As you will be aware, there has been a Coronavirus outbreak this year in Wuhan City, China; which has since spread throughout China and into other countries across the world.
In order to minimise the spread of the virus, otherwise known as COVID-19, travel within and to China has been curtailed, and most factories in China have temporary stopped working to stop the spread, including the factory responsible for the production of Wessex Tubas’ instruments & accessories in the adjoining province of Tianjin.
Inevitably, this has had an impact on our business, as it will countless businesses across the world; delaying the production and delivery of new products whilst leaving the Wessex team temporarily unable to visit the factory in order to conduct our regular quality assurance and development.
This will be understandably frustrating for anyone waiting for, or looking to purchase, a Wessex instrument and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for your patience during this difficult time.
Although the factory has temporarily closed, I feel it’s important to let you know that I am in direct, weekly contact with the factory management and production team and remain positive about how the situation is being dealt with and the decisions that are being made.
As such, I’m confident that the factory will open again very soon and all activity will restart in the coming weeks; with many exciting things to come later on in the year.
And, even though production of new instruments has been delayed, work has not stopped here at Wessex Tubas!
We still have a wide range of instruments in stock and available to purchase, including the Chicago 6/4 CC tubas, Wyvern CC tubas, Viverna BBb tubas, Champion Eb tubas, and Linz F tubas.
What’s more, our UK and US showrooms are open and taking appointment bookings, where a generous selection of instruments can be play-tested and purchased.
Finally, we’ll be attending a number of tuba/euphonium events in the US and Europe between now and the summer, where, again, a wide range of instruments can be played and purchased. Look out for further announcements!
The future is bright for us here at Wessex Tubas - I’m so proud of everything the team in USA, UK and China have achieved so far, and am incredibly excited for what’s in store as we continue to lead the market in innovative, high quality and truly affordable brass instruments.
Jonathan Hodgetts
President and CEO, Wessex Tubas