Bigjigs Toys: A Year In Review 2021
What a whirlwind of a year it has been for Bigjigs Toys! 2021 has seen us... welcome lots of new faces and brands to the Bigjigs family; win our first-ever KEiBA award; reach huge milestones with our social media; have our new distribution brand featured on the BBC News, and hold our first ever creative workshop.
To each and every one of you who has helped play a part in it, thank you! Here's to a great 2022.
January
New Products & Catalogue For 2021
We were excited to launch our brand new products for 2021. We released some amazing toys for our FSC Certified, Bigjigs Rail and Bigjigs Toys product ranges. Some of our favourites include our Doughnut Crate, Construction Train Set, FSC Certified Stacking Arches and the Solar System Circular Floor Puzzle!
February
15k Followers On Instagram
We reached our first massive social media milestone: 15,000 followers on Instagram! We're hoping to reach 50,000 followers in 2022, so watch this space...
March
New Packaging Design
We wanted to refresh our packaging but maintain all the things that help customers identify Bigjigs Toys in a store. We modernised the company's brand assets by creating fresh new logos.
The Bigjigs Toys rebrand is more visual and our modular box sizes allow many options for merchandising. Our new packaging provides the retailer with several useful selling tips and information.
We also updated our development icons to give parents guidance as to what skills can be learned and developed whilst their child plays with each toy.
April
Brand New Office
We welcomed the team back from lockdown with a brand new Bigjigs Toys HQ! We moved our office at the warehouse to a shiny, new two-storey office (with windows!) on the other side of Folkestone. We now enjoy a bright and open collaborative workspace, a spacious kitchen and dining area, and most importantly, a snazzy coffee machine (courtesy of Tom).
May
New Photography Studio
A new office meant a new photography studio! Our in-house photographer, Steve, waved goodbye to our old temporary studio at Basepoint Folkestone and hello to his very own permanent photography studio downstairs!
June
Silicone Toys Launch
We noticed there was a gap in the market for affordable and colourful silicone eco-friendly toys; so, we launched our own range of silicone Buckets, Spades and Flyers in 12 different shades.
Our frisbees and buckets are made from eco-friendly food-grade silicone, a safer alternative to plastic and they can be rolled, flexed and bounced back into shape without crease marks. Our spades are made from wheat fibre, which is similar in consistency to ABS plastic but is much more eco-friendly. All silicone toys come in sustainable brown craft paper packaging.
July
Tiger Tribe Launch
We became UK distributors of the Australian toy brand, Tiger Tribe. Tiger Tribe is a family-run business from Melbourne, Australia. We were drawn to Tiger Tribe's vibrant creative offering as artistic play is fundamental to child development.
We launched 87 products across 10 exciting themes. We also loved that purchases made with Tiger Tribe directly contribute to Australian charity, The Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife (FNPW). The FNPW is the charity partner for one of Australia's favourite National Parks and helps to safeguard Australian wilderness and wildlife.
August
Makedo Launch
We had another distribution brand arrive all the way from Down Under! Makedo also comes from Melbourne, Australia and is an easy-to-use cardboard construction toy. Busy hands can build imaginative and functional creations from repurposed cardboard with the reusable kids tools.
The reusable kids tools are compatible with all types of cardboard and are safe for children to use. We launched 11 Makedo products in total and love that the play possibilities are endless, with no rules or guidelines.
September
Our First-Ever Workshop & SpaceX Feature
September was a busy one for us! We had our first ever Makedo workshop at Made in Ashford, where kids really thought outside of the cardboard box to make some impressive creations.
We also teamed up with Nick Corston - a Dad, a digital marketeer, artist and qualified engineer - to sponsor his Mission to Mars UK tour with Makedo kits. Nick's tour was backed by SpaceX astronaut, Jared Isaacman, who just so happened to be captaining the first civilian-only SpaceX flight into space that week. Nick even made it onto the BBC News - and so did Makedo!
October
Winner of the KEiBA Award for Success in International Trade
We won our first-ever Kent Excellence in Business Award (KEiBA) for Success in International Trade. We were also finalists for the Large Business of the Year KEiBA Award.
Our Managing Director, Liz Ireland, said of the win, "there have been considerable challenges this year, not least of all navigating Brexit. This is fabulous news and testament to a tremendous all-round effort."
November
Our Best-Ever US & UK Catalogues
This year saw our Graphics Team put together our best-ever US & UK catalogues! From the new product designs all the way to the photography and catalogue layout, the whole team worked extremely hard to produce a beautifully assembled catalogue for our UK and US retailers.
December
Lots of Exciting Things to Come
We have an exciting new brand in the pipeline and are working on lots of very magical things!
That's all for 2021, Folks!
Wishing you all a Happy New Year, we're excited to see what 2022 brings!