Statement;but of what ?

There have always been luxury goods. It may be true that the rich have got richer, but it's not true that the poor have got poorer. Across the globe, the poor are better off than they were 30, 50 years ago (pick your own timescale, but it's true). I'm not for a moment saying that the situation is satisfactory, or that gaps between rich and poor are acceptable - but it's not worse than it used to be.

I would be surprised if Naim were at break-even point on Statement, despite the deliveries already made. Very surprised indeed.

I look at this way. There are some 130 people (give or take a few, its probably around that level) who are gainfully employed in Salisbury. Plus the knock-on benefits to dealers. 

Statement is leading their R&D work -- where do you think DR has come from? R&D is often done by shooting for the stars, and then the tech trickling down. 

Should Naim not bother? Give up? Lay off all the staff? *That* is the really inconvenient truth, not some wibble about whether "a £125k amplifier is a viable business proposition" or not. That will sort itself out -- either they will sell, and Naim will eventually make a profit, or it wont and they wont. 

+1

...the proliferation of food banks in the 4th richest country in the world ?

-2

Have you gone looking for the Guardian website and got lost ?

+ some more   ..........  I know of a family on benefits who seem to be doing OK,  big TV & Sky package, mum & the kids with smart phones etc.... they use the food bank before getting what else they need at a regular supermarket.    Food banks supply a lot of people who really do not need them,  its the customer demand, not the real need,  that has proliferated food banks.

As a woolly liberal Guardian reader myself, I have had similar thoughts. But we went through this when Statement was released, and I'm not convinced it's worth doing so again

My take is that it's a great British product, made in Salisbury. It is a flagship for Naim, and others benefit from the R&D, like my 250 with itsnew transistors. It provides jobs for people, and helps the economy. The VAT on a Statement will pay for a teaching assistant for a year. 

Isn't it great that a small company is making a leading edge aspirational product? 

...& on that note I "bow out"...

...to Mike B & not HH's thoughts...

Anecdotal evidence isn't going to prove the matter one way or the other. But beware of the charities for the poor, who would always rather use relative rather than absolute definitions for poverty. So if the richer are 50% richer than they were, but the poor are 25% better off - I reckon the poor are richer, but the charities would say they are poorer.

I was made aware of the food bank situation in my area by an Oxfam guy, & from what I've seen I don't believe he is far away from how it is.

My neighbour complained quite vociferously about the cost of driving his V12 Jag to the foodbank (a true story btw).

The only stats that can be believed is when hot food is placed in front of the hungry at communal locations (counting bums on seats). Stats about food bank usage is as relevant as stats on money bank usage. When it's on offer, there will be takers, but far fewer when you have to say grace first and sit next to a lot of smelly people.

The implication that a food bank would have been of no use (because no-one was poor or hungry) in the tin bath outside bog 70s is ridiculous. Lack of past provision does not equate to a greater current need.

Dude

I really do despair when I read stuff like this.

You are complaining about the state of the poor but when someone buys a Statement for £125k, just think how they are benefitting society.

1. They are paying 20% VAT or around £25,000 into the coffers. That helps pay for healthcare, roads etc.

2. They pay for the wages of staff involved in the manufacture, advertising, sub contracting, distribution and retailing of the Statement.

3.  Those people in turn buy stuff which in turn pays for even more VAT and helps to keep other people in a job.

The simple truth is that the guy who is buying the Statement is doing more to help the poor than someone like you,  who just whinges in a forum.

Regards

Mick

Apparently you can get an emergency delivery if you live in a rural area and can't afford the petrol for the V12

See some moral dilemma over spending what I have on a hifi when I think of the real poor. However having lived in Brasil for 4 years my definition of real poor would include very few people in the uk.

think my view also changed a number of years ago with my sister-in-law and her serially unemployed husband!.The final straw was when they turned up at our house in a brand new Corsa paid for by mobility even though they were as healthy as me (they were disappointed not to have an  Astra  but he had 6 points added to his licence, for an accident in the 30 years of driving illegally before he got a licence), and boasted about his brand new desk top, bought somehow on buy now pay later, with the knowledge that they were moving to a new flat before the payment date came. The real killer was when he took my wife for the cost of a full new set of tyres when she got them to take the almost new car into Tyreservices to repair a slow puncture, and they condemned it on the basis that not only were all 5 tyres illegal, but they were even 5 different makes. I had been sympathic and helpful to that point, but afraid this, along with other issues over the years changed my attitude!

Food banks provide free food to people in acute need. Normally, those needing help must be referred by a doctor, social worker, or Jobcentre staff, who give them a voucher to exchange for food.

While there may be some examples of misuse, this does not negate the fact there are people in genuine need.

'Increasingly' perhaps but not 'sufficiently'.

You might, later, reflect on the very many inequalities in access to necessities rather than this one example of a luxury consumer item that is out of reach for most.

It's hardly a denial of human rights.

And - welcome to the forum.

Indeed; I frequently do, agree and thank you.

Christchurch, Neo-Georgian estate, non-rural. Hence the complaints. As he was permanently sloshed one can only assume there was a bankrupt stock of sherry 'on permanent offer'.

Nice car dude!

+1 and we might as well add.......

Those employed at Naim are paying Income tax on their earnings and NI payments

Naim and their dealers are paying corporation tax on their profits (if any !)

And when these people spend what's left of their income, they in turn are also paying VAT etc etc 

Overall, That £125k probably channels the best part of £100k into public finances one way or another

Three cheers for those who can afford to buy luxury goods and who actually do so, rather than hoarding their wealth. Particularly so if they don't gloat.

Cheers

Don

There will always be those who exploit the system, but it's wrong to make generalisations. It's very difficult as a comfortably off middle class person to understand what it must be like to have to make a choice between eating and heating the house. At the school where Hilary works there are parents who are too poor to pay the bus fare to send their children to school (it's too fat to walk and they were waiting for a housing transfer) and many children arrive having had no breakfast. We have a government intent at rolling back the state with seemingly little regard for how it impacts on the most vulnerable in our society. 

I read some research that found that if everyone is poor, the general level of happiness is greater than if there are wide disparities in wealth. Picking on Statement per se is unhelpful, but I do find it deeply uncomfortable that we live in a country where people can spend £1,000 on a round of drinks while others cannot feed their children. 

Leaving aside the arguments about inequity in society, I think Naim are congratulated for having the courage to invest so much in R&D to see what could be achieved.  Rather in the way that VW decided to make the Bugatti Veyron.  It wouldn't surprise me if the decision were made not on engineering curiosity grounds rather than economic.

Oh, and the pendent in can't resist pointing out that pre-amp is £57k and each mono block £49k, so rather more than the £125k mentioned earlier.