Baxall

[baxall]

Companies house actually.Has for taking a punt on them, jeez no. Not that you could.

what do you mean Jeez?

Companies house actually.Has for taking a punt on them, jeez no. Not that you could.

i really hope someone does,, i'd like to get hold of the product again and i'd like to think the good people that worked there were employed again.

[Cubit]

what do you mean Jeez?

[barooga]

what do you mean Jeez? i really hope someone does,, i'd like to get hold of the product again and i'd like to think the good people that worked there were employed again.

An emphatic no.

As for someone taking it over, yes, i hope they do. It is especially sad for all the staff, but also a shame to see another UK manufacturer disappear.

[baxall]

An emphatic no.

As for someone taking it over, yes, i hope they do. It is especially sad for all the staff, but also a shame to see another UK manufacturer disappear.

it most certainly is. I read in a manufacturing magazine that uk manufacturing is at its highest in for few years, lets hope it continues.

I may have know of some vacancies (several positions engineering and assy) for ex baxall staff if any are intrested

[baxall]

I am one of those lucky, I think 170, not 150, now out looking for work. I should be sorted by the end of this week. Wish me luck.

Having been there quite a while I've seen things change, but the earlier poster was right, the company's been on the downward slide for a long time, and I think Norbain were glad to be rid of it, when they sold it to MD.

I didn't rate MD personally, and wouldn't go near a business he was in again, but I think even a good MD would have found Baxall hard to run.

He made a lot of people redundant and got PCBs built outside, and it was hard to with that, but he didn't appear to know how to sell anything.

I thought the management were okay, no better or worse than the ones we had before, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that they didn't get a say. MD used to pull the rug from under them on a daily basis, and the number of times he changed product decisions was laughable.

I don't think the company will come back now. I've also heard that Tyco have bought part of the business and that DM are in for another part. Sad times.

it might not be over yet, You do not have to answer but may i ask what area of the company you worked in,, engineering, production sales supply chain?

[Truth]

Bravo,,, i wish i could have put it that way.

I'd just like to add a couple of points regarding the folowing quote "MD appointed a manufacturing director, who personally oversaw the outsourcing of PCB assembly to the now defunct sub-con company, flogged them the assembly lines, then joined them himself. Eggs/Basket/ Number less than two????"

The useless manufacturing director appointed by the MD, managed to form a strong relationship key personnel and was instrumental in the decision to outsource PCB and Mechanical design as well as PCB Assembly, without fully understanding the implications this would have on NPI! Clueless! longer leadtimes and increase in cost etc!!!!.

As it happens, 4 months after outsourcing PCB & Mechanical Design were brought back inhouse! Is this the decision of people who know what they are doing?

Also, the sub contractor who went bust was 1 of 3 subcontractors supporting Baxall with PCBA's. If Baxall had had the money to support the company during the administration period, they could have supported Baxall with a limited supply on a temporary basis, until a buyer was found. However, Baxall were already in a cash starved situation, they had been for a number of months! Unfortunately It was the straw that broke the camels back!!!!!!!!!

If the manufacturing director tunrned up at the company I work at now, I would not hesitate in leaving!

[oldcctvman]

it might not be over yet, You do not have to answer but may i ask what area of the company you worked in,, engineering, production sales supply chain?

I think I'll keep that to myself for now, you never know who's listening, and some of the name calling on this thread is close to being slanderous.

Everyone has a different opinion of how the company met it's demise, and that in itself shows the lack of information available to the staff. A lot of what's being said is guesswork, not fact.

For what it's worth, the information I can give you is that I worked directly for one of the directors, and reading between the lines and with my reasonable length of time at Baxall, my guess at how it happened is this:

Baxall was a good profitable company, although we spent time and money on some right howlers.

Norbain bought Baxall to start building a big security business.

They drove the company to serve Norbain requirements and not those of Baxall in the long term.

This started the rot.

Baxall began to struggle, but debts were covered by Norbain.

Norbain directors wanted to cash in on increased value of Norbain, but Baxall was a stone they had created, and they had to get rid ASAP.

Norbain sell MD a pup.

MD has not got the calibre required to turn the business around.

Goodbye Baxall.

I'm reasonably certain that a lot of other MD's would have failed as well, but I think the issue for most staff, myself included, is the way in which MD presided over the collapse. How he made his decisions, how they were presented and his leadership.

If I said that his style certainly did not make any of us feel like part of a team working to get through the problems, would I ring any bells?

This last line could be considered to be a bit of an understatement.

[Cubit]

Baxall was a good profitable company, although we spent time and money on some right howlers.

Norbain bought Baxall to start building a big security business.

They drove the company to serve Norbain requirements and not those of Baxall in the long term.

This started the rot.

Baxall began to struggle, but debts were covered by Norbain.

Norbain directors wanted to cash in on increased value of Norbain, but Baxall was a stone they had created, and they had to get rid ASAP.

Norbain sell MD a pup.

Norbain themselves never owned Baxall, it was in fact Upperpoint, Norbains parent company.

[oldcctvman]

Norbain themselves never owned Baxall, it was in fact Upperpoint, Norbains parent company.

Fair comment, but I think the point about the relationship still stands.

Norbain were the dominant partner.

[Cubit]

Fair comment, but I think the point about the relationship still stands.

Norbain were the dominant partner.

Yes, i agree.