relevant sizes I needed to know mt2 , 1inch 8tpi
Ok it’s old by current standards being direct pulley drive4 or 5 speeds but it works and I can add to it
Customer service has been brilliant