I'd imagine it's as much to do with buying up loads of other companies over the past 10-15 years and the 2012 Olympic merchandising disaster, not to mention the Sanda Kan episode as much as the 'doom and gloom death of the hobby' angle being bandied about that has left Hornby in this mess. Mind you it's not the first time it's happened to the company, most infamous of all in the late 60s when the hobby was at its peak.