companyprofile
20 years and going strong H
y-Pro started twenty years ago as a distributor of an American sporting goods firm, Franklin Sports. Franklin Sports manufactures licensed sporting goods under the American leagues,
such as MBL and the NFL. One of the biggest products that Franklin Sports had in their offering was Street Hockey. Atul Shah, CEO of Hy-Pro, said: “That was the first category we introduced into the UK market, which was greeted with amazing success at retail.” Hy-Pro went on to have enormous success with Street Hockey for nearly five years, and Atul affirms that this “was what started Hy-Pro on its way”.
Licensed development Premier League football was Hy-Pro’s next target. Hy-Pro initially signed Manchester United in 2002, and subsequently went from strength to strength over the next few years, with major acquisitions including England, UEFA, FIFA, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool. Atul noted that much of their success with the brands was very much to do with their focus on the core product which includes footballs, football accessories and luggage ranges. When Hy-Pro started working on these products it was the first time that a business really had a foot in both camps: the traditional sports market, and the toy market. It put Hy-Pro in a unique position that has continued to this day.
International expansion in 2005 Hy-Pro opened its offices in Hong Kong. Atul said: “This was a major step in improving our supply chain strategy and widening our retail portfolio in both our home marketing and internationally.” This was around the same time that Simon Pickavance, commercial director, joined Hy-Pro in 2006. Simon’s experience was instrumental in Hy-Pro’s growth. The first product offered was Street Gliders, and it was a success helping Hy-Pro to track in NPD data for the first time with a Hy-Pro branded product. Over the years Hy-Pro has developed from a
progressive distribution partners to manufacturer and developer of brands. Looking at Hy-Pro’s international expansion, Simon commented: “The home market is extremely important, but the international market has presented very exciting challenges. We really felt that the innovation we struck with Street Gliders struck a chord, and perhaps it wasn’t just about a price point or licence application; it was about play value and innovation.”
Zinc The process of looking at play patterns and applying that to products became a real passion for Hy-Pro. The company started to develop scooters with features. Simon points out: “It seems strange that there haven’t
Atul Shah, CEO, and Simon Pickavance, commercial director, of Hy-Pro
always been speedometers on scooters, but there aren’t. And when we started to go and talk to buyers about these developments, their interest was obvious. Retailers found that Hy-Pro could provide them with a product which delivers an extended shelf life and increased margins.” Hy-Pro isolated the core age range for development to about 6-12 years old, and then built on that by looking at older kids. December 2011 saw the launch of Stunt Scooters, a trend that extends the age group into teenage children. A lot of Hy-Pro’s licensing partners were interested in what had been developed for Zinc, and companies started to approach them with their licences to see what Hy-Pro could do. Simon said: “We’ve gone with evergreen brands like Barbie, Monster High and Hot Wheels. We’re keen to invest in the brand and we want to work with brands that we know will endure. We are very proactive, and that has delivered results. Licences don’t detract from what we have tried to do with Zinc, but has allowed us to appeal to the larger audience. We’re a British company, the innovation is British, and now we’re currently exporting that out of the UK into 20 countries. We’re very proud of that. For us, a lot of our competition sits outside the UK, so it’s obvious how proud we are to export outside the UK.”
Two decades Twenty years in the industry is a fantastic milestone for a company in the toy industry. Simon said: “It’s looking back on the evolution of Hy-Pro that makes me most happy. We’ve gone through very challenging times over the last few years. As a business we’ve evolved and changed, and we’ve managed to succeed as we do so. We’ve also continued to deliver to the partners we have in the business, and 2012 will be our biggest year for
sales ever.” Atul added: “After 20 years we are still passionate about the business and we have fantastic relationships with our customers, we are in a business that is really exciting getting to work with some of the biggest brands in the world. For us, it’s a dream come true.” So what’s in store for Hy-Pro over the next twenty
years? International expansion will still be a key focus for the company moving forward. Hy-Pro intends to continue expansion of Zinc into new areas, but is also heavily focused on Hy-Pro and its development. The company wants to move into non-licensed sports goods, and is working on a line scheduled for a 2013 launch, under the Hy-Pro brand. Atul said: “We see a great opportunity for Hy-Pro to expand into that area. We have partnered with FIFA 2014 World Cup, which will allow us to reach a global audience.” Hy-Pro has partnered with major European
distributors for 2013. Hy-Pro is confident this will allow for expansion into the European markets. There will also be new lines for Zinc coming through, most notably in e-scooters which are being developed not just for kids, but for commuters too. The company will be launching the first affordable, lithium-based, battery-powered scooter into the UK market. Simon said: “We really see that market opening up. We’re also looking to expand the range of accessories for the Zinc scooters, such as Red-I, the micro format all-terrain video camera.” These accessories enhance and augment the play
experience, and provide something that retailers can get secondary sales from. A scooter is sold, and then what? Accessories open the market up for continued sales, and Hy-Pro has the opportunity to offer that to retailers.
Hy-Pro has celebrated 20 years in the business this year. Over the past two decades, the company has grown and expanded successfully. Toy World met with Atul Shah, CEO, Simon Pickavance, commercial director, and Ying To, senior category manager, to find out how the company started, and what it aims to do over the next twenty years. Tom Roberts reports.
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