Chronos closing down.

[Andrew TinsleyParticipant @andrewtinsley63637]

Had an email from Chronos telling me of their closing down sale. Not such a disaster as ARC’s closure, but definitely depressing.

Andrew.

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Sad to hear of one of my preferred suppliers closing.

[howardbParticipant @howardb]

I just had a look at their latest accounts, nothing scary there, maybe the sole remaining director aged 60 wants out, maybe it’s an impending renewal of the premises lease which he doesn’t want to do – who knows?

Closing down sales are very attractive, until you realise that the products are effectively sold without warranty, there won’t be anybody answering the phone in 3- 6 months time.

[howardb]

On howardb Said:

Closing down sales are very attractive, until you realise that the products are effectively sold without warranty, there won’t be anybody answering the phone in 3- 6 months time.

For most of what’s left warranties really aren’t important. Lots of what’s for sale is stuff where there’s unlikely to be any future failures, hardly anything electrical or electronic left in stock now from what I can see.

[Nigel Graham 2Participant @nigelgraham2]

Another serious loss to the hobby…

If the reason is the proprietor’s retirement, then of course I wish him well.

[howardb]

On howardb Said:

I just had a look at their latest accounts, nothing scary there, maybe the sole remaining director aged 60 wants out, maybe it’s an impending renewal of the premises lease which he doesn’t want to do – who knows?

Closing down sales are very attractive, until you realise that the products are effectively sold without warranty, there won’t be anybody answering the phone in 3- 6 months time.

That’s interesting.

I had noticed over the past year that the Chronos site (alongside the other ‘sister’ sites) had spotty supplies.  There were often products, that you’d consider core products, that would be out of stock.

I always felt that the ‘sister’ sites were a sub-optimal business decision.  I felt it diluted Chronos main brand.

That said if the business was still in an okay place, I guess my perception might be wrong.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

I asked the question a few months back, is Chronos on the way out due to the frequency of email offers going up? At the time everyone said no, but clearly there was a plan in place.

Martin C

[HollowpointParticipant @hollowpoint]

The website is now showing closed. A bit odd since they still appeared to have plenty of stuff left? I wonder if one of their competitors has bought the lot? I think that is what happened with Arc Euro.

I hope they are gonna honour their orders, Im waiting on several items spread over 2 orders.

[Geoff RogersParticipant @geoffrogers81118]

I find it a little disturbing that Chronos, like ArcEuro, closed down rather than being passed on as going concerns.

Axminster next?

 

[Geoff Rogers]

On Geoff Rogers Said:

I find it a little disturbing that Chronos, like ArcEuro, closed down rather than being passed on as going concerns.

Axminster next?

 

Axminster is a possibility but they sell an awful lot of stuff to the woodworking brigade, that may be their salvation.

[Martin of WickParticipant @martinofwick]

Hmm. .. bad news al round. I too ordered from their sale, so very concerned. If nothing has turned up by Friday, we will all be working out how to get our money back. With difficulty I suspect.

Website closure with no information looks like action enforced by the receivers.

The model engineering trade  (and ME generally) has been in its death throes for a while, just that the rate of decline has picked up recently. Not surprising there is no one to take on these legacy businesses because:

the rapidly increasing cost and risk of doing business in this country

the generations that had that the inclination and skills from the bygone era when things were actually made   in this country, are gradually fading away and the existing market with it

no future market development, generation XYZ or whatever (AKA ‘yungpeeple’) as a cohort do not have the manual/craft background or the historical interest and besides, they have other more pressing day to day issues to be concerned with. No?   then consider the demographic profile of attendees at the next ME exhibition (if there are any).

 

 

 

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Not good that the website has closed for those of us with pending orders. I had confirmation from OPAYO but nothing from Chronos themselves. I’ve emailed them for an update on the status of my order. Lets hope I don’t have to reclaim through the bank.

Robert.

[Geoff Rogers]

On Geoff Rogers Said:

Axminster next?

 

Unlikely. They’ve just been through a painful restructuring of the business that included closing all their satellite stores, but now are hopefully in a better financial position.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

Some better news. I’ve already had a reply, after 7 PM, saying my order has been picked and is in awaiting packing and shipment.

Robert.

[larry phelan 1Participant @larryphelan1]

I think Martin has sumed up perfectly !

The numbers speak for themselves.

[JAParticipant @ja]

I am not sure whether Martin is correct. Obviously the demographics are all wrong and a lot of dealers are retiring or getting out of the business. However some, a few, I feel are there for the long term. I see no real reason to despair at the generation leaving school and at college etc. Some even still get a general knowledge of making things and workshops. Also there does seem to be an awakening interest in actual reality. The rising interest in birdwatching (a demographic and nerdish pursuit if there ever was one) among the young gives me encouragement. There are many reasons for the present mess but basically we lost their parents, that is, our children.

JA

 

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

I’m not sure I would agree with the demand having gone down being the cause for our well known suppliers closing. If you look on the internet there has never been so much available so there must be a demand for it. That may be in the form of ebay listings or other market sites like Aliexpress, Amazon, Temu, etc

Take the likes of John Hinkley he is now using a desktop CNC to make what he wants, they are not that expensive compared to a small traditional mill and open up a whole load of possibilities particularly for those coming into the hobby, who will be far more at home using a keyboard than twiddling handwheels and using a file.

Or Paul’s post the other week about wanting to produce new casting sets for those in their 50s that have never been educated in imperial. Still ongoing by the way, as I said it would be in the thread his biggest problem has been finding a foundry.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

If you look on the internet there has never been so much available so there must be a demand for it.

That doesn’t really hold up. The fact that items are now easily listed and found doesn’t mean there’s a greater demand for them.

In the 1980s trying to find a 5/16th cycle thread tap took all day on the phone. Now every supplier lists it on the internet. Is that because there’s more sold ? I very much doubt it, but it is easier to see.

[JasonB]

On JasonB Said:

[…]  Or Paul’s post the other week about wanting to produce new casting sets for those in their 50s that have never been educated in imperial. Still ongoing by the way, as I said it would be in the thread his biggest problem has been finding a foundry.

I think Paul should take this as as an opportunity

Find someone with suitably flexible  CNC capacity, and optimise the product design to remove the need for castings

You, Jason, have repeatedly shown us what can be done … and what utter rubbish  some of the commercial castings are !

MichaelG.

[lukeama123Participant @lukeama123]

Hello,

It’s a shame to see more and more companies closing down in the UK. The reality is that overseas competitors are now capturing a significant share of sales from UK-based businesses, which doesn’t help the situation. Additionally, the rising costs of items mean that many customers are looking for more affordable options.

One thing that could really help companies like ours at Amadeal Ltd is increased recognition on forums and community platforms. We do advertise here and in the magazine, but it would be great to see more recommendations, especially when other companies like Chronos or similar have closed. Being recommended to potential customers in this way could make a real difference for companies like ours.

Thanks for your support!

Kind Regards

Luke

Amadeal Ltd

[JasonBModerator @jasonb]

Martin I did not say there was a greater demand, I just said the items were still in demand

I can only go by my conversations with the suppliers and in particular Ketan from ARC

10yrs ago he would hope to sell a machine at a fair percentage mark up but most of his profit would have come from accessories that he hoped the person buying the machine would also come back purchase from him as these had a much higher percentage mark up.

When he closed he was still selling the machines though at even less profit as most people did not want to risk larger amounts of money on big items but the smaller items they would buy elsewhere.

 

So the demand is still there it is just being met by other sources.

[Michael Gilligan]

On Michael Gilligan Said:

On JasonB Said:

[…]  Or Paul’s post the other week about wanting to produce new casting sets for those in their 50s that have never been educated in imperial. Still ongoing by the way, as I said it would be in the thread his biggest problem has been finding a foundry.

I think Paul should take this as as an opportunity

Find someone with suitably flexible  CNC capacity, and optimise the product design to remove the need for castings

You, Jason, have repeatedly shown us what can be done … and what utter rubbish  some of the commercial castings are !

MichaelG.

Michael, Paul did seem to want to use “made in Britain” as a selling point which I don’t think would result in economical CNC parts even if you could find some machines with spare capacity. As I said in the thread 3D metal printing would be considerably less but not if sourced from the UK and it is the same with CNC you can get it at a fair price if you don’t mind where it comes from.

The surface finish of 3 dimensional parts is what drives the CNC cost up as you need very small stepovers which mean long run times, auto changers so you don’t need someone hanging about waiting to change a tool and 4-5 axis so the part only needs loading once to allow the cutter to get at all surfaces.

[paul1956]

On paul1956 Said:

…In the 1980s trying to find a 5/16th cycle thread tap took all day on the phone. …

Not, I venture, if you tried Tracy Tools.

[Nicholas FarrParticipant @nicholasfarr14254]

Hi, my recent order was three days ago, and normally I got a message telling me that it had been despatched on the second day, I’ve not had any notice since, telling me it has been despatched. I’ve been wondering that since the closure was so abrupt after the closing down statement was made, whether some other company has made an offer for all the remaining stock, or even negotiating buying the company, but I’ve no evidence of that, and it’s just my own surmising of the situation. I do appreciate that Chronos has probably had a lot of last minute orders, and hence some delay in getting orders out. But I urge people to hold onto their order details, and the website address, in case they don’t get what they have ordered since the closing down sale started.

Regards Nick.

[ega]

On ega Said:

On paul1956 Said:

…In the 1980s trying to find a 5/16th cycle thread tap took all day on the phone. …

Not, I venture, if you tried Tracy Tools.

Only if you knew they existed !
If they didn’t advertise in magazines you bought, coming across them for anyone outside of their local Yellow Pages reach would be unlikely.

This is where the internet wins. You get results from searches for items from the entire country.

[Author]

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