Hi Guys,
Many thanks for the condolences and commiserations. I can confirm that the statement is indeed true and this is the end of the road for Harbinger.
This whole situation is a complete kick in the nether-regions for all concerned. As far as I am aware (not being privy to the actual meetings) we\'ve basically been asset-stripped by our new investors in order to allow them to prop up one of their failing business ventures – a particularly ironic situation given that of all their interests the most risky was Harbinger, this industry not being the most stable of those they operate in.
It is doubly ironic as over the last couple of months we had finally turned the corner. A magazine, any magazine, is a frighteningly huge undertaking in terms of work and money. Not everyone will be aware of this but in order to have WH Smith stock a magazine in this country (beyond proving without a shadow of a doubt that the title will sell, fills a niche, has potential and various other hoops of fire that take months to negotiate) a manufacturer must be prepared to pay WH Smith a minimum of 10,000 GBP. They must then fill WH Smith\'s order numbers (which are decided by WH Smith) and then only receive payments for what WH Smith actually sells NOT what they order (essentially meaning that WH Smith could, if they so desired, put someone out of business by ordering ten times what they actually sell leaving the publisher to pick up the print bills and shipping costs – as the sales figures are sent out every two or three months this is a very real possibility for a small business, one slip, one cash flow issue and it\'s all over).
As I say, we had just begun to turn the corner, survived the above mentioned pitfalls and then this happens. Our numbers continued to rise month by month, we were no longer making a loss on subscriptions (shipping price-breaks being what they are) and manufacturers were getting more and more used to working with a monthly magazine.
Sadly the nature of business does not take this into account, of all their ventures ours was the least profitable in the long run and so we were sacrificed.
On a purely personal note the whole situation absolutely sickens me. Having just got married in August this was not the start to the New Year I was looking for. A job that I loved, in an industry that I love, has been taken away from me. Everyone involved with Harbinger made huge sacrifices in order to make it work, often personal sacrifices. Most of us, myself included, could have made far more money working in other industries, we could have had the benefits of pensions, health care, company cars and so on. But our love of this industry and our belief in the magazine was worth all the hard work and all the sacrifices – as I\'m sure anyone in the industry will tell you, we don\'t work here for the money, just the fun and the desire to be part of such a fantastic community.
The handling of the whole situation has been underhanded and callous at best. Mark was ordered to let myself and Dave go with immediate effect, no warning and no money. It was only through his bull headedness and loyalty that we didn\'t find ourselves looking for work without a penny to our names (again as anyone in the industry will tell you; it\'s not one that lends itself to savings accounts) and if he hadn\'t stuck his neck out for us and dug in his heels we wouldn\'t have received a penny in severance pay – it seems the asset stripping of Harbinger was to extend to include the people who worked there.
More than that though in an effort to facilitate their plan our investors attempted to drive a wedge between myself and Mark and called our friendship into question – a friendship that has existed for 12 years and goes all the way back to my first job. Business is business and these things happen every day but to take such an underhanded and calculatedly vicious tack has left a distinctly bad taste in the mouth.
Anyway, I apologise for the length of this rant, there were some things that I needed to get off my chest and I apologise to anyone who\'s been trying to reach me by email – I hope to be able to check my mails over the next few days and I\'ll catch up with everyone as much as I can.
See you for chapter II – THE JOB HUNT…
Jamie
Many thanks for the condolences and commiserations. I can confirm that the statement is indeed true and this is the end of the road for Harbinger.
This whole situation is a complete kick in the nether-regions for all concerned. As far as I am aware (not being privy to the actual meetings) we\'ve basically been asset-stripped by our new investors in order to allow them to prop up one of their failing business ventures – a particularly ironic situation given that of all their interests the most risky was Harbinger, this industry not being the most stable of those they operate in.
It is doubly ironic as over the last couple of months we had finally turned the corner. A magazine, any magazine, is a frighteningly huge undertaking in terms of work and money. Not everyone will be aware of this but in order to have WH Smith stock a magazine in this country (beyond proving without a shadow of a doubt that the title will sell, fills a niche, has potential and various other hoops of fire that take months to negotiate) a manufacturer must be prepared to pay WH Smith a minimum of 10,000 GBP. They must then fill WH Smith\'s order numbers (which are decided by WH Smith) and then only receive payments for what WH Smith actually sells NOT what they order (essentially meaning that WH Smith could, if they so desired, put someone out of business by ordering ten times what they actually sell leaving the publisher to pick up the print bills and shipping costs – as the sales figures are sent out every two or three months this is a very real possibility for a small business, one slip, one cash flow issue and it\'s all over).
As I say, we had just begun to turn the corner, survived the above mentioned pitfalls and then this happens. Our numbers continued to rise month by month, we were no longer making a loss on subscriptions (shipping price-breaks being what they are) and manufacturers were getting more and more used to working with a monthly magazine.
Sadly the nature of business does not take this into account, of all their ventures ours was the least profitable in the long run and so we were sacrificed.
On a purely personal note the whole situation absolutely sickens me. Having just got married in August this was not the start to the New Year I was looking for. A job that I loved, in an industry that I love, has been taken away from me. Everyone involved with Harbinger made huge sacrifices in order to make it work, often personal sacrifices. Most of us, myself included, could have made far more money working in other industries, we could have had the benefits of pensions, health care, company cars and so on. But our love of this industry and our belief in the magazine was worth all the hard work and all the sacrifices – as I\'m sure anyone in the industry will tell you, we don\'t work here for the money, just the fun and the desire to be part of such a fantastic community.
The handling of the whole situation has been underhanded and callous at best. Mark was ordered to let myself and Dave go with immediate effect, no warning and no money. It was only through his bull headedness and loyalty that we didn\'t find ourselves looking for work without a penny to our names (again as anyone in the industry will tell you; it\'s not one that lends itself to savings accounts) and if he hadn\'t stuck his neck out for us and dug in his heels we wouldn\'t have received a penny in severance pay – it seems the asset stripping of Harbinger was to extend to include the people who worked there.
More than that though in an effort to facilitate their plan our investors attempted to drive a wedge between myself and Mark and called our friendship into question – a friendship that has existed for 12 years and goes all the way back to my first job. Business is business and these things happen every day but to take such an underhanded and calculatedly vicious tack has left a distinctly bad taste in the mouth.
Anyway, I apologise for the length of this rant, there were some things that I needed to get off my chest and I apologise to anyone who\'s been trying to reach me by email – I hope to be able to check my mails over the next few days and I\'ll catch up with everyone as much as I can.
See you for chapter II – THE JOB HUNT…
Jamie
and I just renewed my subscription a few months ago..
