Beehive Toys was founded in 2016 and since then has seen sales of its ride-on, plush and wooden toys soar by +300% YOY.
Based in Somerset, Beehive designs and manufactures quality own-brand toys developed by a talented, young team. At the company’s helm is Richard Stone, founder, who’s used his decades of business experience to create a toy range that offers quality, reliability and competitiveness on price and margins.
“We own 23 units here on site in Somerset,” he explains, when asked how Beehive Toys came about. “One had become empty, and instead of renting it back out we made the decision to start a toy business. A great deal of thought had gone into the decision; we’d conducted a huge amount of research into the toy industry, looking at companies with business models like ours, what their profits were and what the turnover was. I had worked with a former toy industry sales manager for some 15 years, and although she was no longer working for Beehive, she was kind enough to consult for us, lending her skill and experience. Toby, who runs one of our other businesses, flew out to Hong Kong with her for the Asian Toys & Games Show and they came back full of fantastic ideas, having made some excellent contacts. We then selected products over the following six months, and the Beehive Toys business was launched.”
As well as supplying Amazon, Beehive works primarily with independent retailers, which the company considers to be ‘less risk, and properly financed’.
“Everything we offer is Beehive own-brand,” Richard adds. “The age range we focus on is 1-7 years old, and we create traditional, simple toys that appeal to all kids across three core areas – plush, wood and ride-ons. Beehive Toys is going from strength to strength and we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved so far. We’re investing significantly into the business long term and look forward to what the future holds.”
To read the full interview, which was published in our August issue, click here.
To find out more about Beehive Toys, click here, or call 01460 241800.
