Hornby's boss says the company is back on track after recording losses of more than £30 million in three years.

Lyndon Davies, Hornby chief executive, believes the business is turning the corner, revealing the Margate-based company has more than halved its losses in the last 12 months.

It comes as the company prepares to launch a host of new products in the coming months - starting with the first new Airfix kit in five years.

The Grumman Hellcat, a Second World War fighter aircraft, went on sale this week and Mr Davies says he believes the 1:24 scale model will mark the "rebirth" of Hornby.

"The Hellcat is one of the first products from the new team and it's the first Airfix kit in five years," Mr Davies told KentOnline.

"Just as the Spitfire ruled the skies in Europe, the Hellcat did in the Pacific. There were 12,000 built - compared to 22,000 Spitfires - and the UK had 1,000.

"Internationally it's known by all our markets. It's gone down really well over in America."

Mr Davies says he feels there is a "great story unfolding" at Hornby from a company in chaos just 18 months ago when he took over. The business had lost £10m in each of the three previous years.

"We've been in a transition period - a company that was in turmoil and had lost its mojo and losing £10 million a year. We had to slam on the brakes," he said.

"If Hornby was a car over the last five years, if it should've turned left it went right and if it went right it went left.

"We didn't have any money and it had a bad reputation for paying its bills. We had to refinance the company.

"This is the best year we've had in about four years, prior to the first £10m loss. We've rewound a few years."

In the company's latest year end results announced this week, Hornby is finally back on track after returning to its home in Margate earlier this year.

Mr Davies said the company's sales of £33m in 2018/19 - a fall of nearly half compared to 2012 - set against the backdrop of cutting its losses put the company in a positive position for the future.

The losses have been halved to £5m and Mr Davies says he's confident they will continue going in the right direction by making products customers want to buy.

Licensing agreements have been reached with Warner Bros for Harry Potter, Wacky Races and Looney Tunes ranges for Hornby trains and Scalextric.

Mr Davies said: "It's a huge chunk [to cut]. The whole focus of the business is not about sales anymore but about people and relationships.

"It's like a rebirth. For a business to really work you need good people and great relationships with your supply chain.

"You need heart and that's what drives everyone. That's been put back into Hornby.

"We're not looking at short term profit but the foundations for the future - more engineers and putting the emphasis on great products rather than reports and graphs.

"Losses have come down by half against a background of lower sales. But we didn't have the products. With all our new products coming through these are exciting the market.

"New products are appearing at a much faster rate in the last two to three months. It can take a year and a half to get a product together.

"This has been about getting the whole engine of the company right. It's taken a bit of time.

"What we can't do is just go back to where we were.

"We need to make our brands and products relevant to the world we live in today. There's Sparkplug Scalextric where you run the cars on your phone.

"We're working on things that I'm pretty excited about for the future but can't say what they are."

Mr Davies says the company being located in Margate is key to the future of the business.

"The team in Margate have worked extremely hard. People left five years ago and some have been called back.

"Margate is our headquarters and that's where the decisions will be made.

"We hope to get more designers and engineers in but we have to do it in a structured way. It's the pumping heart."

Hornby is celebrating its 100th anniversary of making model trains in 2020 and is preparing a range of products to commemorate the landmark.

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