Change of Management at WD...?

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Fri May 29, 2009 8:41 pm

Page 8 this months HiFi World, Peter is off to work for IAG (aka Mission, Quad, Castle, Wharfedale et al.)

-- Andrew

shane · Post by **shane** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:43 am

http://www.avinteractive.co.uk/news/902 ... on-Comeau/

pre65 · Post by **pre65** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:47 am

So will his continued ownership of World Designs and the Radford projects he had coming be a conflict of interests for his new job ?

I hope he doesn't just sell them off.

Clive · Post by **Clive** » Sat May 30, 2009 11:15 am

I can't see Radford being an issue for Mission or even WD really. The WD speakers are aimed at a different market to Mission. The main issue will likely be whetherhe has time for all these or if it's worth his while paying people to run these businesses for him.

Mo · Post by Mo » Sat May 30, 2009 11:35 am

"He will be largely based in Asia, where IAG's factories are situated."

How times change, I remember when Peter had issues over a photo of a quad II production line in China.

andrew Ivimey · Post by **andrew Ivimey** » Sat May 30, 2009 3:28 pm

Money makes the world go round etc.

Its only Hi-Fi.

andrew Ivimey · Post by **andrew Ivimey** » Sat May 30, 2009 3:33 pm

Peter's posting over there (literally over there in China!)

'Hi

By now some of you may have read the press releases so it's time to post the latest news here.

As of May 2009 I have taken up my old post (pre World Designs) as Director of Acoustic Design for Mission.

Only this time it's not just Mission. Now it includes Wharfedale, QUAD, Audiolab and Castle, in fact every brand in the IAG collection.

For those who don't know, IAG (International Audio Group) are a Chinese manufacturing facility employing European know-how and engineers to re-establish many UK brands. As Director of Acoustic Design I'll be responsible for making sure the products for those brands live up to the quality and performance that have always been expected by their owners and fans.

In order to work closely with the product development and manufacturing plant at IAG I've moved out to China for the foreseeable future.

Of course no manufacturer gets it right all the time, and I'd be the first to acknowledge that even UK based Mission got it wrong sometimes, but at IAG the team is once again dedicated to sound quality and value and I'm very pleased to be here.

That doesn't mean I've forgotten about, or will be ignoring, WD. Chris, my chief engineer at WD, will be handling the management in his usual personable style and will still be consulting with me about products.

Obviously I can't continue with the Hi-Fi World articles in quite the same way as I have done in the past but will still be offering some contributions that I hope you'll find interesting.

So, although it's a new leaf for me, WD will be soldiering on (or should that be soldering on?) with existing and new designs which I'll oversee as much as I can from half way round the globe. In any case I'll be back in the UK every few months to catch up with everything that's going on.

For the moment, then, it's Greetings from China and thanks to those who have already sent 'congrats' and so on. '

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat May 30, 2009 4:44 pm

Its funny you know, Mo, that you should say that. On a personal level I do wish Peter well, but am I the only one that feels odd about the concept of all these UK brands being made in China?

-- Andrew

Post by **Nick** » Sat May 30, 2009 5:00 pm

Andrew wrote:Its funny you know, Mo, that you should say that. On a personal level I do wish Peter well, but am I the only one that feels odd about the concept of all these UK brands being made in China?

-- Andrew

No, but price seems to be the master now.

Then again, if it was entirely down to UK management and production, none of those brands would exist now I suspect.

Mike H · Post by **Mike H** » Sat May 30, 2009 5:00 pm

No I've been indignant about it for years. Only needs another revolution in China or an economic collapse or a big natural disaster or a war over there and bang goes all our new products. You'd have second-hand stuff, simple DVD players and the like, changing hands for hundreds of pounds cos you just can't get anything new!

andrew Ivimey · Post by **andrew Ivimey** » Sat May 30, 2009 5:12 pm

erm, an economic crash or a war there and it is very likely that we wouldn't be worrying about the price of a DVDplayer, I suspect.

Andrew · Post by **Andrew** » Sat May 30, 2009 5:33 pm

To me, Henry Ford's thinking said it all (talking about the Model T here).

"It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, the car that "put America on wheels"; some of this was because of Ford's innovations, including assembly line production instead of individual hand crafting, as well as the concept of paying the workers a wage proportionate to the cost of the car, so that they would provide a ready made market."

The last line being a key point, Ford wanted to create a market for his products so paid his workers well enough so they could afford to buy his products. The model T was no more expensive, in real terms, than a Ford Focus, which has had 100 years of engineering refinement applied.

Exporting manufacturing, pays off for a certain period of time, it generates higher profit margins and we all get to buy cheap DVD players. Sounds like a virtuous circle doesn't it? But like all perpetual motion machines it doesn't work in the end.

We have all experienced a decade of low inflation brought on by low cost manufactured goods but eventually the target market runs out of money and then next it runs out of credit! Sound familiar?

shane · Post by **shane** » Sat May 30, 2009 5:45 pm

So that makes Peter the effective successor of Gilbert Briggs and Peter Walker, not to mention Arthur Radford.

Personally I don't have an issue with the products being built in China, it's simply a recognition of 21st century economic reality. What is more important is that ownership and design remain in UK hands. It's interesting that since he left Mission last time, no new products of any note have been forthcoming. Perhaps a lesson has been learned.

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:26 pm

Good points Shane, but I have to wonder about the future of WD. Chris (his engineer) is unlikely to drive the business forward and produce new products and we've all witnessed the decline of the WD forum because of a lack of new products and to a degree, the movement of members across here. I also wonder what is to become of Radford. Launched at the Bristol show over a year behind projection and apparently the STA256 is unlikely to come onto the market befor the autumn. That could be wishful thinking in the current circumstance. Furthermore, I understand the price will be (if it happens) around £11000. Who would pay that for a EL34 power amp regardless of the quality of Tx winding? Personally I'm glad that in the end I didn't get sucked in. I think I'm safer being conventionally employed. Surely Peter will have to apply nearly all of his working energy to his new post and of course that will deliver him a credible income. IMHO, the future of WD and Radford as we currently know it is probably very uncertain/insecure.

Mo · Post by Mo » Sat May 30, 2009 11:13 pm

Andrew wrote:Its funny you know, Mo, that you should say that. On a personal level I do wish Peter well, but am I the only one that feels odd about the concept of all these UK brands being made in China?

-- Andrew

If you look at germany as a whole, their companies are continually opening andsetting up operations in China with German employees. As nick has mentiuoned, price is the driving factor for this.

In fact it would be suicidal for western companies not to set up shop in china, as odd as that sounds, that's the reality.

audio-talk

Change of Management at WD...?

#1 Change of Management at WD...?

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

#10

#11

#12

#13

#14

#15