The British Toy & Hobby Association Special Recognition Award recognises individuals and/or organisations for their longstanding dedication and employment within the UK toy industry. The award is made based on long-service, loyalty and contribution. Recipients must still be active within the UK toy industry. The award can be awarded posthumously.
Nominations must have a proposer and a seconder and should be submitted in writing to The Director General of the BTHA. Nominations must be ratified that they meet the appropriate criteria above by the Awards Committee. A written statement summarising the prospective candidate’s achievements and suitability will need to be composed, with nominations completed on the official form below.
Lyndon Davies
The BTHA is delighted to have 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 near Birmingham, in which Oxford Diecast was exhibiting, on Saturday 23rd November.
Lyndon’s loyalty, trustworthiness, dedication and passion for the toy business were celebrated. Lyndon received a specially commissioned trophy from the BTHA, presented to him by BTHA Director General, Roland Earl and BTHA Council Member Tim Mulhall in the company of others who have been alongside 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 atCorgi 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.
Rubie’s Masquerade UK CEO, BTHA Council member and Lyndon’s award proposer Tim Mulhall 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”
The BTHA are honoured to have presented Lyndon Davies with this very well deserved Special Recognition Award.
Simon Hedge
The BTHA is proud to have presented a posthumous Special Recognition Award to Simon Hedge. Simon sadly passed away on 20th June 2023.
The first such award was presented to Simon’s family at a special reception during Toy Fair 2024 where Simon’s loyalty, dedication and passion for the toy business were celebrated. Simon’s family received a newly commissioned trophy from the BTHA, presented to them by chairman Simon Pilkington.
Simon was remembered fondly by all those who attended, which included previous team members, colleagues, friends and close family members who were alongside him during his long career. Simon was a team player who built loyal, motivated, happy and dedicated teams throughout the years.
During a career which spanned nearly three decades, Simon worked for some well-known companies and with some tremendous people, from Hasbro and K’Nex to Flair, where he started his career as commercial director before eventually becoming managing director. In over 20 years at Flair, Simon was a driving force in many ground-breaking moves by the company and revived an illustrious list of brands from Plasticine and Shopkins to Sylvanian Families and Thomas Wooden Railway, and created many others like Paper FX and Comic maker.
BTHA chairman Simon Pilkington said: “On behalf of the British Toy & Hobby Association, I am immensely proud that we have been able to present this award to Simon’s family. Simon gave so much to this industry in so many ways, and today we acknowledge the great contribution he made to the toy industry during his long career. Simon is the first recipient of the new BTHA Special Recognition Award, and a very deserving and fitting winner of this inaugural presentation.”
