Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Gmg31 on Thursday,March 08, 2018, 09:47:04 AM
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Shock news today.
Despite 18 months of planning and preparation The company that took over Banks parts service has reneged on the deal after only 2 days. Richard is remodelling the stores dept and will be retrieving his spares in the next few days. He hopes to be back in the parts business by the end of next week.
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That is a shock! I guess this might be an indication that we/Richard dodged a bullet and maybe Richard can find someone else better able to take over the parts business.
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Didn't plan that very well did they?
Due diligence?
I would have thought you would do heaps of research, or run a parallel business (e.g. Lotus Elan), before starting on such a venture.
Welcome back Richard.
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I wonder if Richard was just trying to off load the parts biz so he can concentrate on the fun stuff like developing new parts and building cars (a friend has been waiting A LONG time for Richard to finish his S2). If that's the case, then this isn't good news for Richard. It would be better for us if we could do online orders, etc. and Richard didn't do that. I hope he finds a good partner for the parts biz.
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All very strange, I wonder what the tale behind it is ?
My initial take on the move was that Richard wanted to supply parts but didn't want the hassle of internet marketing or spending his time wrapping up parcels when he could be making things or restoring cars, etc. The idea of a tie up with someone who was already doing the "box shifting" and would take over the day to day orders seemed a benefit to both parties.
After reading this thread I went back to take a closer look at their website and came upon this phrase;
"Unfortunately the workshop will close and Europa Engineering will now be a parts only enterprise. The parts business will be re-located to our warehouse in Faygate, West Sussex"
Now if Richard closed his workshop and parts stock were in Faygate then maybe it meant that the new company (Playmini ?) expected to take the jigs, secondhand parts, etc down there with the implication that they could subcontract new fabrication work locally, which in effect would be Richard selling up.
If Richard still intends to work, concentrating on restorations and new builds then he'll need a workshop, manufacturing jigs, etc, which he can't really do if the contracts meant he'd sold the parts business along with manufacturing rights ? On the other hand, if the contract was for exclusive manufacturing by Richard perhaps Playmini decided that wasn't in their long term interests, who knows ?
I've honestly no idea how such a deal could go south so quickly, but clearly one or both parties weren't on the same wavelength. Sad in one sense but it's very reassuring to know that Richard plans to be around for a while longer.
Brian
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A week on from this and neither company is able to supply parts. Richard appears to have been gagged and the “new supplier” is unable to sell parts.
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If our interpretation of events has been correct and both parties appear to have been on different wavelengths, perhaps a week isn't so unexpected. I would imagine they were either at the point of signing contracts or perhaps just signed before the deal was called off. It wouldn't surprise me to find it's in the hands of lawyers and neither party will want to prejudice their case.
I suppose it depends where they were when it collapsed, but I don't like the sound of "Richard gagged".....
Brian
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Argh - it all sounds like bad news for us. I was planning a big order of parts in a few weeks. I hope it doesn't take months to sort out the disagreement. Legal costs could add to the risks.
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Any further updates?
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I emailed Richard about the current situation and got the following answer (23.3.2018):
--- I hope and expect the problem to be resolved before the end of the month when we will carry on much as we have done in the past
Please apologise on my behalf to the forums for any inconvenience caused and explain that the break in supply is not something I am able to control at this time, we will be back as soon as possible and be bringing some new products to the Europa market place
I thank you and our other customers for you patience
Best Regards
Richard
:pirate: :trophy:
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Thanks for the update europaspecial73,
We all need specialists like this, I have hundreds of questions to ask Richard (and just as many parts to order)
Mark
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Another thanks for your update, it's sounding very much like good news. I've got to admit I like the guy, so I hope he comes out of this well.
Brian
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Looks like Banks will be back on line on the 9th for new orders 😁😁😁👍
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I'm in the UK for a few weeks from 26th April and was/have been/am planning to catch up with Richard and leave part of my credit card behind on a few bits.
Hopefully all sorted before I get into the region, but I'll be ringing Richard prior anyway.
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Hi my name is George
I am from Greece and i am looking for complete body of Europa S2.
I have send a mesage from 26 October to these emails adress richard@banks-europa.co.uk and thisrichard@banks-europa.co.uk but i do not have answer yet do you know any other e-mail adress of Banks Engineering?
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Hi my name is George
I am from Greece and i am looking for complete body of Europa S2.
I have send a mesage from 26 October to these emails adress richard@banks-europa.co.uk and thisrichard@banks-europa.co.uk but i do not have answer yet do you know any other e-mail adress of Banks Engineering?
You have to call. Me and many others have sent emails. He doesn't respond. Just check UK time. I just called last week, second attempt got an answer and I ordered.
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I spoke to Richard last week to put an order in. I phoned him at 0900 and he answered immediately. I remember awhile ago he said to call in the morning as he tends to be in the workshop in the afternoons. Had a great chat to him. Very helpful.
Boss motors in Norfolk do whole and partial bodies I think.
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The first one looks right, or at least what's on the website.
You could also try the sales one (sales@banks-europa.co.uk) in case there's someone other than Richard monitoring that email address, but Richard is more of a telephone person and the way most folks get in touch is to simply ring him up and talk through what you want. I'd check out the time difference from Greece/UK and give him a call in their opening hours.
Brian
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Good Evening
Thanks very much for the advise all of you.