Leanne Royce joins as senior national account manager and Matt Eckersley as head of eCommerce.

Leanne Royce and Matt Eckersley.

Both Leanne and Matt were hired before the pandemic and ahead of the lockdown and are yet to meet the rest of their workmates in person. However, they have been welcomed to the team and begun working for the company remotely.

Dawn Lavalette, commercial director, commented, “Video conferencing and our quiz evenings will be the first time to really test their metal!”

Leanne’s history in toys started 18 years ago at Tomy, where she worked whilst completing her law degree in London. Contracted originally as short-term maternity cover in the holidays, Leanne stayed at Tomy for 10 years. This was followed by a lengthy career at Flair, where Leanne started out as a key account manager and rose to senior national account manager, looking after premier retailers such as Smyths Toys, Tesco and The Entertainer.

Matt is new to the toy industry but well versed with online retail, having worked at a number of big brand consumer products manufacturers growing their online business. In his previous roles, Matt successfully championed online opportunities and strategy, significantly growing sales for premium brands including Samsung, Tech21, Pure Radio and B&O.

Dawn added, “As we‘ve grown our categories to now include pre-school, and collectibles with new exciting innovation, we need to ensure channel strategies are complementary and disciplined. Leanne and Matt bolster our team and I think their personalities and attitude will make them perfect Wow! Stuff’ers.”