Naim have been very short on space in the factory for years and their new ranges have been plagued by huge delays. I’m not in the least surprised that they have sought additional capacity and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them take this further.
They have always seemed reluctant to move to larger premises in Salisbury, which would no doubt be expensive and disruptive. Perhaps that’s a decision they would come to regret in hindsight.
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I suspect the glut of new products has / will put a spike in demand so fair play to Naim for seeing this and taking mitigating action. Nobody would want to wait months for a new product……
I’m pretty relaxed where it is made as long as the right quality control is in place.
I like the sentiment of “buy British” but the reality in a global economy is you have more options.
At the risk of using the B word pulling up the draw bridge and going it alone isn’t exactly working out well…… so just because it’s made in Britain doesn’t automatically mean it’s better.
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New products create a spike in demand. Naim have been caught out before with large lead times on orders for these. Manufacturing abroad would seem a good way to stock up prior to release. I imagine the majority of new kit built after the initial spike would then be made in the uk. Why increase local production for a short term spike? The Slovakian team already have the skills and experience with Naim products, why create risk by going elsewhere to an unknown quantity?
Is there a flaw in this logic?
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You still need space for repair of old gear even though the models is no longer in production. If you think about it many new things has been going on at Naim over the las about 20 years. Statement takes up space even though only a few is build. Streaming also, and at one time at least some of the people working with the Bendley project also took up space. If it was just Naim they would just forget about servicing old gear and that would probably solve part of the problem.
Claus
In Naim case I guess their premium product is the Statement, isn’t it?
Sorry but his all smacks of xenophobia to me. In modern times companies have demonstrated the outsourcing of certain aspects of production has little bearing on the quality of the product. And I guarantee you the precious high end products you mention contain to some extent foreign tech and labor. It’s not 1950 anymore, guy. Production facilities don’t exist in a vacuum, auto and other consumer goods are incestuous industries each constantly borrowing from the other. The boutique hifi industry is contracting and profit models are constrained. Covid and the resulting supply chain problems made matters worse. So if Naim need to offshore “some” aspects of production to remain viable while maintaining control over quality then more power to them, esp if the alternative is no Naim.
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I sure am looking forward to the reports of how these 300 boxes sound rather than the tiresome debate on where they are manufactured.
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I would be most surprised if it wasn’t. But interesting question.
There is certainly quite a bit of xenophobia floating around this thread, however I believe that any country that can (G20 for example) should have the capability to be largely self sufficient in certain key areas: food, clothing, energy, pharmaceuticals, electronics and software, auto and machine manufacturing, and in the near future AI. How many of the complainers here are using UK designed and built smart phones, lap tops, etc. Are these more or less important than your hi-fi gear place of origin?
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Can’t figure out how you knew his name was Guy?
Is there some setting I’m unaware of?
I’ve always thought it could make the forum much more civil if we knew each other’s names so I applaud your attempts at increasing this civility.
.sjb
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Now, from one John to another, I feel you are being a bit flippant 
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There really isn’t.
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aren’t they all named Guy?
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Seiko produce a series called “Grand Seiko” watches which are reckoned to be top notch, sold by retailers who also sell Rolex etc…., prices comparable to Omega etc.
I’m in retail been through this battle for years. Customers in the USA want domestic made products until they see the shirt (for example) is 3x as high with the USA manufacturer and quality is about the same. For Naim with limited production facilities domestically then make the statement and 500 (or it’s successor) in England and the remainder outsourced. Then pass the savings or the extra costs to the appropriate series. I’m sure the 300 series is amazing in its price range.
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I went to the 300 demo at The Audiobarn today and will post some impressions tomorrow and hopefully end the tedious chatter about country of manufacture. Understandable I guess as so far there has not been much to discuss.
All I will indicate at the moment is : 
Can’t find a ‘dog’s testes’ emoji……
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Richard,
I’m not interested in getting into factual “arguments”, but I think the point I made is pretty clear-
If 42 years ago, Naim had been produced in Slovakia, I would not have started the green journey, and yes- the label does matter…
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Ffs let’s not be rude…
known,
But the point I raised is not whether Seiko is a brand that produces good watches or not. This was an example of a brand…
