Hornby appoints Lyndon Charles Davies as CEO as Cooke steps down

AIM-listed model train set maker Hornby has appointed Lyndon Charles Davies as its new chief executive officer replacing Steve Cooke, who will step down with immediate effect.

Hornby said Davies he is a "highly-experienced model and hobby professional", with 40 years' experience in the industry. He is chairman of collectible model vehicles firm Oxford Diecast and remains the majority shareholder of LCD Enterprises, which owns the Oxford brands.

The company said it is exploring the opportunity to invest in LCD and further information will be announced in due course.

Interim chairman David Adams said: "I am delighted to welcome Lyndon to the board. His obvious expertise in and enthusiasm for the toy and hobby industry will provide the group with experienced leadership for the next stage of our development. Hornby will continue with its turnaround plan and Lyndon is ideally qualified to steer the group through this period.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve for his service to Hornby and for his leadership of the first stage of the turnaround plan. On behalf of the board, I wish him every success in the future."

The departure of Steve Cooke - who took over the role last April - was announced last month following the increase in Phoenix UK Fund's stake in the business.

In an update last month ahead of its annual general meeting, Hornby warned over its full-year performance as trading in the financial year to date was said to be behind the board's expectations due to increased competition and weaker demand over the summer.

The company highlighted softer market demand over the summer months and increased competition in the important UK independent channel. In addition, as previously indicated, it pointed out that some new product releases had shifted to the second half of the year and said there had been a reduction in the amount of promotional activity and discounted stock being offered to the market, which was a feature of the comparative period last year.

At 1110 BST, the shares were up 4.3% to 28.81p.