Michelle Fox, senior national account manager at Golden Bear Toys, talks being flexible in business, the changing way children consume content and why the preschool category needs to be more sustainable across the board.
How long have you been at Golden Bear?
All together almost 16 years.
What is your greatest achievement at the company?
The sell into retail of our official London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics plush and plastic ranges.
Favourite part of your job?
Meeting customers face to face; it is great to have that interaction, far more rewarding than a Teams call!
Who is the unsung hero of the company?
All of our sales and customer service administration team, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure complete customer satisfaction.
What is the biggest change within the preschool industry that you have seen since you have worked in it?
The different ways in which children consume programmes. In my early days at Golden Bear TV was key, but online media platforms are now incredibly important.
What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Work hard, play hard!
Biggest lesson you’ve taken away from the past year?
Be flexible. Covid has put many challenges in the way of businesses and I am proud that Golden Bear have really moved ahead of the times on many occasions; our Virtual Toy Fair is testament to that.
If you could change one thing about the preschool business, what would it be and why?
Across the board, the category needs to be much more sustainable, so we leave the right legacy for the children playing with the toys produced. At Golden Bear we have made huge and significant inroads; all of our plush are now filled with recycled PET bottles, many of our fabrics are recycled, we use soya ink in our packaging and have hugely reduced our plastic packaging. I hope more companies introduce similar changes so there is a real and tangible improvement across the industry.
