PERSONAL STATEMENT

Since joining Character Options in 2001 I’ve overseen the on going development of the company’s toy and game ranges including over 350 Action figures for the Dr Who line alone.

My main impact since becoming Product Development Director has been to drive the quality of our licensed toy ranges upwards in terms of detail, price perception and overall value for money whilst still driving overall product costs down where possible by value engineering,

and applying where possible innovative solutions be that in manufacturing or development.

I have pushed hard to move the company relatively swiftly to a point where the majority of our sculpting and Cad work is done entirely digitally. This not only saves money but means we

can progress from model to final tooling with no resulting loss of details.

Innovation as well as evolution and transparency within the business are key to strong product ranges and I strive to find better and faster ways of working and communicating. To aid this process I have helped with the implementation of several in house tools to aid this process

and to drive ‘cultural’ change within the business.

In manufacturing I have constantly tried to integrate ‘the next generation’ of technologies into the product ranges. In many cases managing to take existing product and revisit it with ‘a new twist’ or update. We consistently work to highly compacted development timelines of

between 5 and 6 months, coupled with the need to work closely with key licensing companies, this means that focus and attention to detail is paramount to avoid any delays.

RÉSUMÉ The Character Group Plc

Aug 2001 - Present

Position: Product Development Director

Character Group is one of the largest UK based manufacturer and distributor of toys, games and

licensed products

Salary (Not disclosed)

Director Level bonus (Discretionary Est 25% -50% yearly dependent on company Performance)

Share Options (Discretionary)

Responsibilities: § Leading the Product Development process from concept through to manufacture.§ Managing the PD Department process of the Character Group product line, which include 300 - 500

SKU’s per year Toys, Novelties, Plush, Preschool and Electronic Items.§ Working directly with Licensing Companies to develop new and innovative licensed product lines.

Licensed properties include: BBC, Warner, Disney, Hit Entertainment, E1, DHX Media Marvel,Lucasfilm and many others.

§  Overall responsible for design direction of all in house NPD including concept boards, 3D design elements and packaging, whether resourced internally or externally such as, model-makers, development houses, illustrators or via Far East manufacturing vendors.

§  Liaising daily with our Far East Engineering Group to keep development schedules on time and within budget.

§  Approving all product stages of design from sign off models through to tooling and production plus issuing and updating key personnel with any changes to product specifications.

§  Managing the Packaging and Design Team of 8 persons through all development stages. §  Managing the PD budget, budget forecast and Project expenditure. §  Frequent travel to the Far East to meet with manufacturing engineers, vendors etc to discuss

product costs and manage the ‘Design to Manufacture’ stage of the business. §  Presenting product and product concepts in formal and informal environments. §  Meeting and briefing Inventors as to Character Options likely requirements. §  Working and presenting to key trade accounts such as Toys R Us, Tesco, Grocery chains, Argos, and

similar.

Position: Freelance Design Consultant

April 2001- Sept 2001 Working purely in the field of new NPD I was challenged to bring new and innovative products to the table which were specifically targeted or themed. Several of these have now been developed into on shelf products.

Responsibilities: §  Disney Consumer Products – Working on a variety of Toys, Games, Puzzles, Bath play, Pre-school and Floor

Toy concepts specifically for Mattel and Hasbro. Including such Feature films as Treasure Planet, Lilo & Stitch, Mickey, Winnie the Pooh and Disney Princess’s as well as other ‘Vault’ characters.

§  Hasbro Europe – Working on ‘The Lord of the Rings’ products and concepts.

Timeframed Ltd, Banbury, Oxford

April 2000 – January 2001

 

Position: Product Manager

Timeframed was an Internet start up company developing ‘framed’ printed copy of collectable

nostalgic items from Britain’s historical past for the high end collector market.

Responsibilities §  Management of the product development processes from concept to manufacture. §  Management of the Licensed design and approval processes. §  Briefing of external resources such as Printers, and internal direct reports such as the Print buyer

and In-house designers. §  Ensuring any photography, Art direction issues are taken care of, including access to additional

material that may be needed to support the product.

 

Marketing & Sales §  Working with licensors to get access to their marketing and sales channels, such as customer

databases, catalogues, magazines, on-site retail outlets and/or their own web sites.

Hasbro Europe, Stockley Park, Uxbridge.

September 1990 – April 2000

 

Senior Designer - New Product Development

Hasbro encompasses traditional toys, board games, collectable cards, 3D puzzles and

interactive games

  §  Product management of NPD from conceptualisation and design direction, through to manufacture

across the Games, Puzzles, Cap Candy, Koosh, Girls & Boys Toys and Creative Play lines including the use of new or innovative technologies.

§  Product Development and Design direction within of all of the above categories. §  Running cost reduction and cost evaluation exercises on a variety of core brands to effectively

generate higher margin. §  Troubleshooting/brainstorming new NPD and ‘New Technology concepts within all development

categories. §  Relating relevant knowledge and experience in a mentoring role to other designers within R&D. §  Areas of specific product expertise include for Creative Play – Star Wars, Art Attack and Scholastic.

Puzzles – Star Wars, Action man, Disney, S-Club Seven. Liaison with third party licensors such as Lucasfilm, Paramount, Saban, Scholastic, Art Attack and the BBC.

§  Areas of Expertise include licensed product development and electronics. §  Budget control of R&D spend on all projects.

§  Managing the design process across the Games & Puzzle departments involving new product generation, Inventor submissions and refreshes of existing brands/skews.

§  Looking at existing products to assess where these can be refreshed for the marketplace and/or given a new/broader appeal by revisiting the design.

§  Working directly with Licensors in order to create new game/toy concepts. §  Maintaining project budgets.

 

Licensed Projects included: §  Games - The Star Wars & Star Trek Video games, 3D card Disney’s Hercules, little Mermaid, 101

Dalmatians, and Tarzan games and puzzles also developing the 3D Mulan game/playset and various Tweenies and Insides Out products for the BBC.

§  Cap Candy - Chicken Run Spin Pop candy dispensers, a range of S-Club concepts, Tweenies §  Koosh - Chicken Run, S-Club Seven, Girls and Winnie the Pooh products.

 

Personal Skills/abilities

Specialist Skills §  Licensed product development innovation. §  Card Engineering. §  Injection moulded Plastics and Electronic items. §  Girls products and Plush products §  Brand development and Electronic items.

Qualifications Robert Gordon’s University Aberdeen BA Honours Art and Design 2:1 June 1989 Second subject: Ceramic and 3D design.   Perth Academy Four subjects at Higher Level and six subjects at Ordinary grade   Interests Toys, Film, Television and the Arts.

Books and Travel. Presenting and public speaking.   References available on request from: Ben Rathbone - Global VP Games, Hasbro Europe. Mike Grey – Product Acquisition, Games Hasbro USA. Pete Kellond - Games Development Director TOMY Europe.   Personal Born : Duns, Scotland 26th May 1967 Marital status : Married Mobile/Cell : 07734 165536 Address : 6 Chertsey Lane, Staines Upon Thames, Surrey, TW18 3JS

3 inch figures

Pull-AlongVehicles&Playsets

NoveltyElectronics&Ac8vityCentre

Plush&FeaturePlush

Teletubbies Toy Range 2015 2013 the extension of the Peppa Pig into an entry level 18 month plus fun ‘world of’

range with an assortment of Wobbly characters, vehicles and deluxe ‘Wind and Wobble’ playhouse … each item is designed to compliment and show off the

Weeble Wobble but never fall down aspect.

Bi-Licensed Peppa Pig Weebles range 2013 the extension of the Peppa Pig into an entry level 18 month plus fun ‘world of’

range with an assortment of Wobbly characters, vehicles and deluxe ‘Wind and Wobble’ playhouse … each item is designed to compliment and show off the

Weeble Wobble but never fall down aspect.

Weebles2015/16

Weebles2015/16

Weebles2015/16

Weebles2015/16

ClangersToyRange

Doctor Who 6” Action figures Started in 2005 the development of the Action Figure line currently stands at over

300 individual characters. This makes it one of the largest figure lines of ‘Unique’ characters ever produced. The introduction of the 6” scale in the UK meant

complete ownership of the market at that figure size.

Doctor Who Playsets & Vehicles Electronic Playsets, Basic Playsets, Card Playsets and vehicles. Non traditional where the

aim is to make the play more exciting by creating ‘theatre’ and excitement.

R/C and Voice Changers Electronic Voice changers, R/C Characters, Voice Command Characters, Electronic

Sound FX characters and IR interactive Combat sets

Ben & Holly

Figures, Vehicles & Playsets

HM Forces 10 inch Figures & Vehicles A range of UK services inspired collector dolls at ‘unique’ 10 inch scale with fabric clothing and accurately detailed accessories as used by the UK Forces personnel.

Vehicles are scaled appropriately to fit the figure line.

Mike the Knight Playsets, Figures & Vehicles UK Preschool licensed ‘medieval’ themed show that features non combative adventures

of a Knight in training and his friends. The range includes collectable Figures, connectable Playsets and vehicles.

Other Licensed Playsets, Figures & Vehicles UK licenses that have included Figures, Playsets and vehicles.

Role play Products, Various licenses Licensed Role play items that use Radio, UV light, IR, metal detection and Light and

sounds

Sound Plush and Plush with Electronics Plush items from 6 inches to 18 inches ranging from very basic styles such as bean filled

collectables up to more complex ‘touch sensitive’ inputs, animatronics, magnetic sensors and basic sound boxes.

Deformed Vinyl Collectables, Micro Vehicles and Collectable Sets A number of stylized and collectable Micro figures and collectable sets in ‘blind pack’ and POS

retail formats with added card or game elements.