12-07-2022, 09:05 AM
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
It is with the very greatest regret that owing to circumstances entirely beyond our control, Prior’s Motor Works will be withdrawing from the Centenary Event.
This is extremely disappointing for us, as we have invested a great deal of time, effort and expense into preparing what we had hoped would be an attraction in its own right.
At the very start of the planning process, we had expressed our intention to take a significant trade stand at the event. Soon afterwards, we were asked if we would provide technical demonstrations, to which we readily agreed.
As time progressed, we broadened our plans to include in addition to demonstrations, a coachwork exhibition of general interest as well as, of course, promoting our own products and services.
In this capacity, we felt that we were very much part of the Event.
We are one of the small, dedicated band of “Cherished” Suppliers who have taken the risks and made the investments needed to manufacture and supply the parts that keep all of our Austin Sevens running. Without this group, an event like this would not be possible. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect our efforts to be acknowledged in some degree.
Unfortunately, it seems that we had misunderstood the situation.
As many readers of our frequent postings will know, we committed at an early stage to opening our stand as early as possible on Tuesday. The logistics required were complicated and would have involved several vehicles and a 110-mile round trip during the morning to pick up a second load.
In around two years of planning there had never been any indication that this was an unreasonable expectation.
For this to be successful, timely access to the site was absolutely essential. I have been involved in very many events, from local car boot sales to Chelsea Flower Show. Almost without exception, whether as a trader or an exhibitor, we have not just been allowed on site early, but have been required to set up our display before the event opened to the public.
On Saturday, having had absolutely no information whatsoever about access to the site, I made an enquiry and was told that there would be no early admissions for traders, no preferential access, no guaranteed entry time and that as we would have to take our chances with many hundreds of other arrivals on Tuesday, we could not even be sure of having everything on site that day. To complicate matters further, I was told on Saturday that there are unresolved traffic management issues in connection with entry to the site.
In the course of several e-mails and lengthy phone calls it has been very clear that the entry procedures are entirely non-negotiable. I was told that this policy had only been confirmed at last Friday’s Organising Group meeting.
For us, as a business, this uncertainty is wholly unworkable. We cannot put on the intended display under these conditions and we don’t want to offer anything unworthy of the Event.
We should all be enormously grateful for the huge amount of work that has been put in by the Organising Group. Many of them are good friends for whom we have the greatest respect. We do not want to fall out with any of them and have therefore decided to withdraw.
We still hope to attend the Main Rally on Saturday with some of our own cars and in particular, of course, “Henry’s Ruby”.
We will be in touch individually with everyone who is expecting to collect parts from us at the event. If a direct handover isn’t possible on Friday evening or Saturday, we shall send them by courier at our expense.
Simon Laxton of 7 Trimming will still be present on the stand; please go see his superb work and support him. We apologise sincerely to him and to anyone else who had expected us to be there.
Please note that we shall not be making public replies to any comments on this post.
More in sorrow than in anger,
Martin, David, Jo and Henry.
It is with the very greatest regret that owing to circumstances entirely beyond our control, Prior’s Motor Works will be withdrawing from the Centenary Event.
This is extremely disappointing for us, as we have invested a great deal of time, effort and expense into preparing what we had hoped would be an attraction in its own right.
At the very start of the planning process, we had expressed our intention to take a significant trade stand at the event. Soon afterwards, we were asked if we would provide technical demonstrations, to which we readily agreed.
As time progressed, we broadened our plans to include in addition to demonstrations, a coachwork exhibition of general interest as well as, of course, promoting our own products and services.
In this capacity, we felt that we were very much part of the Event.
We are one of the small, dedicated band of “Cherished” Suppliers who have taken the risks and made the investments needed to manufacture and supply the parts that keep all of our Austin Sevens running. Without this group, an event like this would not be possible. It doesn’t seem unreasonable to expect our efforts to be acknowledged in some degree.
Unfortunately, it seems that we had misunderstood the situation.
As many readers of our frequent postings will know, we committed at an early stage to opening our stand as early as possible on Tuesday. The logistics required were complicated and would have involved several vehicles and a 110-mile round trip during the morning to pick up a second load.
In around two years of planning there had never been any indication that this was an unreasonable expectation.
For this to be successful, timely access to the site was absolutely essential. I have been involved in very many events, from local car boot sales to Chelsea Flower Show. Almost without exception, whether as a trader or an exhibitor, we have not just been allowed on site early, but have been required to set up our display before the event opened to the public.
On Saturday, having had absolutely no information whatsoever about access to the site, I made an enquiry and was told that there would be no early admissions for traders, no preferential access, no guaranteed entry time and that as we would have to take our chances with many hundreds of other arrivals on Tuesday, we could not even be sure of having everything on site that day. To complicate matters further, I was told on Saturday that there are unresolved traffic management issues in connection with entry to the site.
In the course of several e-mails and lengthy phone calls it has been very clear that the entry procedures are entirely non-negotiable. I was told that this policy had only been confirmed at last Friday’s Organising Group meeting.
For us, as a business, this uncertainty is wholly unworkable. We cannot put on the intended display under these conditions and we don’t want to offer anything unworthy of the Event.
We should all be enormously grateful for the huge amount of work that has been put in by the Organising Group. Many of them are good friends for whom we have the greatest respect. We do not want to fall out with any of them and have therefore decided to withdraw.
We still hope to attend the Main Rally on Saturday with some of our own cars and in particular, of course, “Henry’s Ruby”.
We will be in touch individually with everyone who is expecting to collect parts from us at the event. If a direct handover isn’t possible on Friday evening or Saturday, we shall send them by courier at our expense.
Simon Laxton of 7 Trimming will still be present on the stand; please go see his superb work and support him. We apologise sincerely to him and to anyone else who had expected us to be there.
Please note that we shall not be making public replies to any comments on this post.
More in sorrow than in anger,
Martin, David, Jo and Henry.