The British Toy and Hobby Association (BTHA) has recently presented two separate major awards to deserving recipients.
There was a Special Recognition Award to Oxford Diecast founder, Lyndon Davies and a Golden Teddy award to Sarah Allen of Mattel. Both were very well deserved and in different categories of activity. In no prestige order, the Awards details are as follows …
Golden Teddy award to Sarah Allen – “Selfless, kind and generous always and never seeking the limelight.”
BTHA director general, Roland Earl, presented a Golden Teddy award to Sarah Allen of Mattel at Mattel UK HQ. The award was made in the company of many of the Mattel UK team and BTHA Council member Michael Hick, VP for Mattel UK and Ireland, Benelux and Nordics.
BTHA Golden Teddy Awards are presented to people who have served the industry for over 15 years and recognise people with extraordinary talents, who have gone over and above expectations. Specifically, recipients are the industry’s genuinely nice people who possess a high degree of ‘niceness, honesty and integrity’.
Sarah has worked – and continues to work – with incredible creativity, energy and enthusiasm over many years with Mattel and on behalf of the wider industry at large. It includes her membership of various industry advisory bodies such as the BTHA’s own PR and Public Affairs Committee. One of her proposers Phil Ratcliffe of MV Sports and Leisure and the BTHA said, if asked to be a character witness for Sarah before a judge, he would describe her as “a brilliant all-round person, selfless, kind and generous always, whilst never seeking the limelight.”
In a short award address, Roland said he was delighted and honoured to present Sarah with this award from the BTHA and added: “Not only has Sarah delivered incredible positives to the toy sector, she has always done so with the utmost care for her team and others. This is a rare gift and one which this Association is proud to honour. Sarah is a tremendous source of clear thinking, and someone who works sensitively on all the issues she has given her precious time to help with. Sarah is a rare person – kind, thoughtful and generous with her time with not only industry experts but also with those new to the sector. I know many of the latter that she has helped, and this award comes from us all across the wonderful world that is toys.”
Special Recognition Award to Lyndon Davies – “an incredible award for an incredible guy”
The BTHA presented a Special Recognition Award to Oxford Diecast founder, Lyndon Davies. The award category introduced by the BTHA, recognises loyalty, long service, commitment, and dedication by individuals within the toy industry.
The award was presented to Lyndon during the National Festival of Railway Modelling at the NEC in Birmingham, in which Oxford Diecast was exhibiting.
Lyndon’s loyalty, trustworthiness, dedication and passion for the toy business were celebrated. He received a specially commissioned trophy from the BTHA, also presented by Roland Earl, alongside BTHA council member, Tim Mulhall, in the company of others who have been with him during his career.
During a career which has spanned more than 45 years, Lyndon has worked for some well-known companies and with fantastic people, including in the early days of his career as a management trainee at Mettoy in Swansea, through to production manager at Corgi and then at their electronics division – Dragon Computing. He is the founder of successful hobby company, Oxford Diecast, and a previous long-standing board member of Hornby PLC, where he had served as CEO and then Chairman.
Lyndon has overcome many challenges during his career and has been a driving force in strengthening the businesses he has served at, returning them to profitability, growth and staff job retention. He is described by his proposer and seconder as a consistently honourable and charitable man who stands by his word and is a champion of toy manufacturing and British ownership of companies in our sector.
Tim Mulhall, Rubie’s Masquerade UK CEO, BTHA Council member and Lyndon’s award proposer, said: “I’ve never had a prouder point in my career than when I proposed Lyndon for this Recognition. I started working with him at Oxford Diecast, seeing him lead and build a British led collectable business supplying enthusiasts worldwide. I’ve never before nor since seen someone keener to help others – family, friends, customers, and his community in Swansea. This is an incredible award for an incredible guy”
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