Industry Moves

Nikki Samuels joins Hunter Price as commercial director

Consumer products business Hunter Price International is continuing to add strength and depth to its team with its latest high-profile appointment. Brand and licensing expert Nikki Samuels has joined as commercial director, to help guide the successful Manchester based business, which is on target to exceed its £40m sales forecast this year.

Nikki, the former licensing director and founder of character product manufacturer Sambro, brings decades of experience and knowledge to the Hunter Price team. He joins as part of the company’s ambitious growth strategy across its core product categories, including home & lifestyle, toys & activity and stationery & craft.

Following the appointment, co-founder Jeremy Winburn will now take up the role of trading director, to focus on the company’s fast-paced, reactionary trading business. Nikki will concentrate on the longer-term strategic vision for the business and new business development opportunities.

Jeremy Winburn commented: “We are industry innovators – and over the past two years we’ve continued to adapt and evolve, to carve out very clear areas of focus to help us achieve our goals. We’ve been strengthening our fantastic teams with the best talent, from buying and design to sales and marketing. We’ve elevated our whole thought process and approach to enable us to deliver excellence within the industry. Nikki really shares our passion for product and his addition to the team will be invaluable as we start activating our plans over the coming years.”

Nikki said: “When you set foot in Devon Mill – the home of Hunter Price, you’re hit with such an incredible energy of excitement and passion. The talent and drive to create outstanding products is like no other business I’ve known and that’s what brought me here. We’ve got really solid foundations as a business and now it’s time to maximise our opportunities and potential across our core categories in the UK and throughout Europe.”

Nikki will also sit on the board of directors alongside the co-founders, Jeremy Winburn and managing director, Josh Eden; operations director, Jonathan Alexander and toys sales director, Richard Belford.

MGA Entertainment welcomes three new account managers

Left to right, Laura Leigh-Mills, Andrew Kay and Jamie Gordon are joining the MGA sales team

MGA Entertainment has announced the three new hires, who will join the UK team. These include Jamie Gordon as senior national account manager, Laura Leigh-Mills as eCommerce national account manager and Andrew Kay as national account manager.

As senior national account manager, Jamie Gordon is responsible for grocery and discounter channels. Having previously worked as an Asda implant and led the Morrisons account for Hasbro, Jamie joins MGA with vast experience in this sector.

Laura Leigh-Mills joins in the role of eCommerce national account manager, having previously gained experience in the position of national account manager with Carte Blanche.

Andrew Kay is the third new addition to the MGA team, as national account manager. His previous experience includes 13 years with toy company Funko.

Julie Taylor, UK and Ireland sales director, stated: “We are extremely excited to welcome three such strong additions to the team. Jamie, Laura and Andrew bring with them a wealth of relevant experience and the passion and drive to take our account management to the next level. 2022 is already proving to be a huge year for the company. With a strong sales team in place – and the additions of Jamie, Laura and Andrew – we have every confidence this this year will be our biggest and best yet.”

Ravensburger boosts team with two new hires

Ravensburger has made two new appointments for 2022, boosting multiple teams within the company. Boosting the Operations team is Jonathan Heil who joins as facilities manager. Jon brings with him with him more than 10 years’ experience in facilities, office and operation management and will report directly to head of Supply Chain and Operations, Colin Reeves. Della Holding has been appointed as consumer service advisor and will report directly to head of Marketing and Product Development, Katy Fletcher. The appointments follow the news in January that Tim Hall, managing director of Ravensburger for over two decades, is to step down from the role during the second quarter of 2022 after more than 20 years. He explained that his decision had been made for personal reasons and that the company was in ‘excellent health’. Tim will now become part of the team looking after international licensing.

Toys R Us UK operation unveils new additions to buying and marketing team

Standing: James Ford, Lukasz Jajinski and Kate Ellis / Sitting: Diane Lee and Mike Coogan

Toys R Us UK has announced several new appointments to its buying team. New recruits James Ford, Katie Ellis, Lukasz Jajinski and Sarah Harding will join existing team members Mike Coogan and Diane Lee in the new Toys R Us operation, which plans to re-introduce the brand to the UK toy market within the next few months.

Louis Mittoni, chief executive of Toys R Us Australia and the man who will be spearheading the brand’s UK relaunch, said: “I’m very excited to welcome over 100 years of retailing experience in our new team, who will lead the relaunch our iconic brand back into the UK market in the next few months. We have an amazing Toy and Baby buying team, which I believe is the best in the country. With this team now in place, we’re hitting the ground running and have been reaching out to the supply base to see with whom we can align on this amazing journey.”

New eCommerce and marketing director Mike Coogan, who rejoined UK Toys R Us in December, spent the last 27 years of his career in the same role. He started the eCommerce business for Toys R Us in 1996 and previously worked for Argos and Peacocks.

Diane Lee, who started in January as buying director, spent over 30 years in buying and merchandising with 20 of them in the toy and baby business at Mothercare, Early Learning Centre, Hamleys and later with Babies R Us.

In toys, new senior buyer James Ford comes with 20 years’ buying experience at Debenhams, seven of those in toys. He also gained valuable experience at the pure play e-tailer Boomf, where he launched a toy and gifting proposition in just six weeks. He will be joined by Sarah Harding, who commenced her toy career at Woolworths and Entertainment UK, before moving to Hamleys. She spent eight years as a senior buyer at Toys R Us before moving to Mothercare and Early Learning Centre and has most recently been working at Bourne Leisure.

Katie Ellis joins as senior buyer on Babies R Us, having spent the last 20 years buying in all areas of the baby business, starting her career at Tesco, followed by stints at Babies R Us and Mothercare.

Lukasz Jajinski started his career on the shop floor and worked his way up to area manager before deciding to move into buying. At Argos, he worked on Infant and Pre-school, progressing from buyers’ admin to buyer, and will now transfer all his commercial skills to the baby industry within Babies R Us.

Little Tikes appoints new senior brand manager for UK and Ireland

Alaina Cornish has been appointed as Little Tikes’ new senior brand manager for UK & Ireland, bringing with her 15 years’ strong consumer marketing and commercial experience from a diverse range of well-known consumer brands including Neff, easyJet, National Trust and Discovery Foods. As senior brand manager for Little Tikes, she will be responsible for driving consumer demand for the full range of Little Tikes products across the territories.

Commenting on her new role, Alaina said: “I have strong commercial understanding with a real passion for consumer marketing. Having worked in different industries, I hope to bring a fresh perspective to toy industry marketing, building on my past retail and FMCG experience.”

Using her past category management experience, Alaina said she will be looking to drive growth of Little Tikes products utilising market insights and finding opportunities.

“I’m delighted to have joined the Little Tikes team,” said Alaina. “Getting to work for a classic brand that continues to innovate, whilst creating wonderful childhood memories is a real privilege. I look forward to being part of the incredible MGA Entertainment family and driving growth in UK and Ireland.”

Little Tikes anticipates continued growth throughout 2022 in outdoor toys and beyond, which will be supported with heavy TV advertising and continued investment into PR, digital advertising and social channels. A new Little Tikes campaign launching in spring will celebrate outdoor play, whilst encouraging families to enjoy time in their own back gardens.

New NAM joins Tomy to oversee growing games portfolio

Samantha Whittaker has joined Tomy’s sales team as national account manager, bringing with her a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for toys and games.

Reporting into UK sales director, Kingsley Matthews, she will work exclusively across Tomy’s growing games portfolio, including Drumond Park, Zanzoon and Tomy Games, which contains industry leading names such as Logo 2nd Edition, Articulate!, Pop-Up Pirate and Screwball Scramble.

Kingsley said of the appointment: “Tomy has grown consistently over the last three years, so it was important that we found just the right person that will help us maintain the fantastic work already achieved, while continuing to help us develop and grow within the category. Sam has already fitted in incredibly well to the Tomy family and I look forward to working with her over the coming months and years – we’re confident she’ll become a real asset to the team.”

Sam added: “I’m delighted to be joining the Tomy team and I can’t wait to apply all that I’ve learnt during my many years within the industry to help bolster its games offering.

New hires swell Huffy UK team

Ian Rice, Rachael Bradshaw & Ben Jarrett

Huffy has announced the continued growth of its UK team, with the addition of four new recruits to its UK Headquarters, based in Bedfordshire.

The latest hires include UK sales manager, Rachael Bradshaw, who has a wealth of experience in the toy and pre-school industries. Rachael has worked at companies including Maclaren, Mega Bloks and Zapf Creations, and is no stranger to supporting key toy retailers in the UK. Reporting into Rachael is sales agent Ian Rice, who made his debut for the company at Toy Fair in January this year and will be managing the independent toy channel.

The company has also appointed Ben Jarrett as

Ian Rice, Rachael Bradshaw & Ben Jarrett eCommerce sales manager, with an expansive background in eCommerce for several corporate businesses. Ben commented: “Huffy is a fantastic brand and I’m thrilled to be joining at a time that is pivotal in terms of its eCommerce journey to drive it forward in the coming year.”

Supporting Ben is eCommerce Digital Marketing coordinator Glenn McGrath, who is dedicated to delivering a high standard of content for retailers to utilise in stores and online. As a qualified graphic designer, Glenn has considerable experience in all areas of marketing and content creation.

Jon Tilley, general manager for UK and Europe, commented: “This dynamic group brings experience, passion and drive to our business, which is everything Huffy stands for. We welcome them all to the Huffy family, as we set to accelerate our business goals in 2022. We feel that these new recruits will play a key role to strengthen our position in the UK as the leading supplier of bikes and outdoor rides on toys.”

The Huffy team will be exhibiting at both Indx Toy and Nursery and at The Toymaster May Show. The company’s Bedfordshire based showroom facility is also now open to view the company’s extensive range of bikes, ride-on toys and the new Disney, Marvel and Lucas Film licensed products.