Craft Focus - April/May 2021 (Issue 84)

31 PROFILE people of all ages finding their creativity and taking up the hobby. Talk us through the current collections you’re particularly excited about. We’re about to launch a range of educational craft products specifically designed to stimulate creativity and help students of all ages to build dioramas, displays and various arts and crafts projects. These kits provide all the material needed along with ideas, tips and techniques to achieve the best results. Classroom packs are also available for teachers. How would you advise a retailer who is interested in stocking your products? We have some starter packs which cover the key/core items in our ranges and our sales team will be able to advise what might best work for each individual retailer. Contact me in the first instance and I will arrange for your local representative to give you a call. What sets you apart from your competitors? We have a large range of associated products across various brands that are sourced from all over the world. Do you visit any trade shows? In a normal year, we’d exhibit at Spring Fair, Toymaster, Harrogate Home & Gift and Autumn Fair at least. This year, as we plan to expand out to new channels, we’ll additionally be looking at other shows as the Covid restrictions allow. We recently took part in Spring Fair @ Home and our profile is still available to view, although it was directed at Toy and Gift buyers. How did business cope during the Covid-19 pandemic and what are your plans going forward? Our warehouse remained open throughout, strictly following all the government guidelines, and we’ve therefore been able to continue to support our retailers who offered on-line sales and click & collect. Our sales team are working from home and available via telephone, video calls and by email. They continue to share their knowledge and help all our customers old and new to review their product offering and keep up to date with new arrivals. What new products can we expect from you in the future? We have a very exciting new range of plastic kits which launched on 8 th March. These will be extremely sought after across all channels, not just the traditional model shops. There will be further expansion into educational learning and craft products throughout 2021. BACHMANN EUROPE PLC Pauline Hinkley, sales & business development manager +44 (0)7739 200153 Pauline.hinkley@bachmann-europe.co.uk www.bachmann.co.uk www.toyway.co.uk