Statement from Harman Technology regarding recent sale to Pemberstone Ventures Ltd.

Sirius Glass · Dec 9, 2015

pentaxuser said:
What we need is another "Simon Galley".

So why not start with our sponsor FreeStyle? Take a look at their board members and start with someone on their board.

DWThomas · Dec 9, 2015

JPR said:
I am not big on internet forums, but I just bungled across this news.

Holy S***** is my instinctive reaction. I am sorry, I just don't believe anything a VC company will tell me.

I really had the feeling that Ilford would be the last one standing. Ilford's strength has been its consistent line-up of products.

Just bought some Ilford films yesterday to test with new developer. There is no point now to do this I am thinking.

I will make now ""another"" whisky sour and think about this....

This can become self-fulfilling prophesy. If everyone takes that attitude and approach, sure enough, the company will go bust. I think we should all keep ourselves aware of what options there are as to materials and sources, but I certainly wouldn't cut off a source I've been buying from just because something "might" happen to them.

Sirius Glass · Dec 9, 2015

Dave T nailed the loser attitude in his reference.

railwayman3 · Dec 9, 2015

DWThomas said:
This can become self-fulfilling prophesy. If everyone takes that attitude and approach, sure enough, the company will go bust. I think we should all keep ourselves aware of what options there are as to materials and sources, but I certainly wouldn't cut off a source I've been buying from just because something "might" happen to them.

Agreed entirely with this (and with Pentaxuser's post above).

Just carry on as normal, keep buying the products you trust and enjoy using (Ilford, Kodak, whatever you prefer) and stop wasting time worrying and speculating.

The one prophesy which will be 100% true is that, in 100 years time, it won't matter to any of us.

pentaxuser · Dec 9, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
So why not start with our sponsor FreeStyle? Take a look at their board members and start with someone on their board.

I am not clear how your suggestion of starting with Freestyle has any relevance to wanting Pemberstone/Ilford to give us a replacement for the function which Simon Galley performed on behalf of Harman/ Ilford?

Can you explain? Thanks

pentaxuser

Sirius Glass · Dec 9, 2015

The FreeStyle board is a very talented group. Start talking with them and see where it leads. It could be to another Simon Galley. It would be hard to find talent like that in one place. It is a place to start.

Sal Santamaura · Dec 9, 2015

pentaxuser said:
What we need is another "Simon Galley"...

You ought read this post:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I have asked a question of them recently via APUG PM and received a prompt, thorough reply from David.

Pioneer · Dec 9, 2015

Sal Santamaura said:
You ought read this post:

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

I have asked a question of them recently via APUG PM and received a prompt, thorough reply from David.

But that is too easy Sal. There has just got to be something wrong!

What will all the conspiracy theorists do if business continues as usual.

BTW - I just recently purchased a large amount of Ilford Delta Pro 3200 film in both 120 and 35mm. (Gotta love that film!) And guess what? It showed up just as quickly as it did before the sale.

MattKing · Dec 9, 2015

In addition, David and his staff have indicated that they would love to keep receiving the APUG postcards that used to be sent to Simon's attention.

As much as anything, I think that interest bodes well.

AgX · Dec 10, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
So why not start with our sponsor FreeStyle? Take a look at their board members and start with someone on their board.

Well, we already got Mirko Böddekker at Apug... But sad (or good) enough lately he rathrer spents timer for his enterprise (and other things) than posting at forums.

TheToadMen · Dec 10, 2015

pentaxuser said:
What we need is another "Simon Galley". OK we will take a while to get used to him or her but he/she will benefit from the warm glow we all got from Simon's words. It is months since I have seen the usual "Go Ilford" phrase on APUG which always seemed to accompany Simon's announcement's which many regarded as similar to FDR's "fireside chats"
pentaxuser

"GO ILFORD!"

(There you go, I hope you can sleep again now, unless you're developing rolls of FP4+ in Caffenol-C-M all night ...)

Bert from Holland
http://thetoadmen.blogspot.nl

Xmas · Dec 10, 2015

pentaxuser said:
What we need is another "Simon Galley". OK we will take a while to get used to him or her but he/she will benefit from the warm glow we all got from Simon's words. It is months since I have seen the usual "Go Ilford" phrase on APUG which always seemed to accompany Simon's announcement's which many regarded as similar to FDR's "fireside chats"

OK a few of us Brits had the odd reservation about Ilford's pricing in the U.K. vis a vis the U.S. and may have had a slightly more restrained approach to the company but clearly as a race( human that is) we all need a lot of stroking and currently we are not getting any from Ilford.

So, Ilford, do consider giving us a "replacement Simon" through whom we can feel we own Ilford. If we end up feeling "detached" I cannot predict how serious the consequences will be. Maybe not serious at all but if you look at the cost to benefit return of Simon's former presence here then it seems to me that further "stroking" has almost no downside.

So is there anyone from Ilford out there?

...

pentaxuser

Try today in parliament
Or
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rcjpags7JT8

pbromaghin · Dec 10, 2015

JPR said:
I am not big on internet forums, but I just bungled across this news.

Holy S***** is my instinctive reaction. I am sorry, I just don't believe anything a VC company will tell me.

I really had the feeling that Ilford would be the last one standing. Ilford's strength has been its consistent line-up of products.

Just bought some Ilford films yesterday to test with new developer. There is no point now to do this I am thinking.

I will make now ""another"" whisky sour and think about this....

Good lord. Why do so many people react like this? Why does everybody think that Pemberstone would buy a going concern and then just close it up? With a little research, like maybe looking at their website to see what they do to make their living, it becomes readily apparent that a company like Harman fits into their business model. One side of the business owns and manages commercial real estate. The other side operates wildly unrelated, small, niche-market companies just like Harman - an injection-molding company, a tool and die distributer, a ski vacation travel agency, and one the makes stickers, along with several others. They are privately owned, by the Directors, and so do not answer to the demand for quarterly results like a publicly traded company. They say they have had their eyes on Harman for several years as a long-term business opportunity. I am convinced they pounced now when they saw Harman become vulnerable due to the local reaction to the land deal. I'm willing to speculate that they see a double opportunity to get a piece of the land deal by bring along their technical, legal, and political skills in real estate development.

JPR · Dec 10, 2015

Ok, after 2 whiskey sours, I woke up with a headache. So that probably serves me right, right there. (The Brits will no doubt blame this on the cheaper Jack Daniels that I am drinking.)

The concern for me is this: I am a low volume amateur. I want to buy a product know how it works and keep usuing it. It's been a tough battle doing this for the last 10 years as successively many of the products I used have disappeared.

Every time, there is a strong learning curve. Now with the Ilford situation, I am just not willing to make the effort to learn a new process for an Ilford product.

Something will change rather quickly I guess, as this is what happens when a VC buys a company. Maybe they will come out with some coherent believable strategy. But they will have to work hard to convince me.

Sirius called this a looser approach. Maybe I just don't have as much time to dedicate to this hobby as he does. So I have to be efficient in my efforts, my goal is to take pictures not to make constant chemistry experiments.

My advice to the Ilford management if they are in this for the long run is "Inform quickly, inform wiith lots of facts, don't play games with the long-term customers."

Sirius Glass · Dec 10, 2015

When I said loser approach is throwing up ones hands and crying "We will all be killed! We will all be killed!" on hearing that a company has been sold. Nothing has changed with the product. There is no new learning curve. When Ilford/Harmon announce a change in product, then there many be a change in processing. But nothing has changed but the board members and they have already stated that. So far they have kept us informed. What we do not have yet is an Ilford ombudsman at APUG like Simon Galley was before.

It is not time to panic yet.

MattKing · Dec 10, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
It is not time to panic yet.

This would make for a good T-shirt slogan.

JPR · Dec 10, 2015

Sirius, I agree more-or-less.

It means for me:

1.) Continue to use Ilford for existing applications and processes that give the results I like and I can control.
2.) Do not use Ilford for any new developer tests that could be a future process until I am convinced the time I invest will not be for naught.

This is a rational approach for me. Better approach than last night, but that was quite a shock!

Jeff Bradford · Dec 10, 2015

As diminishing demand for film starves the big producers, a company with "Buy & Hold" as their long-term strategy stands to profit from an investment in Harman.

I had been on the fence about switching to all Ilford products, but I don't suppose Kodak is on the fence about shutting down production the moment they don't meet their order threshold.

I'm reminded of the joke about the Fuji executive who, when asked if they would continue producing FP100C, replied, "We make film?"

Bob Carnie · Dec 10, 2015

On all our fastball competitive teams our mantra was NEVER PANIC.

MattKing said:
This would make for a good T-shirt slogan.

pbromaghin · Dec 10, 2015

JPR said:
Something will change rather quickly I guess, as this is what happens when a VC buys a company. Maybe they will come out with some coherent believable strategy. But they will have to work hard to convince me.

But Pemberstone is not a Venture Capitalist. They are an equity investor and operating company. They buy under-performing or undervalued companies that they believe they can run better and make more profitable as an ongoing concern. A sure way to ruin their own future profitability would be to mess with the current, quite successful, mix of products being offered.

Sirius Glass · Dec 10, 2015

Sirius Glass said:
It is not time to panic yet.

MattKing said:
This would make for a good T-shirt slogan.

Bob Carnie said:
On all our fastball competitive teams our mantra was NEVER PANIC.

Chris always said "It is never too early to panic."

Roger Cole · Dec 10, 2015

Just keep making Delta 3200, especially in 120. It's the one totally unique (now that TMZ is gone and that was never in 120) product of theirs that I love and can't replace with anything else. I LIKE many others - excellent papers, FP4+ became my medium speed choice when Plus-X died etc. But there just isn't another film like Delta 3200.

Sirius Glass · Dec 10, 2015

Roger Cole said:
Just keep making Delta 3200, especially in 120. It's the one totally unique (now that TMZ is gone and that was never in 120) product of theirs that I love and can't replace with anything else. I LIKE many others - excellent papers, FP4+ became my medium speed choice when Plus-X died etc. But there just isn't another film like Delta 3200.

Me too! I use it with my f/8 500mm lens.

Chris Livsey · Dec 11, 2015

On a positive note, I do seem to be seeing more marketing e-mails from Harman.
Film discount on that Friday now D&P and single shot camera offer for Christmas, others as well.
A bit more push from them?

kraker · Dec 11, 2015

pbromaghin said:
Good lord. Why do so many people react like this? Why does everybody think that Pemberstone would buy a going concern and then just close it up? With a little research, like maybe looking at their website to see what they do to make their living, it becomes readily apparent that a company like Harman fits into their business model.

^^ that, exactly. No reason to worry.

Statement from Harman Technology regarding recent sale to Pemberstone Ventures Ltd.

Sirius Glass

DWThomas

Sirius Glass

railwayman3

pentaxuser

Sirius Glass

Sal Santamaura

Pioneer

MattKing

Moderator

AgX

TheToadMen

Xmas

pbromaghin

JPR

Sirius Glass

MattKing

Moderator

JPR

Jeff Bradford

Bob Carnie

pbromaghin

Sirius Glass

Roger Cole

Sirius Glass

Chris Livsey

kraker

Statement from Harman Technology regarding recent sale to Pemberstone Ventures Ltd.

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