Company Profile - Sambro

Making strides at Sambro

The purchase of Sambro International by private equity group Elysian in 2016 heralded the start of significant change in the 25-year-old company, known primarily for its arts & craft and novelty ranges. Toy World caught up with new CEO Paul Blackaby to learn how the company is changing and growing.

Paul, tell us how you are settling into your new role as CEO at Sambro.

I have been with Sambro for 18 months now, initially as chief financial officer and becoming CEO in February this year. While I wasn’t seeking to be CEO, I was delighted to take on the role. The entire 18-month period has, of course, been dominated by the impact of Covid-19, but we are now in a ‘bounce-back’ year with sales and profitability significantly ahead of 2020. Morale always follows financial results, of course, so I am currently enjoying it. We have a lot to do, but I have a terrific leadership team around me, and I feel as if we are making excellent progress.

What immediate changes have you made and why?

We have a clear focus in the business on value product and this has largely been achieved through simplification in certain core areas. We have reduced our stockholding and the business now operates with a ‘sell to buy’ mentality, rather than a ‘buy to sell’ one. Aged stock in the business has been reduced to nil over the past two years. We have also reduced the number of licensing partners from over 100 different licences in 2019 to just a handful of key partners in 2021, with a strategy of focusing on strong evergreen properties such as Disney, Nickelodeon, Mattel and Hasbro to drive sustainable growth.

We are also increasing our own brand development: own brand products represented roughly 30% of sales in 2020, compared to 17% in 2019. There is more focus on growing relationships with core existing customers and new customers that have - or will have - a large European footprint. We are also in the process of launching on Amazon and have great hopes for this partnership. Over and above this, we have made some judicious changes to the leadership team, which I am very pleased with.

What plans do you have both for this year, and beyond?

Our clear focus is our top 30 key accounts across Europe. We want to be in a position to grow each of those accounts every year, without reliance on significant trends. We want to work with our key licensors and achieve all of the objectives we have agreed with them but, in addition, we want to grow our own-branded sales. After several false starts, we are also determined to make a success of our eCommerce business.

How important is having the right team to Sambro?

Our people are our most important asset. We want to attract, develop, empower and promote the very best talent in our organisation. If we look after our people, then our people will look after our customers, and we’ll do well. I have an ambition that we have so much talent, engaged and empowered to make decisions and progressing our business positively, that it would be difficult for a visitor on site to work out who the boss is. When that happens, I know that we’ll have done a great job.

What are the growth opportunities you have identified for the company?

Our growth strategy depends on building relationships and developing our largest accounts. In addition, we wish to expand geographically further into Europe. We have a significant presence in the UK, Benelux, Germany and France, but there is still plenty to go after in other European countries. We continue to categorise our business into grocers, value retailers and specialist toy stores: we have an ambition to work with the biggest retailers in each of these sectors in each country.

How is 2021 shaping up for Sambro?

2021 is going very well. At the end of May, yearto-date sales were significantly ahead of last year’s figures and our order book is nearly 100% ahead of the previous year, as many of the improvements we have implemented over the last two years have started to bear fruit. More importantly, the cultural change we have been implementing has meant it’s a happier place to work.

Which lines are performing particularly well, and what new launches do you have coming up during Q3 and Q4?

We’re really proud of our plush ranges, which are going from strength to strength. As well as our existing agreements with Care Bears Baby and Disney, we also recently signed an agreement with the team behind Teletubbies and Peppa Pig in the Benelux region. The success of our Barbie range has been phenomenal in the UK and throughout Europe, and we look forward to sharing more developments around this franchise soon. Our Felties range has been very well received and I’m excited about the new Paw Patrol Work Bench, which will be launching shortly. Our own new Battle Star Brawlers range will be launching in Q3 and we’re delighted that the range has already received significant retailer uptake.

What particular trends have you identified for this year?

ESG and sustainability are trends that are here to stay and we’re seeing these coming through as a key priority for more of our customers. Health and well-being has been a trend that has gained momentum over the last 12 months and we’re seeing subtle shifts in buying priorities as more people decide to holiday at home and family time becomes a priority. We expect online shopping to remain a significant part of everyone’s life in a postpandemic world.