Hornby move on track as Airfix nose-dives

TRAIN set giant Hornby offset the woes of its Airfix counterpart yesterday by stepping up its march into European markets.

Hornby is seen as a possible saviour for the collapsed Airfix model-making business, but in the meantime the company extended its presence in Germany with the acquisition of Heico, a distributor of railway accessories.

The move will give Hornby additional scale in Europe’s biggest model railway market.

Hornby also has a presence in France, Spain and Italy, allowing it to overcome a challenging British market and post annual profits of £8.2 million (€12.2m) in June.

In contrast, Airfix is battling for survival after its Hull-based parent company Humbrol went into administration.

A source told the Daily Mirror that Hornby may be interested in coming up with a rescue package.

The insider said: “They’ve rescued companies before and turned them around. It’s early days but they’re definitely interested.”

Hornby chief executive Frank Martin, who used to work at Humbrol, was focused on the company’s expansion into Germany.

He said: “The model railway market in Germany is the biggest in Europe and is estimated to be six times larger than the UK market.

“We believe that the market offers huge potential for growth as we launch new product into the market.”