UK - After more than 60 years in the business, UK distributor John Hornby Skewes & Co (JHS) is to cease operations. The JHS business comprises of a property company and a trading company, both majority-owned by family trusts set up by the late John H. Skewes, the settlor of those trusts who stated that after his death, the companies should be sold.
While primarily a musical instrument and accessory distributor, JHS has worked with and for various pro audio brands over the years, including HK Audio (now distributed in the UK through Polar).
A JHS company statement reads: “Steps have been taken over the last few months to try and secure a buyer to take John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. forward under new proprietorship. This has thus far not been possible.
“Therefore, the trustees, shareholders and board of John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. have concluded that to achieve the settlor’s mandate a process of conducting an orderly winding down of John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd. will commence with more or less immediate effect.”
The statement continues: “This is not a liquidation or administration process forced upon us because of insolvency. JHS is entirely solvent. Over the coming months, and we anticipate the process could take as much as 12 months, the company will continue to trade, downsizing along the way, gradually disposing of its stock and assets, including its valuable trademarks and other intellectual property, all of which will be offered for sale to the highest bidder.
“At a yet to be determined point in time, the company will close having discharged all its statutory and other liabilities to staff, creditors, and other stakeholders, and that, very sadly, will be the end of JHS after more than 60 years. After which, the premises which has been our home since 1990 will be marketed and disposed of, and we will leave our Yorkshire UK home of Garforth, bringing matters to a conclusion.”
Executive chairman Dennis J Drumm concludes the announcement, saying: “The trustees, shareholders and directors of JHS would like to pay tribute to the immense hard work of generations of staff who have worked so diligently in the company over the last 60 years, offer heartfelt thanks to all of the brands who have entrusted their products to our care over the years, and recognise the contributions made by our designers and contributors, who have helped us achieve so much for so long.
“Most of all, we would all like to say a huge and most sincere thank you to you, and all of our customers around the world, without whom, we would not have had a business at all. So many relationships and friendships have been forged, so much has been achieved, and here at JHS we will miss all of that.”