As I am still easing my way gently back into the world of work, I unfortunately wasn’t able to attend the BTHA reception at the Houses of Parliament recently, although our editor Caroline was delighted to join the toy community delegation on the day. The event, which brought together toy industry representatives, MPs and officials in the government, shared the findings of the BTHA’s latest investigation, which showed shocking numbers of dangerous toys are still being sold across online marketplaces. No great surprise there, sadly. I think we all know that it’s going to take legislation to make a real dent in the tidal wave of tat emanating from online platforms.
Following on from this important meeting, toy retailers have been keeping up the pressure. The Entertainer’s Andrew Murphy OBE wrote an open letter to the government, printed by The Times, warning the government that its inaction on closing the ‘de minimis’ import tax loophole is likely to result in the UK becoming a dumping ground for unsafe products – and could result in the loss of more UK retailers and further high street closures. TRA Chairman Geoff Sheffield backed Andrew’s letter, calling on the government to “accelerate the legislation to prevent more of our members disappearing from the UK high street”.
Encouragingly, a few days after Andrew’s letter was published, The Times ran a follow-up story claiming that ministers are currently reviewing whether reforms can be introduced earlier than the previously announced 2029 timeline. The government’s previous stance – which argued that a gradual transition was necessary to avoid disruption at ports and customs checkpoints – is now up for debate, so it’s important to maintain the pressure over the coming weeks and months in the hope that the proposed measures can be brought forward.
And as we have seen with the social media ban, the government has shown that it can move swiftly when it decides it is politically expedient to do so. Let’s hope the consultation decides that a clampdown on low-value imports can be introduced equally promptly.
In terms of the social media ban, the general feeling is that it may not be as disastrous for the toy market as some initially envisaged. It does appear that the biggest impact might be felt more amongst teen audiences than kids of toy buying age. YouTube kids is not on the banned list, and if anything, the new regulations might even help to push more kids towards appropriate platforms and channels including linear television, streaming services, console gaming and similar alternatives.
Although don’t underestimate the resourcefulness of kids – many will no doubt already be working out ways to get around the ban. It’s been fascinating to read responses to the social media ban – from my small sample base, it feels like a fairly high percentage of parents are broadly in favour of it. I must confess that I feel we were lucky to bring our daughters up in a pre-social media age – it’s a minefield, and I can’t help feeling that it will be harder to put the genie back in the bottle than some people think. There’s also an argument to say that the ban lets tech giants off the hook to a degree, when arguably they should be the ones effectively policing content and regulating access to their platforms. In that respect, there are parallels with the online retail debate: whose responsibility is it ultimately to ensure that they are complying with the same regulations that their competitors (whether that be physical retailers or broadcast channels) have to adhere to. No wonder career politicians with little experience of the ‘real world’ are finding it a difficult dilemma to navigate – which is why it is so important to keep making our voice heard. Kudos to the BTHA, TRA, Andrew Murphy and everyone else who is making sure that happens.
Elsewhere at retail this week, Poundstretcher’s restructuring plan has been approved by the High Court after receiving 93% approval (by value) from creditors – although often in these situations, it is a ‘rock and a hard place’ choice for creditors, and grudgingly going along with it is the least worst option, rather than turning it down and getting nothing.
Read the rest here.
