Apologies if this has been posted before but a search couldn’t find it.
A reassuring update from a straight talker.
.sjb
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Hmm, French senior management, enough for the conspiracy theorists on another thread to have a field day with this!
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I suppose the up and coming product releases will indicate the direction the company is heading. Fingers crossed 
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Not unsurprising as I think Alpha Private Equity are majority owners (since 2019?) of line parent Vervent now and they are European based.
What comes next from PE ownership is the very open question here given the numerous operational challenges seen over the last few years, which look set to continue for a while yet(?), especially if the higher volume entry-level kit (Muso et al) is manufactured on $-based terms.
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Google the two guys and you’ll find their year of birth on company gov.uk site under Naim filing history - all in public domain.
Far from senior. But there again we’re all of an age here.
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Was the article intended to be reassuring? Training lots of new staff about what Naim make….
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They could be expanding their workforce due to demand?
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Given the ownership of Naim, its inevitable… 
C’est la vie…!! 
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It was more the way it was worded, given the context of a grass-roots type small business comprising of hi-fi enthusiasts, versus:
‘It turns out that a lot of new people have been recruited and that many needed schooling in what it is that Naim actually make”.
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I will ask i am Signals in a week or so.
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I went through exactly that many years ago. Training new people in what Naim do and how they do it is essential, wouldn’t you agree?
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Yes, off course I would agree with that. But it was worded about training about what Naim actually make, which I thought was odd - in that employing people who were familiar with the brand and were passionate about hi-fi would be a good fit. Maybe the roles don’t require that passion for the product?
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it’s called onboarding - pretty normal
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Passion for music has always been something that Naim look for, but much would depend on the role of course.
If I take my own experience as an example. I was hugely passionate about music, knew a bit about Naim products (had owned one), but otherwise knew next to nothing about the inner workings of the company and how products got made. I spent a couple of weeks working in each department and in that way, I quickly learned what they all did and how the products were made and supported.
I know plenty who came to Naim knowing nothing about the company at all, yet through working there and learning about why Naim did things the way they did, became passionate about the company and its products - the more you learn about Naim, the how and the why, the more appreciate it as not just any old company making electronic items.
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“We had a brief conversation with Cedric Magnaud, who seems very involved in addressing the production bottlenecks and supply issues. He’s certainly hands on…”
This has got to be a positive move - good to hear.
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Richard,
I’m sure many of us are highly cognisant of Naim’s foundations and the immense value it offers, not just in quality replay but as a brand and, perhaps most importantly, its longevity in a marketplace which has seen so many changes over the years, many not for the positive e.g. the move away from the high street of many dealers.
Sadly, in many businesses operated via PE (I speak from experience), the last para of your post tends to get lost, as ‘return on capital’ and the ‘most efficient use of capital’ tend to be the guiding mantras alongside profit/earnings growth, as PE doesn’t often operate with legacy emotional ties & drivers, the only goal being to max-out RoE & profit of the subject business and for the subscribers (funders) to the PE house.
Once you cross the rubicon in to PE-land, change is often driven and not always for the better for a customer or, fundamentally, the subject business in the longer run.
On the wider piece, it’s interesting (as has been highlighted in previous threads), how many higher-end hi-fi businesses are now in PE hands. It would be interesting to understand what PE (as a class) are seeing to encourage their participations in such businesses. Of course, Covid has probably kyboshed many of the assumptions and changes within whatever B/Plans were set down prior to.
I just hope the story/journey has a happy ending and Naim’s legacy values which underpin the brand aren’t eroded.
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Should have stayed to making banquettes ,and why the obsession with Focal.Ill never understand it.It seems Naim don’t care about other speaker manufactures
Naim has mostly had a strong relationship with one speaker manufacturer, back in the 80s it was Linn, then it became in-house speakers and now it is Focal. I can see that there are likely pros and cons with this approach but it clearly seems to have worked for Naim over the years.
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Definitely Naim always went well with Neat Acoustics .I’m running Fyne Audio 501SP and there Stunning. No rights or wrongs just differences in opinions
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I suspect the reason why Naim have Focal speakers is more to do with Vervent Audio Group.
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