Dawn Lavalette, former head of buying at Tesco for Toys UK and Central Europe, has joined Wow! Stuff as commercial director.

In her new role, Dawn will implement new systems to help Wow! Stuff’s innovative products reach more retailers and distributors internationally, and will be overseeing global sales and major UK and international customers.

Dawn commented: “I knew the minute I met Richard North, Wow! Stuff’s CEO, that this is where I wanted to be. The breadth of their pop-culture toy innovations is beyond anything I’ve ever seen before. The excitement and the ability of the co-founders, as well as the people they have attracted to the business, has ensured the culture is one of warmth, passion and drive. This business is eminently scalable and the opportunity to be part of that growth, as a shareholder in the company, was too good an opportunity to miss.”

As the Wow! Stuff team continues to grow and strengthen, Jon Birch, sales director and shareholder, has been promoted to managing director of the newly-created Demonstration Division, the jewel in the crown for Wow! Stuff.

Simon Gardner, Wow! Stuff’s chairman, former CMO of Hasbro and president of Hasbro Europe, commented: “We have seen a near 50% growth in the business so far during 2018 and it’s our resolute focus on building a world class leadership team which has made this possible. I am confident that Jon’s promotion and Dawn’s recruitment, as well as the appointment of Alice Yung as director of sales APAC earlier this year, will aid Richard in his vision to make the business a first-class global operation.”