Industry Moves

The Lego Group appoints new head of marketing

The Lego Group has announced that Isabel Graham will be joining the UK & Ireland division as head of marketing. Starting in October, Isabel will be responsible for Lego UK & Ireland’s marketing strategy and execution. She brings to the role a wealth of experience from across The Lego Group, having worked for the company for almost 10 years, including for The Lego Agency, Product Group Marketing and the Americas Brand Marketing Team. Most recently, Isabel held the role of head of marketing for the Nordics division.

Isabel will be replacing Marius Lang, who moved into the role of general manager for Benelux at The Lego Group on 1st August.

Marius said: “I have very much enjoyed being part of The Lego Group’s UK & Ireland division over the last few years. A big thank you to our customers and many other partners for their trust and collaboration. It’s been a fun ride and I am proud of what we have achieved.”

Isabel Graham added: “I am thrilled to be taking on this role, and I look forward to bringing my experience and passion for the Lego brand to the UK & Ireland business. It’s such an exciting time to be joining the team and I can’t wait to see what we are able to achieve together.”

Funko expands EMEA sales team with appointment of Karen Athill

Joining from MGA Entertainment, where she served as sales director for over three years, Karen Athill will lead the regional sales teams as Funko continues its European expansion, as regional director of sales.

At MGA, Karen helped to spearhead the strong growth of the UK region via a hugely successful sales strategy for brands including L.O.L. Surprise!, Rainbow High, Little Tikes, Baby born and Baby Annabel. Prior to this role, Karen headed up UK sales at Rubies, where she delivered multi-channel strategies across its comprehensive portfolio of products in both hardlines and softlines.

Speaking of her new position, Karen said: “I’m delighted to be joining the Funko family. Its huge range of licence partnerships offers unlimited opportunities and I’m thrilled to be working on such a diverse product range spanning multiple categories. Additionally, the ongoing portfolio expansion, with brands such as Loungefly, make this an exciting time to be a part of the business. It’s great to be back in a cross-category environment; I cannot wait to be working with the Funko team and look forward to supporting our EMEA retailer partners as they move towards further growth.”

Malcolm Ottley, vice president of sales at Funko (EMEA), added: “We are delighted to have been able to secure someone with Karen’s proven experience to help strengthen our retailer relationships throughout the UK, France and Iberia regions. Karen will lead our sales teams in those regions, further enhancing our strategic partner relations and continuing to drive our category expansions across our Pop! collectibles, toys, games and softlines through our thriving Loungefly business.”

Guy Rooney joins Zapf Creation as sales director

MGA UK & Ireland has announced the appointment of Guy Rooney to the role of Zapf Creation sales director. Reporting to UK managing director Neil Bandtock, the newly created position will allow Guy to oversee the portfolio of Zapf’s award-winning brands, including Baby Annabell, Baby born and Baby born surprise.

Joining the team following four years with Character Group, Guy will take up the position at the end of September. He joins with a wealth of experience in the toy and retail industry, including senior sales roles with IMC Toys and retail management positions with Argos and Homebase.

Neil Bandtock, MD of MGA UK and Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Guy to the team. Zapf is home to a number of evergreen and hugely successful brands and the addition of Guy as sales director will elevate this success to the next level. Our UK and Ireland retailers will really benefit from this increased focus.”

Guy Rooney commented: “I’m thrilled to be joining the Zapf team and can’t wait to get started. I’m looking forward to having the opportunity of supporting our customers and increasing the sales of these well-loved brands.”

Jazwares adds new commercial and licensing directors

As part of Jazwares’ ambitious European growth strategy, the EMEA team is expanding with Matt Stent appointed European commercial director and Sam Bourne the new European licensing director.

Matt will be responsible for growing Jazwares’s business in Europe, through its regional offices and third-party distributors, and will report into Jonny Taylor, SVP Europe. He comes to Jazwares having spent almost two decades at Argos & Sainsburys, most recently as the buying manager for Sports, Leisure, Outdoor Toys & Nursery. As the new European licensing director, Sam Bourne will focus on ensuring Jazwares delivers commercial value and results to global licensing partners, as the business continues to grow. She was formerly head of licensing and brand at Rubie’s Masquerade, so brings a wealth of experience within licensed consumer goods. She will report into global VP of licensing, Sam Ferguson.

In addition to these appointments, Jazwares has also expanded its UK team with a further 10 hires to fill newly created positions across licensing, sales, marketing, operations and business intelligence.

Jonny Taylor, SVP Europe, said: “We are thrilled to be adding such strong talent to our team, to match our growth both in the UK and across Europe. Exciting times ahead.”

Casdon team welcomes senior hire Laura Bull

Casdon Toys continues to expand its team with the recruitment of Laura Bull as Americas territory manager in a newly created role.

Joining the Casdon team in August, Laura brings with her a wealth of toy industry experience, having previously held the position of UK and Ireland sales manager at Magic Box, as well as working as marketing manager at both Posh Paws and Schleich UK.

The newly created role will allow Casdon to strengthen its operations overseas and harness growth in the American market.

Phil Cassidy, managing director at Casdon Toys, said: “We are delighted to welcome Laura into the Casdon Family. This is an exciting step for Casdon as we continue to focus on our international growth, and we have no doubt that Laura’s experience within the industry will help us to achieve plans we have for the coming year.”

Commenting on her new role, Laura added: “I am thrilled to be joining Casdon, a company so renowned and admired throughout the industry. I look forward to being part of the Casdon family and driving business growth in the American markets.”

Character Options announces new roles in sales restructure

Sally Hunter

Richard Dinham

Anthony Thorpe

Character Options has announced several high-profile changes to its sales structure as part of an internal review, which the company says will help to ensure the company is well positioned for future growth.

Home grown talents Richard Dinham and Anthony Thorpe have been promoted to senior national account managers in recognition of their first-rate professional approach and respect within the business.

Sales director David Bramford said: “I am really pleased for both Richard and Anthony as they have both played an integral part in Character Options’ success in recent years. From a personal perspective, it’s brilliant to have the opportunity to promote internally.”

In addition, Sally Hunter has joined the Character team as a further senior national account manager and will replace Guy Rooney, who is leaving to take on a new industry role.

David added: “Sally’s professional approach alongside her contagious enthusiasm will perfectly complement Anthony, Richard and the rest of the team. Over the years we

have always felt she would be an ideal fit for Character and whilst I would like to personally thank Guy for his excellent contribution, equally I am sure Sally will relish taking this opportunity.”