Character Wins Industry Award

RNS Number : 1576A

Character Group PLC

27 January 2011

 



Thursday, 27 January 2011

The Character Group plc

("Character" or "the Group")

Character wins industry awards

The Character Group's main trading subsidiary, Character Options Limited ("Character Options"), based in Oldham, has received three accolades at this year's industry awards ceremony which has taken place in conjunction with the Annual Toy Fair at Olympia, London running this week (25-27 January 2011).

The awards compiled by both the Toy Retailers Association and the British Toy and Hobby Association, recognise industry achievements over the past year.

Of the three awards presented to Character Options, two are in recognition of the Company's excellent toy ranges; the key award was to be acknowledged as the coveted Toy Supplier of the Year. This highly sought after award is voted for by the retailers who judge on quality of products, customer service, ability to supply and overall support shown to them in the past year.

Speaking at the presentation of the awards, Jon Diver, Joint Managing Director of the Character Group commented:

 "We are delighted to have been named Toy Supplier of the Year. Character Options has had a tremendous year with some fantastic new lines and great development in existing brands. To also have been recognised by the industry for our accomplishments compounds the sense of achievement that we all have."

Together with this important Supplier of the Year award, two further awards were presented to Character Options during the evening:-

·      ZhuZhu Pets^®, the company's highly successful collection of electronic hamsters and playsets, was named as Feature Plush Toy of the Year, whilst

·      Fireman Sam Deluxe Fire Station was named as the Pre-School Toy of the Year.  

Both products were top sellers for Character Options and were included in last year's Dream Dozen Toys.

In addition to the Toy Industry Awards, Character Options also picked up three Best New Toy Awards at the Annual Toy Fair:-

·      Best New Feature Plush-ZhuZhu Puppies™,  a new addition to the ZhuZhu Pets^® collection

·      Best New Girl's Toy- Squinkies, a new squidgy micro collectable for girls was the hot tip for the category and follows tremendous success since its release in the US last year

·      Best new Role Play Toy -X-Ploders, a new cool water blaster range

The feedback, enthusiasm and demand for Character's 2011 product line up continues to be very encouraging and we look forward on updating the market throughout the year on our progress.

Enquiries:
	Richard King, Chairman	Fiona Tooley	Russell Cook
	Kiran Shah, Group Finance Director & Joint MD	Keith Gabriel	Carl Holmes
	The Character Group plc	Citigate Dewe Rogerson	Charles Stanley Securities
	Mobile: [phone] (RK)	Mobile: [phone] (FT)	(Nominated Adviser)
	Mobile: [phone] (KS)	Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone]
	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors

The Character Group is a designer, developer and international distributor of toys, games and giftware.

www.thecharacter.com

Ticker: AIM: CCT

The business was founded in 1991 and, in 2003, the Group made a strategic decision to increase the development of its own products. Today, around 70% of all products marketed by the Group are developed in-house. A major benefit of this strategy has been the opening of international markets, with Character's products now being sold in over 30 countries worldwide.

The Character Group operates mainly in the United Kingdom and China and has offices in Surrey, Oldham, Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. It employs around 156 people worldwide.

 

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