Industry Moves

Gibsons has welcomed Matt Smith as the company’s new Operations director, alongside five other new appointments.

Matt joins Gibsons from Mattel where he was responsible for overseeing inbound and outbound freight for the EMEA region. He brings extensive supply chain experience from his time at Mattel and previously United Biscuits, as well as from the SME sector.

Joining Matt is Diane McSweeney, Gibsons’ first in-house product and graphic designer. Arman Ashfaq also joins the team in the newly created role of e-Commerce manager and Ben Wilson has been welcomed as IT manager.

Corinne D’Mello takes up the role of credit controller and Keith McCabe, as finance manager, completes the team.

Alongside the new appointments, Gibsons has also said goodbye to two much loved team members. Geoff Lee, former Business Development director, had been part of the Gibsons team for 23 years and Nicki Gumbrell, former Sales director, for 18 years.

Gibsons’ Commercial director, Amanda Chaplin, will now oversee the company’s sales, marketing and product development. Meanwhile, Kim Garrod has been promoted to UK Sales manager.

“My congratulations to Amanda and Kim and a huge welcome to Matt, Arman, Ben, Diane, Corinne and Keith,” commented MD Kate Gibson. “We are delighted to see them joining the Gibsons team and supporting our exciting growth plans in the UK and worldwide. My thanks go to Nicki and Geoff for their huge contributions over the years and their passion for Gibsons, which was evident to all those they worked with. They both will leave a tremendous footprint on the company, and we wish them the best of luck in all their future endeavours.”

Ranjit Dhutti has joined MGA Entertainment as the new marketing manager UK and Ireland for the L.O.L Surprise! brand.

With over 15 years’ experience within commercial brand management and marketing, Ranjit joins MGA from Spin Master, where she successfully launched and worked with brands such as Hatchimals, Colleggtibles, Present Pets, and Purse Pets to name just a few.

Tasked with driving ongoing innovation with exciting newness and ways to unbox whilst retaining the superbrand’s position in the competitive collectible and play set doll market, Ranjit will be overseeing the commercial brand strategy and creative campaign delivery across digital, TV, POS and PR for L.O.L. Surprise! as MGA moves into 2023.

Ranjit said: “I’m thrilled to be joining the L.O.L. Surprise! team during such an exciting period for the brand. There’s real momentum as we head into L.O.L.’s seventh year and with so much more innovation still to come across the board, I can’t wait to get started.”

Commenting on the appointment, Michelle Lilley, UK marketing director for MGA Entertainment, said: “With her wealth of experience within the competitive collectible market and clear passion for the industry, we are thrilled to welcome Ranjit to the UK team. 2023 is set to be a hugely exciting year for L.O.L. Surprise! and I have no doubt Ranjit will be a brilliant addition in continuing to drive innovation and set new records for L.O.L. as we look ahead to 2023 and beyond.”

Toynamics UK & Ireland has appointed Samia Waller as a new key account manager, with a focus on driving sales in selected key accounts, developing new business and nurturing existing customers. She will also cover eCommerce and education for Toynamics and be responsible for growing and developing business across Toynamics’ toy and nursery brands, including Hape, Skip Hop, Korko, Nebulous Stars, DinosArt and Nanoblock.

Samia has an excellent track record, with previous experience at Carte Blanche Greetings Ltd working on business development, as regional sales manager at Wow and Territory Manager at Ty

. David Allan, managing director at Toynamics UK & Ireland, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Samia to the team. She brings a wealth of sales experience working with well-known companies in the toy and gift markets, and I know she will help with growing sales across our business.” Samia can be contacted at samia.waller@toynamics.co.uk

Following the recent acquisition of its new Central European warehouse and the further expansion of its distribution network across Europe and the Nordics, Rubies is growing its team to match unprecedented demand, with the appointment of two new senior team members.

Lisbeth Hagen Skadhauge joins as senior account manager for the Nordics whilst Arjan Driessen is welcomed as head of Sales for Benelux. Between them, they will be responsible for a large proportion of Rubies sales and distribution operations within the Central and Northern Europe markets, aiming to expand and build new relationships with both customers and licensors alike.

Lisbeth is based in Rubies’ Copenhagen office and reports into Ian MacCrimmon, head of Sales, Nordics; she will be responsible for growing existing accounts within the Nordics while developing partnerships with new clientele.

An incredibly well respected and experienced senior manager who has previously worked for Disney and Funko, Lisbeth joins Rubies as a results-driven commercial leader who specialises in helping businesses grow exponentially across the Nordics region.

As head of Sales for Benelux, Arjan is based in Rubies’ Venlo offices in the Netherlands, reporting directly to Graham Gardiner, commercial director. He has a successful track record with key retailers across Europe for toy company Playgro. As an experienced business development manager and international and strategic sales specialist, Arjan is consistently focused on market analysis and development.

Graham Gardiner, commercial director UK, Central, Eastern and Northern Europe, said: “As our European market demand continues to grow at an extraordinary rate, we are happy to welcome on board two specialists within the region who will be able to match that business requirement with exuberance and a passion for customer relationship management and development. Both Lisbeth and Arjan bring with them years of experience in market analysis and sales growth and are a perfect fit for team Rubies.”

Simba Smoby Toys UK starts the new year with a strengthened team following Ben Hogg takes on the title of head of Marketing, bringing 12 years of toy industry experience following previous roles at Asmodee and, more recently, Vivid. Heading up the wider marketing team, Ben will also be responsible for key brands such as Jada and Majorette.

The company also welcomes Sophie Bryan as brand manager for its plush category and Smoby and AquaPlay brands. Sophie joins from stationery giant Bic with five years of product management experience.

Martin Whitaker, managing director at Simba Smoby Toys UK, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Sophie and Ben to the team, who join at an exciting time for the business. Our brand portfolio is stronger than ever and with Sophie and Ben now on board, the team is in the best possible position heading into 2023.

“Sadly, we also say goodbye to Mayur Pattni next month whose work as marketing manager over the past six years has certainly laid the foundations and will stand the new team in good stead. We wish him all the best for his next role.”