Feature - Toymaster

The Toymaster May show is back – and better than ever

We’re now just a few weeks away from packing our bags and heading to the beautiful spa town of Harrogate, the home of historic buildings, indulgent Yorkshire afternoon teas, and the beloved annual Toymaster May Show. Toy World’s Rachael Simpson-Jones recently paid a visit to the independent buying group’s head office to sit down with the team and find out how the sector is feeling about the months ahead, and how this year’s show is shaping up.

The Toymaster May Show will once again be held at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate from Tuesday 20th to Thursday 22nd May, with over 100 suppliers (15 of them brand-new for this year) exhibiting their new and bestselling ranges for 2025. Far from being an invite-only or closed-doors affair, the show is open to any and all independent retailers that sell toys and games as part of their offering; in fact, non-members are very much encouraged to attend and will be welcomed with open arms.

According to Yogi Parmar, managing director of Toymaster, the indie sector has enjoyed a very positive start to the year, trading significantly up YOY. Lego Speed Champions and Pokémon Scarlet & Violet –Prismatic Evolutions have been undeniable standouts (some readers will have seen images shared by Toymaster members Toys n Tuck and Midco Toymaster of queues down the street on the morning of the new launches) and we’ve also enjoyed some unseasonably

Since January, seven additional British Garden Centre branches - Northampton, Heighley, Gosforth, Gloucester, Rugby, Havant and Reading - have joined Toymaster, alongside a new branch for Gates Garden Centres, located in Stapleton. Woodley News and Firestorm Games have also opened new locations in Surrey and Gloucester respectively. Toymaster has welcomed Wargames Workshop to its ranks, a specialist wargaming and hobby store in Milton Keynes. And the enquiries from potential new members keep rolling in.

Since January, seven additional British Garden Centre branches - Northampton, Heighley, Gosforth, Gloucester, Rugby, Havant and Reading - have joined Toymaster, alongside a new branch for Gates Garden Centres, located in Stapleton. Woodley News and Firestorm Games have also opened new locations in Surrey and Gloucester respectively. Toymaster has welcomed Wargames Workshop to its ranks, a specialist wargaming and hobby store in Milton Keynes. And the enquiries from potential new members keep rolling in.

The Toymaster May Show is arguably the best opportunity to discover what the group offers and to meet the team. Across the three days, in various elegant surroundings scattered throughout the grand Victorian hotel, visitors can meet a wide range of toy and game suppliers and distributors with product in every category, from pocket money and plush to crafts and kidult. While each room, or marquee, currently tends to contain a mixture of suppliers, Yogi and his team are exploring the idea of future shows hosting curated spaces according to product categories, so visitors can more easily locate the companies most suited to their needs. All suppliers will be showcasing the ranges they feel are best suited to independent toy retailers, and a large majority of them will also be offering deals and discounts on minimum order quantities and impactful POS. (Many of these deals are outlined in this supplement, so keep your eyes peeled.) Exhibitors will also be highlighting their catalogue lines and indie exclusives, which are also well worth looking out for.

“Our suppliers play a big part in the show and we thank them for their support in making it the success it is,” adds Yogi. “Toymaster does not run an own label or FOB programme, so members are committed to selling only suppliers’ brands. This has helped forge the great relationships Toymaster shares with its suppliers.”

Previous visitors to the show will know Toymaster always lays on some fantastic, and free, evening entertainment. The popular themed nights are back for 2025; get your flares, disco balls and funky dance moves ready, because Tuesday night is Disco Night. Wednesday night, Awards Night, will be a rather more refined affair which will see attendees swap their sequins for suits as Toymaster honours a selection of suppliers and retailers for their hard work and dedication to the success of the sector. Guests at both evening events can enjoy a delicious three course meal, plus drinks and superb entertainment.

“The planning for next year’s Toymaster show, I kid you not, starts the day after the current year’s show has ended,” explains Yogi, highlighting just how committed and hardworking the Toymaster team is. “On the Friday, everything is fresh in the mind, and we know what’s worked, as well as what needs to be tweaked, so we can start the planning right then and there. This means that 364 days later when the show opens again, it’s even better than ever.”

In recent years, Toymaster has increased its investment in the show and its venue to ensure suppliers, members and visitors enjoy the best possible experience. The catering, for example, has dramatically improved what’s on offer for hungry visitors (because yes, at the Toymaster show, there is such a thing as a free lunch). The hot food options are vastly better than a meal deal from a local supermarket, keep visitors within the walls of The Majestic, and give them the opportunity to network over a sit-down meal halfway through the day, or simply to catch up on their admin and ensure theirorders are staying on track.

Yogi adds: “We’re striving to keep making a difference to the whole indie toy retail sector, which is why the team has always been more than happy to welcome non-members to the show - and to our lounge at London Toy Fair. What’s good for the group is good for the individual.”

The Toymaster central office, located in Northampton, was revamped in 2024. It’s a bright, spacious and welcoming location that suppliers, members and agents are invited to use for meetings, presentations and vlogging. The building also plays host to regular committee meetings. Moving forward, these will include more ‘guest’ committee members in something of a change from usual proceedings, aimed at introducing even more diversity into decision making processes. The building houses the 15-strong Toymaster team, including talented designer Matt Lee, who proudly showed me all the marketing materials he’s been working on for this year’s show. In vibrant shades of yellow, pink and blue, the colour scheme and theme of the show is modern and eye-catching and will provide guests with plenty of photo opportunities throughout the three days. Matt also creates the popular Toymaster catalogue, the group’s window display programmes (in partnership with suppliers) and edits the vlogs Toymaster produces for its memberships, which are just some of the many perks offered by membership of the group. Other benefits include the bespoke Toymaster Information Management System (TIMS), which streamlines members’ accounts and invoicing, allowing the retailer to run their business more efficiently and saving them both time and money.

Toymaster itself is flexible and adaptable. It gives its members complete freedom to choose (or retain) their own fascia and branding, window displays, catalogue uptake and so on. Anyone concerned that the group might be dictatorial or overbearing simply shouldn’t be. After all, the group has over 45 members that have been with it for 25+ years. That wouldn’t be the case if it weren’t a pleasure to deal with.

Behind the scenes, Toymaster is focusing on attracting an even more diverse assortment of retailers to the group. We’re talking farm shops, wargaming/model/ hobby stores, specialist games and puzzles stores etc. Yogi believes there’s vast scope for some of these retailers to improve their offerings and profitability by working with the group; it just needs to sit down with them and explain what membership can mean. Enter Paul Reader, Toymaster’s long-term “product guy” and now the face of its sign-up drive. I speak to Paul on the following page about what this change to his responsibilities means for him and for members. Paul is a fascinating interviewee, so don’t miss it.

I also spoke to Darren Robinson, the group’s Finance director, about how Toymaster is helping its members navigate this year’s financial challenges, which are in danger of pushing some from turning a profit into making a loss. Darren has a number of great tips for how businesses can mitigate their increasing overheads so, again, make sure you have a read.

Anyone who’s ever spent time with Yogi, or indeed any member of Toymaster’s small but passionate team, will know the group places communication at the heart of everything it does. To this end, it has been working with Geoff Sheffield and Natasha Crookes of the Toy Retailers Association about how their government lobbying can aid indies, and what needs to be done to ensure the toy industry as a whole continues to thrive. Yogi is pleased to report that Geoff and Tash have been hugely receptive to the concerns shared by Toymaster’s members and he’s confident that their specific and unique needs will be well-represented, where they need to be.

“The May show is the centrepiece of our year, and we work incredibly hard to ensure it’s as close to perfect as we can get,” Yogi adds, telling me he and several other team members are actually headed to Harrogate that week to meet with the hotel’s management team and Toymaster stand builders about how the show plans are coming together. “We spend the year equipping our members with the tools they need to succeed - the access to top suppliers and the marketing support required to engage with consumers, for example – but the Toymaster May Show marks the coming together of all facets of our business, of suppliers and members and non-members alike. It’s an unrivalled opportunity for the indie sector to regroup in person following the festive season and Q1 and plan for the crucial six months leading to Christmas 2025. We can’t wait to welcome everyone back.”

Read on to enjoy the rest of what this year’s dedicated Toymaster Supplement has to offer, including insight from suppliers on how they’re supporting indies this year and the ranges they’re bringing to Harrogate this year.

And don’t forget, the Toy World team will also be at The Majestic for all three days. See you there!