PEOPLE
NEWS A change at Ravensburger Tim Hall has announced that he has decided to step down from his role as managing director of Ravensburger in Q2 after more than 20 years in the role. Tim said: “The decision is a purely personal one, but I have been fully supported by the super management team of the parent company. I have been very fortunate to have worked alongside such a talented and hard-working team in Bicester. In particular, over the past two years, they have worked tirelessly across all areas of the business to meet the sustained increase in demand for our products and I’m extremely grateful for all their efforts and support. “I’m also grateful for all the support I have received from our customers, licensors,
Rebecca Galligan
Toys R Us UK appoints buying director international colleagues and other partners. We have very ambitious plans for the next three years and I look forward to seeing the company go from strength to strength. “We are currently recruiting for my successor and then there will be a suitable handover period. I‘m delighted to say that I will not be leaving Ravensburger but will become part of the team looking after international licensing. I will therefore be able to keep in touch with all my Ravensburger colleagues and all our partners at retail and in the licensing community.”
Claire Hodgson
Sabine Dix
Changes at
Simba Smoby Toys UK
Simba Smoby Toys UK has promoted Sabine Dix to the role of head of sales, and appointed Claire Hodgson as national account manager and Rebecca Galligan as marketing consultant. Sabine previously held the position of senior national account manager and has been instrumental to the growth of the business, particularly the online and grocery channels, as well as the company’s national accounts. This, together with two decades of experience gained at Spin Master, Tomy, MGA, Trends and Theo Klein, will be invaluable to Sabine in her new role, which includes day-to-day management of the sales team. Claire joined the team in January as national account manager, supporting the company’s online customers. She brings more than 20 years of experience in toy and nursery industry sales, having most recently held roles with Spin Master and MGA Entertainment. The company has also confirmed the appointment of Rebecca Galligan as marketing consultant. She has a great deal of experience in marketing, brand strategy and franchise management, including senior marketing roles during a 14-year career at Mattel.
12
Toys R Us has appointed Diane Lee as director of buying. She has more than 30 years of experience in merchandising and buying, and previously worked at Toys R Us UK, Hamleys, Early Learning Centre and Mothercare. Diane will be managing direct buying and product strategy within Toys R Us and Babies R Us, which will return to the UK this year, with dedicated websites in the first phase. This news follows the announcement last October that Toys R Us ANZ Limited and WHP Global, the parent company of Toys R Us and Babies R Us, had signed a landmark long-term exclusive licence agreement for Toys R Us ANZ to run digital and physical retail commerce for Toys R Us and Babies R Us in the UK.
New senior appointments at Rainbow Designs Rainbow Designs has strengthened its sales team with the appointment of Gary Hughes as national accounts controller. The company said Gary’s extensive experience in both the publishing and toy sectors, most recently managing the games category at Winning Moves across the high street and independents, will be a ‘fantastic and welcomed asset’ to the team. Meanwhile, Mandy McGough, who has been with Rainbow Gary Hughes Designs for five years and successfully developed the northern sales territory, has been promoted to field sales team leader. Rainbow Designs’ sales and marketing director Zara Grindrod said: “Kicking off 2022 with Gary at the helm of our national accounts base is going to be a huge benefit for us, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve this year. Mandy also absolutely deserves her promotion. She has worked really hard in the past few years and is a great ambassador for Mandy McGough Rainbow, with passion for our brands and products, and therefore the perfect candidate to head up the field sales team.”
toysnplaythings.media
