The wheel thing

Positivity and change are afoot at wheeled and outdoor toy specialist MV Sports, which has recently made several new appointments across its business, taken a fresh approach to colleague wellbeing, and completed work on a major new e-mobility store and warehousing facility. Toy World publisher John Baulch and editor Rachael Simpson-Jones paid a visit to the company’s Birmingham HQ to catch up with Phil Ratcliffe, MD, about how changes at every level are driving MV Sports.

promise to stand the test of time, Phil has high hopes for its recent pre-school additions to the portfolio - Gabby’s Dollhouse, Bluey and CoComelon – which he says are showing huge potential based upon orders to date.

MV’s overall portfolio of wheeled and outdoor products also includes non-licensed products; over 40% of its products are from well-known own-brand ranges such as Stunted, MoVe, Squish, Hedstrom and Kickmaster. The product range spans all ages, from trikes and ride-ons for pre-schoolers to e- scooters and mobility for the modern urban commuter, as well as the elderly and less able. This all adds up to make the company a very attractive supplier – and one that is equipped for the future, as Phil explains.

We can also consolidate all our customers’ Wheeled and Outdoor needs, be they licensed and/or own brand, with low MOQs.”

Phil continues: “However, we understand that for some customers, holding volumes of stock has become an anathema in such challenging times. So, we’ve

Sitting in MV Sports’ showroom, it’s easy to see why the company considers itself as a onestop-shop for outdoor toys. The vast majority of the biggest kids’ licences are present and correct across scooters, bikes, skateboards, helmets, play tents and more, including, Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Encanto, Batman, Spider-Man and Barbie. Always on the lookout for classic properties that find that the Outdoor and Wheeled categories boomed during the pandemic and have remained a mainstay of most retailers’ toy offering. Unlike other toy segments, Wheeled toys offer a year-round sales opportunity. They enjoy a spike in summer and another at Christmas, when bikes, scooters and battery-operated ride-ons are still ubiquitous presents and offer great value for money. MV’s licensed portfolio allows the company to create ‘up to the minute freshness and excitement’, maximising the potential of those properties that are currently hot.

“I firmly advocate that MV Sports should be any buyer’s first port of call in this sector,” he tells us. “It is our mission to provide both the best licensed and own-brand products whenever and wherever our customers want them. This could be via domestic, FOB or drop-shipping; customers seeking to drive volume via FOB should know there has never been a better time to order as freight rates and material prices are falling back down to pre-pandemic levels.

“Of course, some products are more seasonally driven such as outdoor play equipment, play-tents and sports products, but the principal remains the same,” adds Phil. “We have strong brands with decades of heritage, and our aim is to get them in front of as many customers as possible.”

Electric scooters are an exciting prospect for the company’s growth aspirations, with the legalisation of privately owned e-scooters on public roads right around the corner. With investment in expertise and product, MV is targeting a different demographic, that of the teen and adult market, offering a practical solution for commuting to school, college or the workplace. Phil is confident that this is where the next big opportunity lies: “We know from data in other countries that once legalisation occurs, private purchases of e-scooters have skyrocketed.”

The company is already seeing similar trends across its bicycle division, where e-bikes are is currently providing strong growth for the group. Over in countries also an ex-professional Nottingham Forest football player, so if anyone reading this has plans to start a toy industry 5-a-side league, take notice). Jordan is working alongside Trish Cooper, who joined the company in October 2022, also as a national account manager. An ‘energetic, passionate livewire’, Trish’s background is in publishing and, more importantly, licensing: she knows her way around a licensing deal and isn’t afraid to get stuck in. Jordan and Trish are ably supported by a number of agents, including Mashalls in Ireland. the go. During our tour, hi-vis vests dutifully donned, we stopped to speak with one of the warehouse managers, who told us the new facility is a major upgrade and has significantly improved the speed of unloading and of order fulfilment. like Germany, which admittedly has the biking infrastructure we sorely lack in the UK, the e-bike industry is booming, with commuters embracing them as a favoured mode of transport in towns and cities. Phil believes that the UK is quickly catching up.

Charlie Foulkes, meanwhile, is on board as director of Marketing. In his role, Charlie will be focusing on the eCommerce side of the business across the group’s entire product portfolio, improving content and driving social media awareness. His remit includes driving B2C opportunities via the company’s own websites and across eCommerce and marketplace platforms, including Amazon.

All in all, Phil says MV Sports has witnessed more change in the past 12 months than it has in the last 10 years. MV is also taking a far more proactive stance regarding colleague wellbeing. From the simple (Easter eggs and Christmas wine) to the slightly more involved (a benefits programme which allows colleagues to enjoy discounts and special offers at retailers and restaurants) and a more flexible approach to working, the company is taking steps to ensure everyone involved with the business is happy and committed.

Behind the scenes and away from product, MV Sports is seeing numerous positive changes to the way it operates. Following the 2020 retirement of CEO Steve Grant (now non-exec chairman), Peter Kimberley ultimately took on the role a little over a year ago. Originally on-boarded as a non-exec director in 2021, Peter’s retail background at the likes of B&Q, TRU, Halfords and Pure Scooter means he’s brought new ideas and fresh thinking to the role. Phil says Peter’s background in retail has given the whole team a different perspective on how to drive the business in a more customer centric way.

MV’s sales team, too, has welcomed some new faces. Jordan Kay joined just before January’s London Toy Fair as national account manager, moving from Clementoni. You could say MV is in his blood: his dad, Neville, was himself an MV sales agent for a long time. (Jordan is

Many existing retailers are actively expanding into new categories and catering to a wider demographic. Diversification of the marketplace means more opportunities for MV to get its products in front of consumers. “The retail landscape is changing rapidly, and we have to change with it,” notes Phil. “If we look at our customer profile and relationships from 10 years ago, we can see they have changed radically, and the pace of this change is accelerating. What used to be known as discounters are now part of the fabric of the national retail landscape environment. This epithet has changed, and some of these accounts are now among our biggest customers.”

On top of new personnel and a tweaked business model, there are even bigger changes taking place at MV. Literally, big ones. Stopping briefly on our way out the door to discuss MV’s sustainability efforts (the office now runs on 100% solar energy provided by a photovoltaic grid, while the directors are encouraged to drive e-vehicles), we set out with Phil to have a look at MV’s new 80,000 square foot warehouse, located a right behind their existing office and warehouse. The new facility brings MV’s total warehousing space to an impressive 140,000 square feet, all of which is owned by the company, not leased, cutting costs significantly. Like the office, the warehouse runs on solar energy, while the installation of dock levellers has made the work far more comfortable for its operatives. It’s truly an impressive sight, row after row (after row) of shelving, pallets either being unloaded or queued for unloading, forklifts constantly on

This goes for Tandem Group’s shareholders too. As a PLC, Phil and Peter are required to regularly update shareholders about the ins and outs of the business, and Phil says that its most recent update saw engagement and investment increase significantly. Clearly, the shareholders like what they are seeing.

“I know that change can be difficult for some people, while others accept and work with it, and others still just absolutely love it,” Phil says. “Hopefully you can see that there’s loads of good stuff happening here at MV Sports, but at the same time, there’s a lot of taking place that simply hasn’t before. I see it this way: Things have changed at director level but we’re still the same company underneath. What we’re doing is purely positive, and we’ll always be the go-to supplier when it comes to outdoor and wheeled toys. That is one thing that will never change.”