Enter The Dragon

from Progressive Preschool January/February 2023

by Max Publishing: Print, Digital Media + Events (London)

New In Nursery

Inset: Originally a fashion entrepreneur, Touker Suleyman has made significant investments in the baby sector.

ENTER THE

A regular on BBC One’s Dragons’ Den, Touker Suleyman is one of the UK’s best-known retail entrepreneurs. Following his motivational speech to the audience at the Progressive Preschool Awards 2022, PPS sits down with him to find out more about the babycare companies he has a stake in – including the award-winning Matchstick Monkey – and what inspires him to invest in a brand.

Touker Suleyman has an eye for a winning product. Of his 2016 decision to invest in Matchstick Monkey – now the UK’s top teething toy and the winner of multiple awards – before the product had even launched, he recalls: “I wasn't really looking at the baby sector until Matchstick’s founder Katie Windridge came to see me to talk about her bag company [Forbes & Lewis]. She had a little monkey teether with her. That was it. I think it was only about 10 minutes before I’d decided to invest.”

Cute and sturdy with easy-grab handles, Matchstick Monkey is a baby-safe silicone teether that can also be used to deliver pain relief to the hard-to-reach back gums via its bobbled head. Katie had designed the product after her two daughters both suffered terrible pain while teething, and she’d found it impossible to rub teething gel onto their gums without getting her fingers bitten.

Touker was struck by the uniqueness and functionality of Matchstick Monkey’s design, and by Katie’s business acumen. He immediately set to work, switching production of the product to a factory he knew well. “They’re Procter & Gamble’s biggest manufacturer of toothbrushes; there's over a billion dollars of investment in plant equipment there,” he says.

From the get-go, Matchstick Monkey proved a hit with parents, and today the product sells in 60 countries worldwide. Under Touker’s guidance, the business has expanded into bath toys, feeding and babycare products, plush toys and more.

“We’ve cornered the market with Matchstick Monkey,” says Touker. “It’s a very credible brand. It’s got brand loyalty, it’s got brand elasticity.” Comforters will soon be added to Matchstick’s portfolio, following the recent acquisition of Dumforter, manufacturer of award-winning 3-in-1 dummy, teether and comforter products. “The Dumforter will be redesigned with a Matchstick aesthetic, so that it makes sense within the Matchstick Monkey range,” explains Touker.

Touker originally made his millions in the fashion trade (his company Low Profile Group still owns UK fashion label Ghost and men’s outfitters Hawes & Curtis), and also has interests in bicycle marketplace Bike Soup, marketing and advertising company Intelligent Futures, and a number of property businesses. So, what’s the draw of the baby sector?

“With the fashion business, you’re essentially vulnerable to ups and down,” Touker explains. “The baby world is not as volatile. It’s quite small, and it’s fairly easy to pick up distributors around the world. It’s more of a steady-as-she-goes business.”

While Matchstick Monkey continues to thrive – with its Gigi Giraffe Teething Starter Set recently picking up a Gold Mother & Baby award for Best Teething Product – Touker is also developing several other brands in the baby and nursery space. He is an investor in Babocush, another product designed by a mum looking to solve a particular problem, in this case, her newborn’s inability to self-soothe owing to painful acid reflux. Kerry Nevins found it hard to settle her son anywhere other than on her chest until she came up with the idea for a “reverse baby rocker”, which would allow him to lie upright on his tummy rather than on his back.

Right: Little Hoppa’s sustainable and “beautifully designed” products are aimed at the top end of the market.

Left: Matchstick Monkey, the teething brand that first captured Touker’s attention. Below: The Babocush Comfort Cushion offers little ones relief from painful colic.

Touker has been able to open up doors to expand the brand internationally and, again, is adding to the product range. “Babocush is a very steady business, and big in the States. We realised pretty quickly that the brand also needed its own bouncer, so just recently we designed and developed one.”

A similar approach was taken with Pottiagogo. The lightweight travelling potty, with an easy-opening and folding mechanism that can be operated with just one hand, was designed by businesswoman Anne-Marie Perkins, and was recommended to Touker by a senior buyer at Asda. “It’s a very slick design, and we thought Anne-Marie was very credible,” says Touker. His involvement in Pottiagogo is fairly new, but brand expansions so far include a teddy-bear-shaped changing mat and a backpack cleverly designed to carry the travel potty, mat, and other essentials.

Touker’s baby sector portfolio is wide-ranging, embracing teething, toys, feeding and potty training products, at a range of price points. At the top end is Little Hoppa, a brand producing planet-friendly, multifunctional nursery products, including a 3-in-1 Activity Set that transforms from a baby gym for little ones, to a bouncer, to a children’s play table.

“Little Hoppa came on Dragons’ Den,” recalls Touker. “It was premium product, sustainable and beautifully designed, with strong appeal in the highend market.”

With a £500 price point, the Hoppa won’t be gracing every nursery. “We’re not looking to sell hundreds of thousands,” Touker says. “The targets are not huge. However, revenue makes up for it.”

Retailers, including Harrods and Kidly, can take advantage of drop shipping, so they can replenish stock as and when it sells.

“We’ve just taken control in the last few months and the first delivery is arriving in the next couple of weeks,” Touker says. “We've already pre-sold part of that and we'll probably sell out quite quickly.”

Touker isn’t fazed by 2023’s gloomy economic forecast. “Whether it’s a teether or a changing bag, these are international products. In the UK alone, there are 800,000 babies born every year. So long as babies continue to be born and mothers need certain products, it will be okay.”

Further acquisitions could be on the cards. “We’re now considering toothbrushes for babies, sustainable wooden toys, a whole range of products… I think there will be opportunities next year, especially with smaller brands, where people just want to give up and sell their businesses. We’ll look at them and if the product makes sense, if it’s unique, and if it can add value to the business, then we'll make an offer.”

Finally, does Touker have any words of wisdom for start-up brands looking to break into the baby sector?

“My advice would be, don't give up. Yes, it’s difficult to get into retailers. However, what I do know is if you’ve got a unique product with a unique selling point, buyers will look at it.”

Bottom left: The Pottiagogo range of products is designed to take the stress out of toilet training. Below: Bath toys, tablewear and plush are just some of Matchstick Monkey’s brand expansions.