July 18, 2025 I Closure
John Hornby Skewes & Co. to Close its Business
After 60-plus years, U.K. distributor John Hornby Skewes & Co. Ltd., (JHS) has announced it will be closing.
The JHS business comprises of a property company and a trading company, both majority owned by family trusts set up by the late John H. Skewes, the settlor of those trusts who stated that after his death, the Companies should be sold. Over the last few months, the company said it took steps to secure a buyer to take JHS forward under new proprietorship but had been unsuccessful. Therefore, the trustees, shareholders and board of JHS have concluded that to achieve the settlor’s mandate a process of conducting an orderly winding down of the company will commence.
The company shared the following statement regarding the closure:
“This is not a liquidation or administration process forced upon us because of insolvency. JHS is entirely solvent. Over the coming months, and we anticipate the process could take as much as 12 months, the company will continue to trade, downsizing along the way, gradually disposing of its stock and assets, including its valuable trademarks and other intellectual property, which include Vintage, Fretking, Encore, Guitar Tech, Santos Martinez, Kinsman, Antoni, Drum Tech, JHS Hornby, and The Blues/The Busker. All brands will be offered for sale to the highest bidder.”
The statement continued:
“At a yet-to-be determined point in time, the company will close having discharged all its statutory and other liabilities to staff, creditors, and other stakeholders, and that, very sadly, will be the end of JHS after more than 60 years. After which, the premises which has been our home since 1990 will be marketed and disposed of, and we will leave our Yorkshire U.K. home of Garforth, bringing matters to a conclusion.
“The trustees, shareholders and directors of JHS would like to pay tribute to the immense hard work of generations of staff who have worked so diligently in the Company over the last 60 years, offer heartfelt thanks to all of the brands who have entrusted their products to our care over the years, and recognize the contributions made by our designers and contributors, who have helped us achieve so much for so long.
“Most of all, we would all like to say a huge and most sincere thank you to you, and all of our customers around the world, without whom, we would not have had a business at all. So many relationships and friendships have been forged, so much has been achieved, and here at JHS we will miss all of that.”
