In 2024, the Henbrandt team operate from our head offices in Ipswich on the south-east coast, and our South Wales branch in the Welsh capital, Cardiff. Our purpose-built HQ building comprises of 120,000 square feet of warehouse, offices, and a showroom, all within 10 miles of Felixstowe Port.
We are leading importers within our field, and we have exclusive and longstanding agreements with reputable factories all over the world. Our company journey has now spanned over half a century, and we continue to evolve.
The Beginning
Henbrandt was formed in 1971 by Michael Brandt and Barry Henderson, two friends who decided to build on their years of import experience and go into business together. Although short-lived, the name ‘Henbrandt’, a portmanteau of both surnames, remains as a lasting legacy to this original partnership.
Michael soon realised that for Henbrandt to succeed, the company could not be a one-man enterprise. A Christmas drink with his long-time friend, Joe Dyer, offered a solution: Michael and Joe became a formidable double act, with Joe providing Michael with much-needed support in the company’s growth and development.
For the next 30 years, Joe capably administered the office and Michael dedicated his time to buying and selling. Established shows such as the Harrogate Toy Fair and the Mount Royal Show in London were vital to sales and cultivating new customer relationships, but they also proved the place where long friendships were forged. Some of our customers and clients have been with us now for 20-30 years, their own businesses growing up alongside us. The fairs and the relationships formed at them are reflective of the business that Henbrandt is, and we value our people and our customers.
1975-1985
In 1975 Henbrandt established its first proper HQ, setting up shop on Grosvenor Road in Edmonton, London N9. The first decade saw constant struggle, but between Michael’s keen instinct for survival and the coup that was obtaining an exclusive range of vehicle toys from the Spanish manufacturer Obertoys, Henbrandt moved into the 1980s in good shape. The solid foundations that underpin the company had been laid in place, and during those competitive years of the 1980s, nothing epitomised the Henbrandt spirit more than the tenacious sales ethic of Simon Stern. Simon had joined the company in 1980 and went on to become Henbrandt’s first £1 million salesperson.
In 1982, Michael’s son, Garry, briefly joined his father, getting a taste for the business.
1986-2000
In the mid-80s, the company relocated from Grosvenor Road to Willoughby Lane, London N17. This move constituted a natural progression that reflected the company’s continued growth, and allowed Henbrandt to enter the next stage of its evolution.
In 1987, Garry was invited back to the company and became the first of company’s second generation leadership.
In 1991, Henbrandt moved again, this time to a warehouse in East London that provided economies of scale and facilitated a larger scale of expansion than had previously been possible.
The New Millennium
By the time the new millennium rolled around, Henbrandt had almost three decades of experience in the toy importing industry and knew its market well.
In July 2007, Henbrandt relocated from London to Ipswich, marking the biggest move yet in the company’s history. The move placed us within 10 miles of Felixstowe Port, giving every logistical advantage that the modern world demands on businesses such as ours. Purpose-built to exacting standards, the impressive new company headquarters consisted of 120,000 square feet of warehouse, offices, and an expansive product showroom. The first trailer of stock was received into our brand-new warehouse on 3rd July 2007, marking the beginning of a new era for Henbrandt Ltd.
The move to Ipswich presented an opportunity for reappraisal of the company’s objectives as we approached fifty years of trading. We began to cast our collective eye towards the future of the industry. As retail moved online, Henbrandt too began to find its place in the online world.
2009-2015
In 2009, Julian Starns was appointed Managing Director of Henbrandt, joining Garry Brandt at the head of the company. Rounding out the new leadership team was Laurence Gannon as Finance Director.
From their earliest days of working together, the leadership team of Garry, Julian and Laurence has been an extraordinary example of unity and what can be achieved with a shared business goal. Their collective priority to always put the company first means they have been on the same page since Day One, and over the years, this has evolved into a committed alliance where the support and trust the trio have between them has extended to include other areas of life as well as the business.
Additionally, in 2011, we launched Henbrandt.co.uk and changed forever how we do business. The launch of our dedicated web platform ushered in a new age for the company, as we began figuring out how to harness technology to our advantage and streamline parts of our business.
As such, by the time Michael took his well-earned retirement in 2013, he was satisfied that he had ensured Henbrandt’s continuation and confident that he was leaving the company in more-than-capable hands.
2016-2024
During the latter half of the 2010s, the looming spectre of BREXIT became a challenge with which our leadership team had to reckon. Our export links with Europe were (and continue to be) connections that we valued and were not willing to relinquish. As such, BREXIT led to the creation of our European sister company, Henbrandt EU B.V., which started trading at the end of 2020 and is proficiently led by Francisco Sanchez.
The complex circumstances of COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdowns caused an overhaul in how our customers shop. Our 50th anniversary in 2021 passed with little fanfare, but we were fortunate to have been able to use the bubble of time created by lockdowns to our advantage. We took stock of where we stood in the industry and re-assessed again what we wanted the company to look like going into the 2020s.
The marketing team and approach to sales was restructured to ensure we were still putting our relationships with customers first. With a fresh focus on interpersonal customer relationships over the commission-based model, the company was joined first by Luca Starns in 2020 and then by Chris Rouse in 2022 as the new account managers.
In 2022, George Pearce joined the company as Director of Operations, bringing with him his own staff and opening an office branch in Cardiff to complement and support the Ipswich HQ. With the expansion of the Henbrandt team and the addition of the Cardiff office, Henbrandt now has a dedicated tech base.
In 2024, Henbrandt is in its third generation and continues to go from strength to strength. From one man starting out in the early 1970s, we now boast a staff of thirty spread across England, Wales, and Spain. Our workforce is hugely varied, spanning across Sales, Finance, Tech, and Warehouse, and bringing a wide array of skillsets and diverse experiences to the team. We have embraced modernity and the digital age, and we remain committed to providing the best service to our customers.
The Future
In the last decade, Henbrandt has met with considerable challenges, but continues to meet them head on through innovation and a characteristic open-minded willingness to embrace change as it comes.
We are proud of our roots, and we are always conscious that part of our success derives from the strong foundations our predecessors built for us that enable us to keep building onwards and upwards as we look towards the future.