Britain's oldest teddy bear factory has survived WWII, cheap imports and Brexit to celebrate its 90th year

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Bonnie Christian25 January 2020

Britain’s oldest teddy bear factory has survived a world war, threats from cheap toy imports and the uncertainty surrounding Brexit to celebrate its 90th year.

Merrythought still produces hand-made teddies in the same Shropshire factory where it first opened its doors in 1930.

Managing director Sarah Holmes, who is the great granddaughter of the factory’s founder Gordon Holmes, told the Standard the company's longevity has been down to finding a niche with teddy bear collectors and those who appreciate quality.

“We have two core markets: the teddy bear collectors market, the adult collectors, but our real core market are parents and godparents who want to buy a proper teddy bear for a child to grow up with,” she said.

Merrythought managing director Sarah Holmes

Ms Holmes is the fourth generation of her family to run the factory, which she says was a "dream" for children to grow up in.

The best perks came when new prototypes were being released and their father, Oliver Holmes, would bring them home, challenging the girls to "break them."

“I remember him bringing home a toy dog and saying right, children I want you to see if you can break this,” she said. “He wanted to make sure it was thoroughly robust.”

Perhaps one of the greatest examples of the bears’ quality is Mr Whoppit, which was the only “survivor” of a boat crash involving its owner Donald Campbell.

Mr Campbell, a land and water speed record holder, was keeping Mr Whoppit as a mascot on his boat Bluebird as he attempted a new water speed record of 300mph in 1967 in the Lake District.

Mr Whoppit was recovered from the crash

But during the attempt the boat crashed, killing Mr Campbell. In the hours after only Mr Whoppit was pulled from the wreckage. Mr Campbell’s body was not found until 2001.

Since Mr Holmes, who was already in the textile industry, decided to break into the booming toy industry in the 1930s, the factory has had to continuously adapt to changing times.

In World War Two, the factory was taken over by the British Admiralty where it was used to make maps. The 200-strong workforce began work producing textile items for the war such as chevrons, helmet linings, igniter bags, gas mask bags and hot water bottle covers.

In the decades after, it branched out from teddy bears, creating rocking horses, Disney characters and even a corgi for the Queen.

It was also the teddy bear maker of choice to commemorate the births of Prince George, Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis and Archie Mountbatten Windsor. Only 100 cream bears were released when Archie was born, each costing £125.

Merrythought commemorative bear for the Queen's 90th birthday

In the 1970s, Ms Holmes said “cheap toy imports” from China was one of the biggest threats to the business.

“They outcompeted in terms of cost and the UK toy industry went into a rapid decline,” Ms Holmes said.

“British manufacturers dwindled over the course of 20 years to the point were Merrythought is the last manufacturer of its kind.

“We've adapted and have become more niche and very much focussed on the high end collectable market.”

It now focuses on its classic British teddy bear designs such as the Cheeky Bear and the Punkie Bear that collectors are willing to pay a premium for.

And Merrythought hasn’t escaped the uncertainty around Brexit.

“We've hopefully got through Brexit and the challenges there,” Ms Holmes said.

“The weakened pound has meant that some of our raw materials have become more expensive because we buy from Europe.

“But on the flipside because we do export quite a lot that's made our products a little bit cheaper.”

For its 90th year, Merrythought is releasing a special edition anniversary teddy bear.

The special bear, of which only 300 will be available, blends together the ruby (40th) and golden (50th) anniversary year colours throughout its design and has Merrythought’s 90th anniversary logo embroidered onto its left paw

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