Nursery World - Company profile (4)

When John Crane started his company in 1984 he already had a wealth of experience in the toy trade. John Crane Ltd began by selling stock to major retailers on a piece by piece basis, but John, his wife Chaweewan and Anthony King, John's company partner, soon realised the need to find a niche of their own and decided to make the most of their love of wooden toys. The company began by sourcing from Brazil, but as the partners developed their number one brand, Pintoy, they chose rubber wood ('white teak') from Thailand as an ideal material - long before concern for the environment entered the mainstream.

The company began by sourcing from Brazil, but as the partners developed their number one brand, Pintoy, they chose rubber wood ('white teak') from Thailand as an ideal material - long before concern for the environment entered the mainstream.

'We were particularly proud to be awarded the Thai Green Label,' says John.

'This is an environmental certification, awarded to ranges that are shown to have minimal detrimental impact on the environment in comparison with other products.'

John explains that the rubber wood used to make his toys is taken from trees that are at the end of their 25-year cycle of producing latex. If they were not used in toy manufacture they would be burnt to produce charcoal - 'whereas they now live on in the form of high quality wooden toys'.

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