ILFORD sold to new company

[Guest camera man]

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Harman have sold ILFORD could this mean the end of my MP?

[250swb]

If they sold it to the scrap metal man it may mean the end of your MP. Otherwise they will have sold it to somebody who wants to carry on film production and invest in it. What do you think if you really think about it?

 

Steve

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[ReturningToFilm]

Presumably sold as a going concern to a business interested in developing the products, otherwise.....why bother buying it?

[wattsy]

From the press release (my emphasis):

 

Pemberstone, a UK based investment company have been tracking the performance of HARMAN for some time.Mark Anslow, CEO of Pemberstone Ventures comments:“We are very excited by the potential of the Analogue Photography movement and believe that HARMAN is uniquely placed to drive the resurgent Film market into the future”.

 

Peter Elton, Managing Director of HARMAN concurs.“Film has become an interesting medium for young photographers to work with again.We are seeing this very clearly. Our new owners will assist us to connect more effectively to this younger generation in the future, and we will prioritise this as our main goal over the next five years.”

“We remain totally committed to Analogue Photography, and indeed to all forms of Imaging.Our Product Range is uniquely stable and of the highest quality, and we can assure all of our customers that we will continue to support them in our customary way for the foreseeable future”

Edited September 14, 2015 by wattsy

[250swb]

Well done the management team at Harman/Ilford, they had the vision to make a management buyout and now it has reaped the rewards for them.

 

Steve

[Brenton C]

I feel encourage by their enthusiasm and its connection to their recognition of the resurgence of interest in film.

[Michael Hiles]

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Sounds quite positive to me.

[adan]

I tend to discount corporate PR boilerplate to one penny on the pound. ("Analogue Photography movement" ? - Yeah, right. I've noticed the film photographers marching on Downing St. - Not.)

 

However, the Harman guys have done a good job in pulling the company back from the brink, and if they are now profitable enough to attract investment, that's good.

[Guest]

I tend to discount corporate PR boilerplate to one penny on the pound. ("Analogue Photography movement" ? - Yeah, right. I've noticed the film photographers marching on Downing St. - Not.)

 

However, the Harman guys have done a good job in pulling the company back from the brink, and if they are now profitable enough to attract investment, that's good.

Which could mean that they are limping along and have at least got some money for the business. Being positive at least this means that film products will be still available for some time at least,at a price. While they can sell film at a profit they will continue to do so but I think a price increase is inevitable. Leica will offer film camera for as long as they can sell them at a profit. That is how the world works whether we like it or not.

BrianP

[Doc Henry]

It's good news .... for us and for young photographers 

Ilford has good film like Ilford HP5

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/205842-i-like-filmopen-thread/?p=2887760

Sensor unable to reproduce fog * ("microdroplets of water" by film versus "smooth" pixels) .

Let us continue to buy film !

Best

*  The reason ? explanation

http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/242423-moving-to-film-or-not/?p=2878361

if you want something that "looks like" fog, go to digital but if you want real fog , go to film

Edited September 15, 2015 by Doc Henry

[250swb]

Which could mean that they are limping along and have at least got some money for the business.

 

I think they could have asset stripped the business themselves if that was the intent. Ilford are on a vast rambling site slap bang in the heart of 'footballers wives' country, highly affluent but with a terrible shortage of 5 million pound mansions. Packing up shop and selling the site would have made all the Directors very well off. But selling the business may be the way forward by putting in new funds to rationalise the site (downsize it, which needs doing by their own admission) and sell off some of the land for investment.

 

Steve

[M9reno]

Harman have sold ILFORD could this mean the end of my MP?

 

Anyway, even the end of ILFORD, unlikely as that currently is, would hardly mean the end your MP - by which I understand the end of 35mm film photography - unless you have some very specific demands.

[chris_livsey]

. Ilford are on a vast rambling site slap bang in the heart of 'footballers wives' country, highly affluent but with a terrible shortage of 5 million pound mansions. Packing up shop and selling the site would have made all the Directors very well off. But selling the business may be the way forward by putting in new funds to rationalise the site (downsize it, which needs doing by their own admission) and sell off some of the land for investment.

 

Steve

 

I think that Ilford/Harman are on a lease on the site. The owners have tried to obtain planning permission for building houses and re-locating Ilford production to a new, sensibly downsized, location on the site. The planning application was vigorously opposed and permission refused. 

The future IMHO depends on the tie down by contract with the "old" owners. Old in both senses they have sold and are not getting younger. The team have hopefully realised a good gain for the buy out risk they took but the future must be planned for. The facilities like the old Kodak site are out of proportion to current and foreseeable future requirements. The buildings in use are scattered across the site and maintenance must be difficult. They did/do need the relocation but that will be at a substantial capital cost. I suspect the new owners will have more expertise in raising capital but my concern is the continuity of management and workforce. They require a robust plan for training the next generation, when I visited them was no sign of that, the last starter was office based and ISTR at least 5 years in post. We laughed at the lack of a staff induction pack but seriously film production is a craft job and new blood is needed if the new generation of film users is to be served.

For some perspective the new "campus" proposed for Harman on the site was costed at £100 MILLION.

An appeal against the refusal is due to be heard in 2016.

I edit to add that the site is NOT suitable for £5 million pound mansions, it is directly under a flight path for Manchester International airport (2Km away) and was a sticking point for housing permission.

 

https://mobberleyrams.wordpress.com/2015/06/25/appeal-date-set-for-ilford-way-development/

http://www.knutsfordguardian.co.uk/news/10935755.Plans_for_375_homes_on_Ilford_s_site_in_Mobberley_submitted_to_council/

http://www.insidermedia.com/insider/north-west/127789-100m-mobberley-scheme-thrown-out/

Edited September 15, 2015 by chris_livsey

[semi-ambivalent]

Harman have sold ILFORD could this mean the end of my MP?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henny_Penny

[pico]

I am deeply concerned that the buyer, Pemberstone, is dodgy.  Look at their associated businesses - they are really all their own, same address. And the directors - the first had a long association with an international financial concern, the second jumped between associations constantly. I suspect he is a guy who dives in to dissolve a company and moves on - a hit-man. They have a hardly any liquid resources; the shame is that is not important today.

 

I give Pemberstone two reporting periods to dump Ilford.

[indergaard]

Investment companies like that are only interested in one thing: make more money, as much money as possible, in the shortest amount of time.
This is sad news. I have worked for several companies where these investment companies have bought a big stake with dreams of turning around the company. In all of the companies I've worked in where this happened - the employes got rather unhappy. Most of them fled to alternative companies, and innovation / R&D completely stopped. The upper management were happy though, until they also decided to parachute their way out.

[earleygallery]

Of course a large chunk of Leica Camera was sold to a PE company (Blackstone) and everyone said much the same. To be fair they seem to have helped Leica grow their range of cameras, I'd say too much (trying to get a toe in every segment of the market).

 

Harman/Ilford don't really need to throw lots of money at R&D or innovation at this point. They just need to keep maintaining a healthy profit from selling what they make, and trying to grow their market share by some clever marketing initiatives. By that I don't just mean advertising. I'm sure they've looked at what the Lomography people have done/are doing. 

 

Film is becoming more difficult to use - fewer places selling it, processing it, printing from it. Ilford already offer a processing and printing service, but I don't think many people know about it.

 

I would expect there is a lot of opportunity for them to prosper. We shall see.....

[sblitz]

First off, remember the rumor I posted a while back about Ilford dropping PanF plus and everyone said no, including Ilford? Hmmmmmmmm......

 

Second, if the intent is to buy and dismantle, there needs to be buyer to create a positive return to the investment. Unless it is someone who makes film, I can't imagine the scrap value is worth as much as they paid. In the US, perhaps in Britain but I don't know, land is on the books at cost and so shutting the firm and selling the property can unleash a lot of money. People above have said they lease the land, so this isn't the avenue for them.

 

I suppose, getting back to my first off, they decide to rationalize the product line and make some money by producing less.

 

As an aside, there is an interesting article today in the NY Times on-line about the revival in vinyl records to the extent that there is a shortage of production, people are scrambling to find machines and those that still have them the machines are 40+ years old and replacement parts, even a screw, needs to be custom made. Perhaps for film? Who knows.

[plasticman]

First off, remember the rumor I posted a while back about Ilford dropping PanF plus and everyone said no, including Ilford? Hmmmmmmmm......

...

I suppose, getting back to my first off, they decide to rationalize the product line and make some money by producing less.

 

I don't get it? Is PanF Plus discontinued? 

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[earleygallery]

I don't get it? Is PanF Plus discontinued? 

 

No it's not.