NiNews BANTA winners announced
Eight companies in the nursery industry were joined in celebration on Monday 26th March, following the announcement of the BPA Baby and Nursery Trade Awards (BANTA) which were announced at the party and dinner the night before.
Held at the Majestic Hotel in Harrogate, the compere for the evening was comedian Allan Stewart who presented the Awards with Penny Franks, editor of Nursery Today magazine which sponsors the Awards. This year the judges had their work cut with numerous quality entries shortlisted prior to Harrogate Nursery Fair. There were eight categories with one highly commended product and one overall winner in each as follows: Playtime - Winner: Prince Lionheart for its Playmat with judges commenting: “Excellent value for money, building on traditional play value giving hours of fun.” Highly Commended: Startrite Furniture - Lollypop Play Table Set Feeding, Cleaning and Changing - Winner: MaByLand for its MATchel changing bag with judges commenting: “Good value for money and well-designed with unisex appeal.”
Highly Commended: Snap Imported - Milkysnugz Safety - Winner: Dusky Moon, distributed by Hippychick, for its Dream Tubes with judges commenting: “Brilliant idea – simple yet effective and practical for home and travel.” Highly Commended: Vital Innovations – Vital Baby Nurture Health & Safety Kit Child Restraints - Winner: Dorel UK for its Maxi-Cosi Pebble & FamilyFix (Isofix) Base with judges commenting: “This product shows innovation, is well designed and moving the market forward.” Highly Commended: Diono – Monterey2 Expandable Booster Seat Travel Accessories - Winner: Magmatic (Trunki) for its Paddlepak with judges commenting: “a well marketed and practical product which both mums and kids will love.”
Highly Commended: BundleBean– BundleBean Original Sleep Accessories - Winner: B Kids UK for its Watch Over Me Dream Station with judges commenting: “An innovative product and shows a point of difference from others in this category.”
Highly Commended: Mojo Distribution – AeroSleep 3D Baby Protect Wheeled Goods - Winner: Graco for its Graco Evo with judges commenting: “A stylish product offering great value for money in a very competitive area.” Highly Commended: Jane (Johnston Prams & Buggies) – Trider Matrix Travel System In Home - Winner: Saplings of Shropshire for its Kitty Cot Bed with judges commenting: “We particularly liked the ability to elevate the mattress position and it is competitively priced for a cot bed and mattress package.” Highly Commended: Little Saints Ltd – HiLo 2 in 1 Highchair
Brother Max appoints Marcel De Winter in new export role
Young British baby products brand, Brother Max, has hired Marcel de Winter as its Export Sales Manager in a newly created role where he will lead export growth as Brother Max seeks to build on its current 29 territories. With over 20 years international sales and marketing experience, including 10 years in the industry with nursery brands such as Johnson & Johnson, Dr Brown’s and Jordan AS in Norway, Marcel brings extensive export knowledge to the business and will be a major boost to Brother Max’s international sales. Marcel’s experience for taking brands to new territories is unquestionably impressive - having re-introduced Dr Brown’s to the UK Market in 2006 and introduced it to the rest of the Europe and Middle East – he’s certainly well placed for the role.
Chicco new hire announcement
Artsana continue to buck the industry trend, by increasing their sales resource with the appointment of Lene Hansen as Customer Development Manager for the Midlands, Wales & South-West. Mitch Levene, Managing Director commented: “Lene is the fourth high profile addition to our sales and marketing functions during the past few months and she brings with her an enormous amount of experience and array of skills, including time at Newell Rubbermaid. With the combination of excellent people, product, brand strategy, promotions, added value marketing and merchandising; our customers are well placed to take up the growth opportunity afforded to them via Chicco & Boppy.”
www.chicco.co.uk
4 • NURSERY INDUSTRY • APRIL 2012
Commenting on his new role Marcel said: “Brother Max already has a good presence in a number of territories and I’m looking forward to taking them to the next level. My role will be to optimise sales with our existing distributors worldwide. I’ll also be seeking direct sales with retailers where appropriate.”
www.brothermax.com
Baby Brands Direct to exclusively distribute Taggies
Baby Brands Direct will now exclusively distribute to the independents for one of the biggest and much loved names in the nursery industry, Taggies. Kids II, who recently acquired Taggies under its umbrella of
signature brands, has a long-standing partnership with dedicated UK distributor Baby Brands Direct who will be the exclusive wholesale stockist in the UK, ensuring independents not only continue to have this popular range of toys, accessories and clothes, but also have access to more unique offerings under the Taggies brand. For more than a decade, babies and children have been comforted by the soft, colourful and comforting Taggies. Every Taggies product offers children a varied assortment of printed and textured tags to explore and enjoy. Thomas Baker, International Sales Manager at Kids II said, “We are delighted to have Baby Brands
Direct exclusively distributing Taggies into the UK independent market. Their modern and efficient service and excellent customer service provides an excellent match with Kids II and we look forward to continuing our successful partnership together.”
www.babybrandsdirect.co.uk
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www.nursery-industry.co.uk
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