Farewell Autometrix

Skipton01

Admin Team
Well, it's now official. I received the paperwork last Friday and it seems that Autometrix Publications Ltd have gone into voluntary winding up proceedings, taking a lot of subscribers' outstanding funds with them (the letter makes it clear that the company is insolvent, so there's no chance of any creditors getting money back for unpublished/undelivered copies of the magazine).

It's such a shame and I bet Paul Harris will be looking down on the whole thing with a very stern expression and a wagging finger.

It's also sad for those at the sharp end of the mag - Neil and Sally in particular.

So there's no chance of ADI this year, no GTI either and the one last bastion of championing Audi heritage is gone. A sad time.
 
I had heard about this sometime ago from Neil birkett, it is in no way a reflection of Neil's work, but appears to be a decision made by the new owners of autometrix after Paul's death.

I agree with Mike's sentiments here, maybe something will rise from the ashes, but unfortunately the only mags that seem to make sense these days are sensationalist lowest common denominations, I'm looking at performance vw, vwt etc.
 
Yes, just to clarify, none of this sorry state of affairs was caused by Neil or Sally, they're very much the victims of the situation rather than authors of it.

From the director's report in the letter I received last week, it seems that falling magazine sales combined with losses at the motor shows organised by Autometrix (it's mentioned that GTi last year lost £40k over the event), and a poor prospect for any improvement in 2019 made the directors decide to pull the plug on the concern, whilst continuing their other business, a printers in Peterborough.

I'd like to see Neil carry on with a self-published online version of the magazine, probably with a new name, and I daresay many of the 570+ subscribers would agree.
 
I definitely agree with you that neither Neil or Sally were to blame.

It probably shows that GTI international and ADI were a victim of lack of their own success in later years, after all these events are pretty much what made Paul Harris the millionaire he was. Though he and myself didn't always see eye to eye (Neil himself has admitted how difficult he could be) I had a lot of respect for his work. I'm afraid the new owners took the business on as a money making scheme and failed to develop it.
 
Yes, Paul and I had differences of opinion on several occasions, but I respected his knowledge and work ethic hugely (and that of Neil and Sally who put their heart and soul into ADI every year). I suspect that the onward march of health and safety together with increasing greed from the race circuits involved, made the events turn into loss-making affairs. This is probably why AitP can still turn a small profit each year.

Paul did very well for an ex-headmaster - he went too soon.
 
I can only echo Mike and Jeremy's comments, it'll leave a chasm in the VW/Audi community in terms of quality, factual journalism.

Neil & Sally were the dynamic due who kept it all running smoothly in the background, having worked with them over many years I saw the dedication they showed in keeping Autometrix alive.

The only saving grace is that Neil can now have a well-earned break, the poor chap's not had a holiday in the last twenty-odd years!!
 
I used to read VW Motoring and VW Audi Car, which I believe were part of the group. I went to many a GTi International, so its sad to hear this will be no more.
 
Neil worked on VW Motoring in the 90s, that was run by a different publisher.

VW Audi Car was indeed the sole Autometrix magazine at the time, it covered VW, Audi and Porsche.

Inters at the TRL was legendary, such an amazing venue and the GTI tuning & aftermarket scene was full of engineering innovation.
 
Sign of the times whether you like it or not. Just as people don’t shop in Debenhams any more, they don’t buy magazines like they used to either. Instead they use the internet and forums ..... er like this.
 
And looking at the last accounts filed (for 2017) they lost £60k that year so the writing appears to have been on the wall for a couple of years at least.

Amazing the magazines lasted so long really. VW Motoring and Volkswagen Audi Car (as it used to be) once went head to head. I am guessing VW Motoring must have ‘died’ 15 years ago?
 
Paul Harris funded the whole business but had terminal cancer and passed away in 2015 - Autometrix was run pretty much as a pet project, employing a very small but talented team to keep it running.
 
In the final issue of Audi Driver magazine they were still running the ad for subscribers. How could the new owners do that when they know they were going under?
 
In the final issue of Audi Driver magazine they were still running the ad for subscribers. How could the new owners do that when they know they were going under?


Because the owners had little or nothing to do with the actual day to day running of the magazines. As I understand it Neil had actually just put the next issue of the magazine to bed ready to go to the printers on Sunday evening when the call came on Monday morning...
 
Well I see from the Administration notice that they are looking for some brave soul to possibly buy the ‘business’ and take the magazines on.
Shame though it is - I doubt anyone will. It clearly needs a totally different approach to be viable in 2019. I was amazed to read above that there were less than 600 subscribers! Put that in the context of how many VW’s and Audi’s are on the roads of the UK.
 
If Neil had the will to resurrect something as an e-zine, I'd subscribe to it. I've long since resisted the e-book, always favouring the printed paper page, but now that we need space for our little man, all my books have been boxed up and put in storage and all future purchases are electronic and I must say, they're not actually bad to read - I'm surprised.

All my dvd and blu ray films have been archived to a NAS too, I've half filled a 14Tb array and we've now got some shelves back!!

I believe the show and awards are dead, but there's still an appetite for a good general Audi magazine, written from an independent perspective.
 
To be honest, I think as Paz says, Neil wants (and deserves) a break. He's been working flat out for nearly 20 years, and is due some time off. I think his appetite has gone for the hubbub of the print world, and working for other people too.
 
My little boy has books, which satiate my needs for now.

Magazines generally knock me sick with the smell of the paper, which seems to have got worse over the last few years.
 
Back
Top