Martin Yaffe Ltd goes in to administration

Martin Yaffe Ltd, the manufacturer and supplier of branded toys has gone in to administration

Based in Rochdale the company employed 160 people and supplied large retailers such as Boots, John Lewis and the supermarkets

We have absolutely no insider knowledge of why they have gone bust but it can't be comfortable selling branded products to larger retailers (who insist on low low prices!) when the pound slumps against the dollar and you still need to pay huge license fees. Losing a major customer such as Woolworths can't have helped either! Rumour has it that Woolworths owed Yaffes £5m when they went under

The figures show that they moved from making a profit of almost 1.3million in 2006 to a loss of 3.3million in 2008

Theres a slight chance of being boring here but we firmly believe that if your success is based on pumping volume through at low margin then its only momentum which will keep you going. If that stops then the wobble will be hard to control

Martin Yaffe supplied most of the biggest high street retailers and it will be interesting to see what impact their demise will have on the ranges available in the shops. Will they dare to venture away from licensed product? They might just have enough time to bring in their own ranges but it will definitely be a tight squeeze.

Best Years have a range of unique soft toys. They are not the cheapest in the market but the design and manufacture are fab and our prices represent great value for money. If you want to try our range splease email sales@bestyears.co.uk as we would love to hear from you