Toys are where John Crane Ltd started nearly 23 years ago, and are the backbone of the company. Our Educational Division run by Angela Earley is responsible for an important percentage of sales, mainly supplying Educational wholesalers rather than direct sales to nurseries, schools and playgroups. "An advantage with this market is that sales peak in January, March and April, which helps us balance out the Toy Division sales that peak later in the year."

Children’s Nurseries are a growth area and it creates sales in other sectors, as parents get to recognise the brand name, the quality of the products and the fact that their children enjoy playing with the toys. Selling into this market is quite demanding, for example, furniture sold for communal use has to meet higher standards than that used in the home, so products are exceptionally well made.

"Five years ago, we set up Baby Crane as our Nursery Division. We have always sold well into the specialist mail order catalogues and moving from toys into room accessories and furniture seemed like a natural progression. For two years, we walked the nursery fairs, weighing up which to exhibit at – and ended up at both! We find we see different customers at the different shows and feel that the move to the NEC for the BPA Baby & Child has rejuvenated this show while Harrogate gives us good steady trade. It’s amazing how many new accounts we opened last year and the two fairs provide an excellent showcase for our nursery products.

"The demand for products that are natural and/or organic is growing and much of our trade is to people who care deeply for the environment and we are able to respond positively to their concerns. Although it takes both time and money, we believe that not only do we need to trade in an ethical way but we also need be sure that it IS happening and be able to show our customers that it is not just words and pieces of paper. We conduct extensive audits on all aspects of our business – the wood used in our products, the factories we use, the manufacturing methods and the conditions of the labour force.

"Wood is a natural product but its use can cause a number of environmental concerns. The most obvious is the question of whether the wood comes from a sustainable source. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a track back system on the sourcing of wood. For example teak, which is an important wood in the outdoor furniture market, can be very difficult to source ethically. The larger retailers of wooden items request FSC products where possible and there is a knock on effect throughout the rest of the trade. Because wood is a living product it is likely to contain living matter and therefore all sorts of insects and mould can live in or on the wood! Many consumers prefer their wood to be chemical free. They also want it to be ‘bug’ free and many countries insist that the wood is fumigated before it is imported to ensure that nothing untoward is brought into the country. We are currently trialling a new, exciting method of wood technology that we hope to introduce later in the year.

Design is of vital importance to the success of the John Crane Ltd range. Manufacturing may have to be carried out in the Far East on the grounds of cost but many of John Crane designs are created in the UK. A Teddy Bear’s face designed in China is somehow not quite right/familiar. Having that ‘aah’ factor is so very important. It is also important that the designs reflect what the child sees and hears in this country, for example, a child is more likely to relate to a British farm with native cows and ducks. Our Natural Stacking Cubes has pictures of fruit all of which is available in the UK.

"We take customer care very seriously. Most of our products are batch coded, both on the packaging and on the product itself so if there is a problem with an item we can easily trace back and identify who else has had products from that batch. With the best will in the world, toys can get broken and parts go missing; happily we are equipped for this and are able to supply spares for many of our products. Likewise with packaging, as boxes can get damaged, leaving a perfectly good toy without a box. We are able to replace these.

"This year we launched over 150 new products at ExCeL. We feel confident enough in our designs that we go into manufacturing without waiting for approval at trade shows, so over two thirds are available in our warehouse now. Harrogate will be the first chance for many of our nursery customers to see our new range. We are very pleased to be introducing GoGo® toys. GoGo® was the first company to commercially make bead frames over 20 years ago and it was their excellent products for the educational market that first attracted us. We will be showing a number of their wooden rattles made to a very high standard from European beech and we will be increasing the range later in the year. Also at Harrogate there will be a number of new bedroom accessories. The success we have had in this field has amazed us, but we have concluded that it is the quality of the designs and the products themselves that is encouraging consumers to buy."

TOLO® Baby will be showing new designs in the Squiggles range, which was launched at BPA Baby & Child last October. Not only are they attractive to look at, Squiggles have a number of features to keep a young baby entertained. Most of the range is gift boxed with tissue paper and ribbon to make these toys the ideal gift for a new baby.

Also launched at BPA Baby & Child was the Ice Play™ range of furniture and this will be centre stage at Harrogate. The range is in a very attractive Daisy design and consists of child’s bed, night table, cupboard, clothes hanger, storage bench, desk and stacking bookcases.

Branching Out® is a range of traditional toys designed and developed by John Crane Ltd in order to capitalise on the growing trend away from plastic. Twenty items were introduced last year and a further thirty will be added during 2007. "Quality and design is of prime importance, for example, the Kitchenware Set is made from food grade enamel, and although we don’t recommend that children should use ovens, the pans are heat proof. The Magnetic Letters and Numbers all conform to educational requirements, for example they use the correct font and lower case. Pictures associated with a letter are chosen to represent the right phonetic sound. So for example, i stands for ‘igloo’ rather than ‘ice-cream’."

The company has a wide and varied customer base, and an established network of Sales Agents that cover the UK and Ireland; whilst John Crane and Anthony King attend to the major accounts. Orders are promptly despatched from their modern spacious distribution centre on the outskirts of Northampton where they also have their offices and permanent showrooms.

John Crane Ltd prides itself on producing quality products with good margins. They also promise good service and high levels of stock – even to the extent of air freighting when necessary. "We treat people as we ourselves would like to be treated. It’s big responsibility but that’s the way we are!"

Hotline: 01604 77 49 49

Stand: C43

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