Alumni and Friends

Name -Alan Bennie
Subject - BA (Hons) Accountancy
Grad Year - 1977
Residence - Petworth, West Sussex.
Business Location - Guildford, Surrey
Employer - Vivid Imaginations Ltd
Position - Managing Director and Vice Chairman

How has your career progressed since graduation from GCU?
I headed down to London after graduating and joined Matchbox Toys as a Graduate Trainee. The plan was to spend 2 years there and move on but it's a difficult industry to leave and opportunities came along at the right time. By 1987 I was European Finance and Operations Director and in 1993 took a deep breath and set up Vivid Imaginations. Vivid has exceeded all expectations, is the UK's leading toy sales and marketing business with turnover exceeding £100 million, highly profitable and has developed into a fast moving entrepreneurial culture which is has major competitive advantage over more ponderous multi national competitors.

Why Choose Glasgow Caledonian University and your specific course?
As an Ayrshire boy, I had always seen Glasgow as the big city and the university was up and coming and seemed to have a "can do" mentality. I saw management accounting as a stepping stone into a business career and in retrospect it was a good route into a general management role.

How was life at University?
Most of the lecturers had experience in the business world so it was my first exposure to the real world. The social life wasn't bad either with some good bands and a very proactive students union.

What are your best and worst memories of University?
The long Friday afternoons in the Student Union Bar were great! My worst memory was my shocking attendance record at double Quantitative Techniques lectures on Friday afternoons!

What advice would you give to new graduates?
It's obviously a tough time to enter the jobs market but keep trying, use contacts, internships, anything to get a start. Try to do something different that will make your CV stand out.

What are the top toys for Christmas ’09?
For Pre School, look out for Timmy, toys based on an Aardman ( of Wallace and Gromit fame) show on CBeebies. It also happens to be one of ours! Ben 10 and Bakugan are the big hits for boys with Transformers also popular. For Girls, Barbie and Bratz are both on the down curve with High School Musical and Hannah Montana popular. I Carly based on a new US teen programme might also be a hit. For 2010, watch out for Toy Story 3.

What was your first commercial toy hit?
My business partner and I launched Vivid in 1992, using all available savings and preparing the family for a few years (at least) of austerity! Through our contacts and reputation from our time running Matchbox, we were able to pick up the rights to Gerry Anderson's Captain Scarlet, which was being re-launched on BBC. Our last big project with Matchbox had been the re-launch of Thunderbirds, from the same Gerry Anderson stable, which was wildly successful, with consumers queuing overnight outside toy shops trying to secure those most have Tracy Islands!
Captain Scarlet was similarly successful in Vivid's first year. Our business plan estimated £2 million sales, which secured bank support, turned out to be £10 million and the austerity drive was duly cancelled!

How has the Impact of technology and electronic games effected the demand for dolls and action figures?
Technology and Electronic Games have been with us for a long time and the success of girls brands like Bratz and High School Musical and the current success of Ben 10 for boys show that if a license is hot and the product is right then the demand is there. No doubt, though, that kids are moving out of toys at an earlier age and that technology, computer games, mobile phones, IPods etc are competing for the same spend.

What is the most exciting project that you have worked on?
Over the years, we've been involved with high profile characters from the world of music, entertainment and sport. Vivd's "Take That" Dolls were a big success and a fun project, although getting the guys' approval of sculpts was an interesting process. Our "Soccer Superheroes" range meant dealing with a number of top players and all of the UK's leading clubs, including Rangers and Celtic. The original models of Paul Gascoigne, Michael Laudrup, Ally McCoist, Paulo DiCanio and Jorge Cadette are in the Scottish Football Museum at Hampden.

What are your future plans?
We've just acquired new businesses in France and Germany and are aiming to roll out the Vivid business model across Europe. We're investing heavily in new markets and also new products and licenses at a time when a lot of companies are cutting cost and retracting. I believe that we will be well positioned to benefit from improving economic conditions over the next few years and I am currently very focused on driving our European agenda. More time on the golf course is also a priority!

You were featured on the BBC’s Apprentice, how did that come about?
As a leading toy company, we were approached by the show when they had decided to give contestants the task of designing a successful toy. Our offices were absolute mayhem for a few days! I was overseas and so didn't meet Alan Sugar but our Marketing team were featured on the programme and our Marketing Director also featured on the recent Comic Relief Celebrity version of the show.
Over the years, I have met a number of high profile entrepreneurs, including Richard Branson on a few occasions, most notably when Vivid have been recipients of Virgin Atlantic - Sunday Times Fast Track and Profit Track for fastest sales and profit growth in the UK. Vivid is a regular award winner within the toy industry but it's very satisfying to receive recognition across all industry categories.

What is your greatest professional achievement?
No doubt, leaving a safe corporate position and succeeding in setting up a highly successful, entrepreneurial and fun business.

What is your greatest personal achievement?
Trekking the Great Wall of China for 7 days last year with a group of friends and raising over £100,000 towards a new operating theatre at Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital.

If you weren’t running your own toy company what would you be doing?

I'm convinced that my business career has been a major distraction from what would otherwise been a highly successful sporting career. Having recently hung up my boots after a successful international career for Scotland, I would have been fighting out the Open Championship at Turnberry with Tom Watson this summer. In my dreams!

What city would you like to live in?
I would probably choose San Francisco which is certainly my favourite US city. My daughter, Claire, spent a year at university there and, as a concerned and responsible parent, I made a number of visits to ensure that she was coping with the challenges of Californian life! Seriously, though, it has a stunning setting, almost a European feel to it and very cosmopolitan. Not to mention proximity to Napa Valley wine tasting.