CURIOUS UNIVERSE AWARD SUCCESS Now in its 10th year, the Bath Business Awards recognise the importance of celebrating the positive accomplishments of all Bath-based businesses and acknowledge Bath as a great place to live, work and do business. They toast successes, celebrate achievements and highlight successful and innovative businesses doing great things across the region. Bath-based arts, crafts & toy company, Curious Universe, has been awarded the prestigious Bath Business Awards 2022 SME Business of The Year. Already listed in the Sunday Times 100 earlier this year in recognition of its significant achievements and growth, Curious Universe is also a finalist in the National Lloyds Bank British Business Excellence Awards. Listing the company as one of the best in the country, it has now been shortlisted as a finalist in the Lloyds Bank Small to Medium-sized Business of the Year category. John Styring, Curious Universe CEO, recently underwent a gruelling Dragon’s Den-style presentation process to make it to the final selection in this prestigious awards platform. “2022 has already been an incredible year of growth and development for the company. These awards are the icing on the cake in recognising the passion and commitment across all members of the Curious Universe team,” comments John. “Winning the Bath Business award SME Business of The Year award and being shortlisted among the great and good both locally and on a national level is a real testimony to what we have and continue to achieve across all areas of the business. We are investing heavily in our product development and employee opportunity programme. This, coupled with our continued focus on sustainable ways of producing and marketing our ranges will help us to develop and maintain our growth within the community and on an International playing field.” CRYSTAL ART BUDDIES NOW AVAILABLE Named Best Licensed Toy, Best Collectible Toy and Best Creative Toy at the BlogOn Toy Awards 2022, Craft Buddy’s latest collectible toy range, Crystal Art Buddies have finally launched this month. Available online and also at major nationwide retailers including Hobbycraft, B&M, Forbidden Planet and ToyTown, the first series of Crystal Art Buddies (‘Buddies’) features 25 of your favourite characters from the Disney, Disney Princesses, Star Wars, Marvel and LOL Surprise! universes. Suitable for kids over aged 6, the Buddies are perfect gifts and stocking fillers for the festive season. As one of the most innovative crafting companies in the UK, Craft Buddy’s flagship brand Crystal Art was recently awarded Highly Commended in the Best for Children category in Craft Beautiful magazine’s Best of Craft Award 2022. With its new Buddies range, Craft Buddy have combined the hugely popular diamond painting craft with the world of collectible figurines. There’s been a huge buzz on social media surrounding the launch, with the product championed by many influencers, culminating in the multiple award wins at the BlogOn Toys Awards, which were voted for by toy industry influencers and bloggers. “The response the Buddies have received so far has been mind-blowing! After the early reaction we received when we debuted the Buddies at the Toymaster May Show, and Autumn Fair in September earlier this year, we knew the Buddies would be popular. Then, the exclusive launch to consumers at MCM London Comic Con in October was a wild success!” said Gary Wadhwani, co-director of Craft Buddy, “We’re very confident that the Buddies will be a big hit this holiday season. There’s a huge demand for new gifting ideas that are also priced competitively; and as Christmas looms, Buddies are perfect for stocking fillers or party gifts for family members of all ages.” Sergio Anna, Craft Buddy’s Head of Product commented “With the successful launch of the Buddies and also the recent Star Wars Crystal Art Collection, we’ve established a strong brand affinity among the fans of our licensed partners. With the upcoming Disney D100 100th anniversary celebrations, we’re excited to work with Disney to create more never-seen before Crystal Art products, which will be launched in Q1, 2023.” For any trade sales enquiry, please reach out to the trade team at trade@craftbuddyltd.co.uk INDUSTRY NEWS 9
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