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“Karl and Alex are a welcome addition to the team and we’re confident our national accounts will go from strength to strength under their management”

Julia Cake, UK country manager at Flair

Flair bolsters sales team

Flair has added two new recruits to its sales team which will, the company said, help the ongoing growth of the business and maintain its strong retail relationships and customer satisfaction.

Karl Young has joined as senior national account manager and Alex McKie has taken on the role of national account manager.

Young has looked after Amazon for Bandai UK for more than half a decade before, most recently, working at housewares company DNC. He will be responsible for the likes of Amazon, Asda and Sainsbury’s in his new role.

McKie has had roles within publishing, gifting and stationery, and, most recently, at Curious Universe. He will be looking after B&M, The Entertainer and Tesco among others.

Julia Cake, UK country manager at Flair, said: “Karl and Alex are a welcome addition to the team and we’re confident our national accounts will go from strength to strength under their management. 2022 has been an excellent year so far and, with a fantastic brand portfolio and team in place, we are in an exciting position heading towards Christmas.”

Karl Young

Alex McKie

Rubies appoints new head of licensing

Rubies Masquerade has announced the appointment of a new head of licensing to look after its portfolio of brands.

The new staffer, Justin McGiffin, will be overseeing all of its EMEA licensing activities, taking in all categories, and will lead and manage the licensing team at the company. He will also further develop its stable.

McGiffin joins from Rovio Entertainment, where he was licensing director sales, which Rubies said makes him an ideal fit for the role. He also has experience at the likes of Disney and Jakks Pacific.

Rubies added that McGiffin’s experience at a global level and in looking after some of the biggest brands and properties in the world, as well as his track record of working with distribution platforms across multiple territories and building sales partnerships, further boosts his credentials and suitability.

Rubies MD Mike O’Connell said: “It’s exciting to see Rubies grow, as we acquire new licences, while building and expanding upon existing ones. To do this, we needed a head of licensing who is inspiring, ambitious and has experience within the industry. Justin is the perfect choice with his back-catalogue of senior roles at some of the most prestigious global brands in the toy and entertainment world, as well as his motivation and brand development skills.”

Sambro aims to boost Euro business

With more than a decade under its belt for its European business, Sambro is aiming to further grow after appointing a new head of business development.

Sambro is aiming to develop retailer relations, develop new products and new exclusive relationships and the appointment fits in with these aims.

Hein Meurer, a customer relations expert, has joined in the new role with the aim of focusing on its development strategies, opening up new retail opportunities and speeding up growth.

Appointment a plus for Plus-Plus

Direct-to-market toy company Plus-Plus is heading to the UK and has made a major appointment in the shape of industry stalwart Phil Hooper.

The Danish company is a big player in the Nordic markets and has successfully crossed the Atlantic to the US and has now set its sights on the UK market.

It will officially open its doors on these shores in January 2023 and Hooper has been appointed in the role of managing director for Plus-Plus UK & Ireland.

He boasts more than 25 years’ experience in the business, with senior roles at Mattel, Spin Master and Warner Bros Discovery, working with brands such as Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, Bakugan, Tech Deck, Hatchimals, Kinetic Sand, and Meccano.

Hooper said: “The commitment to incorporating a UK & Ireland subsidiary is a clear reflection of Plus-Plus’ ambition to build a long-term brand in partnership with our retail customers.’’

More Insights as Family announces new strategy

Kids and family market intelligence company The Insights Family has unveiled a new strategy and a new leadership structure as well as boosting its Industry Knowledge Advisory Board.

The move from the company, which provides real-time market intelligence – as well as contributing to Toys ‘n’ Playthings – will also see it launching a new range of products and services. Company founder Nick Richardson said: “Over the past few months, I have been able to focus on auditing and reimagining our marketing, product, innovation, and commercial strategy. That process is now complete, which means our new strategy brings total alignment across our product, marketing, innovation, and commercial teams. The seven-stage model of how we do research, data & insights essentially enables us to provide our clients with the ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’, and ‘how’. We have repackaged our proposition and will be launching a series of new products and services, from specific vertical reports based on the success of our quarterly Toys & Games reports, and several exciting new tech innovations, which will enable us to put the right intel in the right hands at the right time.”

The first salvo in the restructuring of The Insights Family, which includes the likes of Amazon, BBC, Disney, Hasbro and Warner Bros as clients, as well as producing market intelligence and reports into the market, saw the appointment of Clive Maudsley as managing director. Meanwhile, founder Richardson is stepping down from his role as CEO, enabling him to concentrate on marketing, product and innovation at the company.

He said: “We are very proud of the consistent triple digit growth we have achieved since our inception but, for this to be sustainable moving forward, we Danielle Davies

Graham Saltmarsh

Ian Wickham

Mario Dubois

Rikhi Narula needed to take stock and review all aspects of our business. Bringing experienced leaders into our business is something we are 100% committed to and I am delighted to welcome Clive to The Insights Family, enabling me to focus on finding new ways that our data and insights can be used to drive ROI across our clients’ businesses”. Maudsley added: “There is no doubt that this business is already a global leader in many areas, and I look forward to using this as a starting point to establish the business in a class of one.”

The next move has seen the company make a raft of appontments to its Industry Advisory Board; with a quintet of people – Danielle Davies, Graham Saltmarsh, Ian Wickham, Mario Dubois and Rikhi Narula – joining to help Richardson implement The Insight Family’s new strategy.

Richardson said: “I am delighted and honoured to welcome Danielle, Graham, Ian, Mario and Rikhi to our new-look Industry Advisory Board. The board, who are representative of our clients, with significant experience across advertising and media, brand management, content, licensing, marketing, product development and management and sales and category management, will translate our market intelligence into our clients’ businesses to help us achieve our mission of being our client’s business-critical partner.”

Davies said: “Working with The Insights Family has allowed me to see data changing daily. Using this data, when acquiring and developing content, helps me look ahead at future trends and new markets, and developing content around this provides direction to a new brand. Never has the international content market been so exciting and challenging with the way brands are consumed on and off screens, and how the industry is learning to adapt, so I’m thrilled to be on the Advisory Board, allowing me to help shape the information and ensure it is shared as widely as possible.”

Saltmarsh noted: “I was once told that knowledge is power, I have never seen knowledge in this way... knowledge is smart, it’s insightful, it helps you make better decisions and not only helps you make money it also helps you save money. Why would anyone make decisions in isolation when it is possible to make a better-informed decision using “knowledge”. This is why I’m very happy to be working with the Insights Family, to help the industry make better informed decisions.”

Wickham commented: “I am delighted to be joining the Advisory Board to facilitate and develop sales and category management focus within the business. Dynamic real-time consumer data is a hugely powerful medium for any company to take on board, digest and use to ensure they remain ahead of the curve in an ever-competitive marketplace and I’m looking forward to assisting in driving this focus.”

Dubois said: “I’m delighted to be working with The Insight Family to deliver such a game-changing opportunity and business-critical service. Creators and IP holders face an unprecedented challenge in a fiercely competitive market, to be more distinctive, innovative, and original, while meeting the demands of their audiences. Never has the detailed level of performance analysis and data, astute level of insight, and ability to apply this knowledge to IP and brand development, been so necessary and valuable.”

Narula added: “By providing tools to access real-time, relevant, and actionable information is a game-changer for any consumer company. I look forward to working with Nick and the wider team to translate their research, data and insights into their clients’ daily routines and operations.”