A good day out

???? Hungryhalibut,....Great to see that a woman is in the group,..otherwise it wont just be "old men" at such meetings ????.

/Peder ????

Ha! I was just emailing Richard to say I wondered how long it would be until old men was mentioned. Well done - ten minutes. 

Thanks for posting, Nigel. It was indeed a tremendously enjoyable day in which the management and staff certainly made us feel very welcome. I was particularly impressed by how open and welcoming were the people on the shop floor who were keen to explain what they were doing and how they contributed to the whole. I felt there was a great team spirit there. It really seemed as if everyone had been briefed for a VIP visit!

Hand bags at the ready, well Naim goodie bags.

I worked in Portsmouth for 2 years and still never managed to visit Naim ????

hungryhalibut posted:

Ha! I was just emailing Richard to say I wondered how long it would be until old men was mentioned. Well done - ten minutes. 

????????????????,....But the tragic truth is,...it looks the same in Sweden.

Where is the younger generation,those who are going to bring this interest forward.
It's the biggest problem for all Hifi manufacturers today,...and for us too.

There must be new customers,otherwise the customer base will disappear....and with it,the possibility for manufacturers to invest big money to develop new top products.

But it's a topic for another thread.....

/Peder???? 

I've posted the pic over on the beta thread,  I've volunteered to paste the forum names on the pic if everyone is happy with that - my e-mail is on profile

Thanks for posting the picture Nigel. Hopefully I have sent a copy to everyone who came along.  If I have forgotten anyone, or the email bounced, please just let me know.

I really enjoyed spending the day at the factory with some of the forum members here.  Showing people around the factory was always my favourite part of working with Naim.  The problem was always trying to show everything and talk about everything within the space of an hour or two, there was always so much to cover. This time I was there just as chaperone, but I found it gratifying to see that while a fair bit has changed to accommodate new products, so much that's good has remained the same.  And you might like to know that most of the staff working at the factory really enjoy having guests come and see what they're doing, particularly when they get a chance to actually show you and tell you what it is and the technique of how they do it.  It's a validation that what they're doing is very much appreciated by the customers.  A big thanks to all of you who came along and made it a really special day.

It was a great day, and of course we have a smiling Trevor in the centre of the picture... and we were made to feel really valued as customers.. first class

A very enjoyable day and really good to meet the people behind the brand. Thanks very much for organising it. 

I now have a chance to thank Nigel (HH) for organising this trip on the Forum side and thanks also to Richard and the team at Naim for making us feel so welcome and giving so much of their time to us. It,was great to meet some Forumites and put a face to an Avatar.

This was my second Factory tour and I was again struck by how all the employees we met form the shop floor up to the top management team we're so enthusiastic and engaged in what they were doing at Naim. It was nice to at least give them some recognition and show how much their customers care about the superb quality of the products they so lovingly design, build, market, distribute and service. A great example of a wonderful team effort, all driven towards a common goal.

A very interesting and enjoyable day. Bagged another Naim mug too!

Thanks for posting Nigel and you did a wonderful job organising the event......you even managed most of the day without mentioning...I want a new 272????. I know such visits are a disruption, but people were very friendly, pleased to see us, and just seemed happy with their work at Naim. It was a great day out. Happy for my name to be posted.

Peder posted:

Where is the younger generation,those who are going to bring this interest forward.
It's the biggest problem for all Hifi manufacturers today,...and for us too.

 

They were at school... it was a week day.. certainly there were a relative range of ages with admittedly a higher concentration of more senior customers.. I thought it was good, and it was  good to meet again some of the forum members... well worth a day off work.....

A really fantastic day - Trevor and his team couldn't have been more accommodating.

Thanks to Nigel and Richard for getting this set up. It was good to meet the Naim team and put faces to a few forum names too.

Highlights for me... The demo room, the Statement build area and Steve Sells giving us the engineering overview of the new streamers.

Great day.

James

It was an excellent day, thanks again to HH for organising it, and thanks for the photo Richard & to all at Naim who made it a most interesting day out

Hmm HH why did it take you guys so long, event was in April ???? I thinks when you said VIP treatment you all received an ND555, then poor Richard has spent months photo shopping the picture with a goodie bag ????

Mike-B posted:

I've posted the pic over on the beta thread,  I've volunteered to paste the forum names on the pic if everyone is happy with that - my e-mail is on profile

I wold be interested in the pic with names - 

enjoy

/ken

Hi Ken,  very few takers at the moment,  only two so far have sent me their position & forum name.

Obsydian posted:

Hmm HH why did it take you guys so long, event was in April ???? I thinks when you said VIP treatment you all received an ND555, then poor Richard has spent months photo shopping the picture with a goodie bag ????

When I was mailing Richard yesterday I happened to ask if he had the photo. So he mailed Naim and got hold of it. Better late than never I say. 

It’s one of the really nice things about the Forum: all sorts of people from all sorts of places, with all sorts of backgrounds and opinions, but united in their love of music. And that goes for the Naim guys as much as the Forum members. Though when I mentioned The Smiths there was a bit of groaning, which I didn’t really understand.

One fun thing was the ‘lift the Statement toroidal transformer challenge’ as well as the chance to poke about inside the ND555 and make its innards bounce. 

Mike-B posted:

Hi Ken,  very few takers at the moment,  only two so far have sent me their position & forum name.

The unfortunate thing was some of us never really got past our Avatars...no badges etc. Totally open to my details being shared.

Gazza.....really Gary

Looks like a great day was had by all. Out of interest, how many people work there?

I think Naim employ about 160 people, not all needed to be in the HQ...I could be wrong in exact numbers, but that’s an approx figure.

Thanks to Nigel, Richard and the rest of the Naim team for getting this set up. It was brilliant, well organised day in which the management and staff made us feel very, very welcome. Trevor and his team couldn't have been more accommodating.

It was also great to meet a few Forum members and put faces to names and avatars !

Highlights for me... being able to talk to some of the staff as we walked around, seeing those new streamers being carefully tested and looking at the crane used to assemble Statements ! oh, and we did get to listen to some excellent music as well.

Fantastic all round.

Mike-B posted:

I've posted the pic over on the beta thread,  I've volunteered to paste the forum names on the pic if everyone is happy with that - my e-mail is on profile

Not all of us are members of this elusive, elite group . So whilst i'm happy for you to add my name and place, it seems I won't be able to view the finished product.

Gazza posted:

Mike-B posted:

Hi Ken,  very few takers at the moment,  only two so far have sent me their position & forum name.

The unfortunate thing was some of us never really got past our Avatars...no badges etc. Totally open to my details being shared.    Gazza.....really Gary

Hi @Gazza,  I intend to use your forum name,  unlike at the visit,  but to be sure to be sure that I have the right name on the face & to avoid my arse being kicked & as per my post on the beta forum,  can you please e-mail me your position from left (or right)     My e-mail is on my profile. 

I have had two visits to Naim in my time. The first organised when Julian V was still with us. We were split into groups of about 6/8 and staff from Grahams Audio and Studio 99, remember them (?)  escorted us. It must have been in the late 1970/80. So long ago my memory is now not totally accurate. However I DO remember the obsession with detail the company  still has. Total visitors about 30 on our visit. My wife and I then decamped to Salisbury cathedral when  a run through was underway for an evening concert.

Second visit was about 15 years ago and by then they had moved to their present location. Remember being given overshoes with earth straps to avoid any product damage on our visit. Once again detail was uppermost and the feeling that it was more than just a job for the staff we interrupted. We were met in their demo room by Paul Stephenson and after the tour and lunch back to the room for an informal hi-fi session. I must have improved profits a little that day as I took the decision then to buy a 500 power amp to replace my 135's. They were working on "Naim for Bentley" probably in the early days of this project. 

I am nudging my dealer for a third visit. We will see. Either way a really interesting day out even if hi-fi is not an obsession. Me obsessive?

Douglas.