The social gathering of a group of Scottish toy trade reps and agents took place on April 4th at Blanco restaurant in Glasgow.

Mike Wares of Toys in Scotland, a sales agent since 1984, got in touch with Toy World to share details of the event.

“Yesterday we had a luncheon gathering of current and past members of the Scottish Toy Trade,” he told us. “This was held in the wonderful Italian restaurant Blanco in Glasgow. Fifteen of us gathered, with ages ranging from 42 to 92 years old and bringing over 540 years of experience and service to the toy trade within Scotland and the UK in general.”

During the luncheon, there was much talk of great British companies past and present, as those in attendance swapped anecdotes about their wide and varied experiences working with a whole host of companies, from Chad Valley and Palitoy to Brainstorm and Epoch. As all the guests shared the attributes of wisdom and experience, talk naturally turned to the huge changes that have taken place within the retail landscape.

“A most enjoyable lunch ended with a general consensus to make it an annual event,” added Mike.

Pictured enjoying the lunch date are, from left to right:

Bryan Slaven (retired)

Doug Wares (retired)

Chris Burt (retired)

Graham Burnett (Agent for Tomy, Bandai, Peterkin, Global Journey Gifts, PlayMonster)

Martin Keane (retired)

Martin Grossman (retired)

Monty Cowan (92 yrs old and definitely retired)

Eric Greene (retired)

Lewis Keane (now out of toy trade)

Graeme Mackenzie (ex Junners of Elgin)

Graham Crawford (Agent for Epoch, MV Sports, VTech, Leapfrog)

Mike Wares (Agent for Mattel UK, Basic Fun, Brainstorm)

Dave Soutar (retired)

Colin Fisher (retired)

George Rodgers (retired)