Hello, welcome to a long overdue update, the first of 2025, Happy Newish Year! There have been many changes since my last update, including a new government, and a new leader elected in the USA to put a cat amongst the pigeons. We are still waiting for a ‘shot in the arm’ regarding the UK economy but continue to do all that we can whilst the wait goes on.. We managed to create a positive economy around Ben Wheeler Pianos in the last three months of 2024, it was a good end to what was a difficult year for us. Since turning into the new year, the market has been very quiet again, but…winter never follows winter as they say, so we are hoping for busier times ahead as the year progresses.
Most of the pianos selected towards the end of last year were either used uprights, Kawai uprights that were on a promotion, or the impressive Wilh. Steinberg uprights. Fortunately for us we had a regular flow of good quality used uprights into the business that resulted in a good flow of them out again! We have managed to restock now with some fine used options available, three from the British company Kemble. A good quality modern piano can offer value for money against a new option making them very attractive in challenging economic times. The promotions last year on some of the uprights in the Kawai range expired on the 31st January. This promotion gave many people the opportunity to purchase their piano with a £500 Kawai contribution, we saw an increase in our Kawai sales as a result, particularly the K300. As ever, the Performance series of the Wilh. Steinberg range were very popular choices towards the end of last year. In may cases customers chose to extend their budget in order to purchase one of these pianos that offer a superb musical tone well beyond the expectation of the price tag. In these difficult economic times Wilh. Steinberg are one of the few manufacturers doing well with an agile business model of keeping a small, skilled workforce in Germany.
As ever, demand for our piano tuning service is very high and the diaries are always full. Michelle has agreed to take on the planning and updating of Vicky and Richards diary as from the beginning of March. This will free up my time to concentrate on other aspects of the business, a welcome change! Michelle is a fantastic organiser, the smooth running of the tuning diaries remains in good hands.
As a final note to this update, we wish Paul and Stephen from Harmony Pianos a long and happy retirement. After successfully running their restoration company for nearly 40 years they have closed the doors on the workshop in Reading. We hosted a celebration meal for them before Christmas which was great fun and a fitting celebration of their help and support over the years. We currently have three pianos in our showroom that have been beautifully restored by them, we will miss further restored pianos in our stock. Things are constantly moving and evolving… happy retirement Stephen and Paul
All the best,
Ben
