Most of you are aware i think that this year we have been setting in motion some changes to how we operate including full review of pricing structures and reorganisation of the webstore to make it more efficient. Other things in progress are working with other manufacturers to provide pre-packed box sets plus also talks and negotiations with a major distributor for them to produce our ranges under license to service North America, Canada and South America, thus reducing pressure and workload in our Ripley Office.
It seems a long way from our shed in Suffolk and i would love to say that it has all been plain-sailing but for those who have followed us loyally for many years you know that we have had an absolutely horrendous time, even when it seems like nothing else can go wrong we get dealt even more chaos. Our (okay mine!) stubborness along with our needs to provide for our young family has meant that we have persisted through it all and hopefully the changes that we have already implemented this year plus those detailed below will help us to keep making toys soldiers for many years to come.
We are now ready for the next phase which is the biggest and most scary part.
As part of the transferral of everything to Limited Company status we need to close the webstore for 4 weeks in order to facilitate getting everything done properly and in the order that the government says we need to to do it. This will involve full stock take of everything in the Ripley Office plus also a full inventory of equipment, consumables, supplies etc. and implementation of a Sage accounts system which will work with the existing stock levels. This is not going to be an easy task and certainly not one we can complete with limited staffing levels whilst still sending and processing orders via the webstore, however it is completely neccessary and is part of our long-term plan to conquer the world with
HF goodness!
This means that from Monday 16th May 2011 we will only be processing retailer orders until we have completed everything that we need to do. We estimate this to take approximately 4 weeks but if we get it done sooner then we plan to spend the rest of the time in the pub congratulating ourselves for being so efficient!
The main shop catalogue page will be replaced by a list of retailers with links who stock not only existing codes but also who will be able to order in the next set of releases.
Tomorrow i will be collecting the latest set of metal figures from our caster and once the stock is checked in then the retailers will be able to stock these new releases for sale from Friday 20th May 2011. Providing there are no major casting issues that were not picked up during mastering the releases will be Aaron, Brooke and Pirate John.
On our re-opening the next set of resin castings will be available to purchase, these include a blue resin Tomoko, Resin Pirate John plus Resin Privateer Godwin.
However it isn't all doom and gloom, for those based in the Midlands there are still two trade shows that we will be attending this month. Firstly there is Triples in Sheffield which is next weekend 21st and 22nd May 2011 and the week following that (Sunday 29th May) we have been offerred at the last minute a cancellation slot for Partizan in Newark. All of the new releases will be available for pre-order at those shows including the resin figures of which we have some limited stock in the workshop. To place pre-orders please
PM me on here.
Thanks lots for your support
Sally
