Tannoy site swaps cabinet production for housing

Tannoy’s 44-year reign in Coatbridge is reaching the end of an era as an online consultation process detailing the construction of 60 houses on the factory site has come to light. Paloma Capital intends to develop the land currently occupied by the Tannoy factory by building a mixture of homes ranging from flats to detached houses. Since 1976, this hub of audio engineering excellence has delivered classic audio loudspeaker designs including the Prestige, Kingdom Royal and Definition hi-fi speakers in addition to the renowned CMS, Dreadnought, Dual Concentric and QFlex professional models.

Following an announcement made by Tannoy holding company the Music Group in April 2016 that operations would move to China, the writing has been on the wall for some time regarding the future of the Scottish operation. Although the company considered opening a new plant in the Strathclyde Business Park to develop a new line of units, stagnation followed. While the new site will create green space and a drainage pond in addition to the pedestrian-friendly development, the loss of the highly revered facility that assured “Made in the UK” status, together with 70 highly skilled engineers who were on the Tannoy payroll just four years ago, is a poor exchange.

Further disruption for Music Tribe lies ahead following the announcement that specialist AV distributor Midwich Group will be ending distribution of Music Tribe products by its North American business, Starin Marketing. Starin and Music Tribe have decided to transition Starin's current US distribution and channel management to a Music Tribe-owned distribution model. The current structure of channel partner-reseller service, rep management and product delivery will be transitioned to Music Tribe to merge into its existing warranty and service support operation in Nevada, US. As part of the transition, which is expected to complete by the end of the year, Starin will migrate selected process and a small number of team members to Music Tribe together with the return of unsold Music Tribe inventory.

"Following more than 10 years of successful collaboration between Music Tribe and Starin, we are committed to a smooth and efficient transition over the next few months,” commented Starin president, Bobby Swartz. “This development will allow Starin to fully focus on higher margin, value-added AV products and distribution, supporting its customers with technical expertise, extensive product knowledge and strong customer service.”

Now favouring an e-commerce sales strategy, Music Tribe recently made Tannoy’s international sales force redundant including Nick Williams (APAC), Tim Gray (UK), Jay Cresswell (UK), Nick Bellis (Euro), Simon Godfrey (EMEA) and John Norton (global Hi-Fi). In addition, Tannoy’s long established Middle East sales office in Dubai Media City headed by Graham Lawton has also been closed.