SME is leaving the OEM and aftermarket/retail tonearm business.

has anyone ever visited the factory?

Here is a video tour by analog planet shaking camera

The Sme production are like the best weapons, well built, excellently finished, solid and durable, produced with constant performance and where possible they also build the screws inside the factory

Well, what's the difference between solid and very well build Reed tonearms for example and SME ? Reed does not have their own factory, but the build quality is second to none, made in Lithuania, not even in England. And Reed also design their own turntables. You don't have to own a factory to made amazing tonearms and stuff, the fact that SME own their own factory does not make their tonearms any cheaper, they are actually very expensive, pretty much like everything from England. There are many more amazing tonearms on the market from the small manufacturers like Schroeder in Germany, i also remember Da Vinci tonearms. Those 3 (Reed, Schroeder, Da Vinci) are the arms that not only sound great, but they also looks great (unlike SME). 

@lohanimal They don't go well with Linn Sondeks and other 3 points due to their weight (talking about the iv and v) but they are a great choice for Roksan, Point triangle and many other decks.
You are absolutely right, Just switch to a SMEV from a Roksan Tabriz Zi and its a big improvement on my Roksan Xerxes 20.

One of the funniest things is that they used to send things via simple first class post in a box as opposed to signed for delivery - don't know if that has changed though

@chakster 

bear in mind SME have been consistently producing arms for over 50 years - can anyone else claim this? no waiting list like a Schroeder. DaVinci is very costly like Schroeder too.

Any SME arm ever made can and will be serviced and restored by SME both within a reasonable time and price.

The point is not just about putting down the SME or any other arm for that matter. The issue is that the arm has been taken off the market and it has a set of specific strengths that people can no longer benefit from which is a shame. Hell, I have other arms that I like more and which work better in my set-up but it does not detract from what is a defining product being taken from the market.

You look at many extraordinary turntables and they so often sport an SME arm - this goes back decades - nobody else can claim this to the extent that SME can - save perhaps Fidelity Research.

I do agree that british products are expensive though. Funny thing is that I've never been blown away by their own turntables

I love my SME 20/2 but when I switched my tonearm from a IV.vi to a Tri-planar I realized that the SME tonearm was not as good as I thought it was.  Not even close to the TP.  
Still, SME is an awesome company and I hope they continue to thrive and develop more awesome products in the future.