Build new classic range in cheaper to run overseas plant now…… couple of years then 300 kit as well, couple of years the rest… Salisbury the UK service centre?
No doubt profits on kit made in Slovenia will be booked to a holding Company in a nil or low tax base country, this depriving Naim UK of a revenue stream…… (yesI know it will be under a ‘group holding) the wedge end is looking microscopic……
Edit… all power to Naim for allowing this conversation that it could have killed much earlier
No VAT should be applied on repairs. Only if a product is modified being different from original. The paper work for this in/out of UK is most likely time consuming for everyone and time is money.
I can confirm that there is no duty and no vat on repairs at all on warranty items, in either direction. There is no duty or vat on items being returned to the UK for repair. There is vat to be paid on the cost of repair when returning the items to the EU, according to that country of import’s vat rate.
Got this from HMRC
Customs Special Procedures Manual.
If the goods are replaced under warranty, no duty is due but VAT is chargeable on the full VAT value of the replacements (VAT General Regulations 1995, Regulation 126 refers). This is an important point to bear in mind, as private importers will not be in a position to reclaim import VAT as input tax, but may be able to recover the import VAT paid, under the EC 6th VAT Directive.
If a charge is made for the repair or replacement, duty and VAT on the repair costs is due as described in the previous paragraph. Replacement goods imported under this facility are subject to the ‘equivalent quality’ criteria described.
For equipment (with no warranty) there’s duty and VAT added for the job done.
If your goods are going to be repaired or improved
If your goods are to be sent for repair or upgrading (for example an instrument that is to be renovated or jewellery that is to have new stones), you do not have to pay any charges if this is covered by the goods’ guarantee. In other cases, you can apply to have customs duty and VAT based on the sum you pay for the work. To pay lower charges when your goods return, you apply (with the help of your transport company) for “outward processing”.
Let’s not forget that Paul Stevenson played a major part in Naim’s vision/ growth helping shape it’s future.
Naim products have been made abroad for a few years now and have received numerous awards and praises. I didn’t hear anyone complaining about SQ or build quality.
it will not stay cheaper at even short term. Production costs and certainly salaries are going up rather quickly in eastern Europe. In hifi equipment, the local good quality brands already equal prices from to so called historical brands.
Supplementary production capacity should benefit the customer with short delivery schedules as far as quality is certified and more benefit is invested in rd and new exiting devices.
The more successful Naim became and especially after the merger this was always going to happen it’s just inevitable and personally I see no problem with it. The days of a small cottage industry making a few amps is long gone hopefully people will stop describing the factory in Salisbury as the Mother Ship now.
first big thanks for sharing the more detailled information.
As for me, it is the responsability of the Naim management to communicate about the outsourcing of production towards their customers while confirming all high quality standards are maintained as they always did and will do. This is a important sign of trust between manufactor and customer which reflects on their devices. Distribution and sale is on the second level for such a topic.
Also you may have been overcharged. I regularly shipped Naim kit up until the end of last year, from France to UK and return. Vat is due on return on repair costs, no duty charged in France on repair costs. Theoretically if the individual parts used are listed and declared with their correct customs codes and country of origin then duty could be due, but I have never been asked for this by the French customs, even when they have queried frequency of my export/ import and values, age of equipment and time in my ownership.
There is an odd slant to many posts in this thread, along the lines that the main or at least very significant factor in buying Naim is because the products to date have been made in UK (though I guess a good sprinkling of those contributors have a Qube or Muse). I don’t think I’ve read a single post stating sound quality/character as the primary reason for buying, and hence one would expect continuing to buy Naim.
So to people expressing likelihood of abandoning Naim or thinking twice before buying if the product is not made in UK, or if location of manufacture may not be known before purchase, is it really the case that place pf construction over-rides your (in most cases) love of the Naim sound and love of Naim’s design?
Agree with this - I didn’t buy Naim kit because of where it was made. I don’t think that Johnny Foreigner by definition must be inferior when assembling Naim-designed kit
But then the only Jaguar I ever had was built in Austria
I have an uneasy feeling that the forum could well cease to exist at some point in the (not too distant) future. The company is not what it was and is moving in a different direction. As much fun and use the forum may be to ‘us’, we are a very limited number and ultimately any perceived forum value to the new corporate will likely diminish. In fact, it would probably be seen as a hassle to keep it running - a group of, I suspect, mainly middle-aged men raving on about crap (in truth, though we love it).