This June, Casdon Toys, which is based in Cornford Road, Blackpool, celebrates 75 in business.
Started from a shed in a local back garden just after the Second World War, keen toolmaker, Thomas Cassidy had an ambition to start his own toy business.
Thomas began by making moulds to produce small, decorative items for children in the shape of skating boots in the shed (that he built) in his mum’s back garden. He then turned his hand to repairing vacuum cleaners to raise money for a start-up toy business of what was to become the Casdon Toys of today.
Thomas soon left his day job as a toolmaker, became self-employed and on 8 June 1946, began to record sales for his hand-made toys in his first ledger.
This June, Casdon Toys celebrates 75 years in business. The legacy of the business alone is an impressive one as Casdon also makes up one of the UK’s 4.8million family businesses[1]. It’s now run by Phil Cassidy and Peter Cassidy – Thomas Cassidy’s grandsons and sons of former Chairman, Paul Cassidy who sadly passed away at the beginning of 2020.
Casdon now successfully trades internationally with offices in Hong Kong and distribution partners in the US and Australia – but it is still headquartered in Blackpool in the original Casdon premises of the 1950s – just down the road from the shed where it all began.
Casdon products have been family favourites for years – from the Telephone Exchange to the Bobby Charlton Soccer Game to the vintage Casdon Hypertill (which made an appearance on Coronation Street last Christmas in Tim Metcalfe’s childhood stocking his mother had waited 40 years to give him). The products today are child-sized versions of items that adults may already use within the household or on the high street.
Phil Cassidy, managing director of Casdon Toys, said: “We are delighted to be celebrating our 75th anniversary in 2021. The company’s ethos has always been to produce top quality products at affordable prices. Casdon has been renowned for toy innovation during its history and has an unrivalled reputation as a developer of toy replicas, with some of the most prestigious domestic appliance products on the market. The Dyson Vacuum replicas perhaps being the most notable. Both Thomas and Paul Cassidy recognised the need for toys to have a role in children’s learning and development as well as to be fun to play with and today, we are still a family of toymakers who continue to inspire imaginative and creative play for children through every new role-play toy we introduce.’
Today’s bestsellers include the officially licensed child-sized Dyson Ball vacuum, the Pick & Mix Sweet Shop, mini-Henry and Hetty vacuum cleaners and the Morphy Richards Kitchen Set.
With role-play being at the heart of the company, Casdon is launching a ‘Helping out in the Home Corner’ initiative this month to coincide with the anniversary. The campaign will see 100 primary schools benefiting from receiving some of Casdon’s bestselling toys to help enhance school role-play areas across the country.
