Reply With QuoteGood news for Tony, for owners of vintage Omega watches maybe not so much...
Morning all
Not sure if this has been mentioned already, but interesting article in The Times this morning about H&T Pawnbrokers, who have just taken over STS with a view for them to act as in house servicing
I'd assume they would still take on non H&T work, but who knows
Good news for Tony, for owners of vintage Omega watches maybe not so much...
My thoughts entirely. I wish the staff, Tony and his family (at least one of whom also works there) well but I fear for the future of independent authorised servicing at STS. I've always rated them highly, let's hope H&T don't either make it a closed shop or worse ramp up pricing horribly.
A good move for H&T (and hopefully for the founders and employees of STS) but worrying for the rest of us.
Oh well, these things happen.
I see that the founder of STS has been contracted to stay on as a consultant for a changeover period. Purely as an aside, the founders of a company I used work for sold their company and were similarly contracted to stay on as consultants. But they took the money and ran to the USA and were never heard from again! I'm sure Tony Coe won't be doing this but the memory came flooding back, having been an employee of a smallish company being taken over.
Maybe gets me into G&G territory- but similar experiences with a “merger/takeover “. Original staff retained to train taker over staff for transition period, then booted out (got a nice sweetener for staying but only kept bid they stayed the duration).Originally Posted by markrlondon
Good luck to STS owners, perhaps not good news for us.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Maybe it will be better, more investment in a good service company.
Does thus include Swisstec as well?
That would be a given I would think. Good for the owners but probably less positive for the rest of us, always felt we are lucky to have STS in this country.
Time will tell what will change I guess.
One can only hope that the exemplary service (that at least I've received over the years) will continue.
Tony is a hugely knowledgeable chap and, although he will still be in the background for a while, I suspect things won't be the same.
How exactly? They are already excellent and offer a fairly unique service. Any change is likely to be negative in some way. H&T are a (successful) pawnbroker, not a benevolent society who want to make watch repair more egalitarian.
Surprised at the valuation for a watch repair company, very surprised. Maybe I`m missing a trick somewhere but it sounds a lot, I don`t know whether they own a valuable piece of property that might make a difference.
Whichever way you dress it up the repair trade relies on people, I question where the supply of trained skilled enthusiastic watchmakers is going to come from in the next decade or 2. Taking it up in your early 50s as a second career/profitable hobby is fine but where's the incentive to take it up as a youngster and make a living at it?
I may be wrong (I often am) but I`m prepared to bet that in 15 years time there will be no commercial watch repair companies operating on British soil. I'm 64, I need to live to 79 to collect my winnings but provided I`m still alive I`ll pay up if I lose! Any takers?
Well if the retain the same team then add and train further staff, get accredited for more brands and so on.
They have acquired it and I’m sure they want it to thrive and grow.
I think they are just doing well. I've become aware that there is a lot of business for a company like this, especially from trade customers.
A price of £4.3M is perhaps a little high given their balance sheet valuation but it's not excessive in my opinion. I'd love to be able to see their turnover and Profit & Loss statement but the abbreviated account don't show it. See their most recent accounts here: https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/d...f04aca6049395a
Until recently I would have agreed with you but it seems to me that the demand is there. As for training, it can come from employers just like STS. Companies like them are ideally placed to (a) hire in experienced former watch company watchmakers and then (b) train new watchmakers.
As long as the demand is there (and that's primarily demand from trade I think) then the future is not as bad as it might have seemed.
Last edited by markrlondon; 6th July 2022 at 20:35.
They are already accredited for at least 20 brands last I checked. Bugger they are my go to guys.
I think a few of the staff are on here. I don't blame them for keeping quiet, I hope they benefit from the buyout too..
I don’t have the experience of STS that others have but I’m not sure I understand the doom and gloom.
Not all change is bad. Unless the company is the best anyone could possibly imagine, this is just as likely to lead to improvements as detriments. I’m not claiming it will go either way but I’d reserve judgement
Exactly. A lot of unwarranted gloom.
They have service my Zenith at least twice and I will no doubt use them again.
The voice of experience. Many people have experience of companies being bought out and not improving, of never being the same again.
It all depends on what H&T plans for STS. In house repairer only, or expansion and investment for both in house services and external customers? Only time will tell.
Looking at the limited financials available, I reckon the price paid suggests a desire for investment and growth which (if handled well) will be good for us, the external customers.
I’ve been involved in a number of significant mergers and acquisitions.
About 40% have been disastrous, where the acquired company has all but disappeared with key staff leaving in droves.
About 40% have thrived and the rest neutral.
The biggest issue has been cultural mismatch when the companies are in different countries.
In this case I think there is reason to be optimistic.
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