Auden Musical Instrument Co., the parent company of Auden Guitars and Gordon Smith Guitars, has announced its acquisition of UK Guitar Builders Ltd.
In a post announcing the purchase on social media, Auden owner Doug Sparkes wrote, "I am delighted to announce that The Auden Musical Instrument Co. Ltd (Auden Guitars/Gordon Smith Guitars) this week has completed the purchase of the assets of UK Guitar Builders Ltd and has started the process of re-locating all plant, machinery and material stocks into a new Northamptonshire workshop.
"This is the first stage of an exciting new project for both brands and British guitar building, of which more details will follow soon, stay tuned!"
The announcement also revealed that the Yorkshire-based UK Guitar Builders Ltd had gone into liquidation before its acquisition by Auden.
UK Guitar Builders Ltd recently found itself in the news after the firm seemingly backed out of a deal to manufacture Chapman Guitars' UK-built Workshop Series guitars.
"We’ve recently been made aware that it’s looking unlikely that UK Guitar Builders (UKGB) will be able to fulfill any more orders for the companies it supplies, including Chapman’s UK Workshop Series," Chapman wrote on Instagram earlier this month.
"Fortunately, we are already in dialogue with an alternative, experienced high-end guitar builder with a view to being able to resume production in the next 4-6 weeks. All customers with orders placed for UK-made Chapman Guitars have been informed and offered the option to wait or cancel and have deposits refunded.
"At this time," the post continued, "we would just like to wish all the staff at UKGB the best for the future and reassure everyone that the Chapman Workshop Series production will resume as soon as possible."
In the comments section of Gordon Smith's social media post about the acquisition, a representative for Auden confirmed that the company will not be involved in manufacturing the UK Chapman line.
Otherwise, no concrete info about Auden's plans with UK Guitar Builders Ltd has been revealed as of press time, but keep your eyes on Gordon Smith and Auden Guitars' respective websites in the meantime for updates.
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