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Keep it in the Family

October 23rd, 2011 | Posted by jane in TymeAgain - (766 Comments)

TymeAgain and Carlo’s Bakery (of Cake Boss fame) have something in common – they are both family run businesses.   What does it mean when you have family members working together in a business?  Well, it means you are all invested in doing the best job you can.  It means you are used to depending on each other – you know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and you can ‘read’ each other when you need to. It also means you can cover for each other, hold each other to a high standard and just expect more than you would from a regular co-worker or employee.

left to right - Peter with son, Stephen (TymeAgain North America) and Ben with son, Will (TymeAgain UK).

So how can you find people to work for you who ‘feel like family’?  It’s easy – find people who care about the same things that you do.  When it comes to making TymeAgain toys, Ben and his wife Hellyn prefer to hire parents and grandparents because then when he says to them ‘don’t give me anything you’ve made that you would want to hand to your child/grandchild to play with’, they know exactly what he means and quality is assured.  He chooses his craftspeople carefully and takes the time to have a relationship with each one of them personally.  That’s why he has three generations of one family working for him. It’s the way companies used to operate but is a rarity today when so many of the things we use are mass produced.  It’s just one more reason why we think we’re special.

For the Love of History

October 16th, 2011 | Posted by jane in Historical | TymeAgain - (233 Comments)

When Ben created TymeAgain, he was combining his love of designing and creating, with his love of history.  And does he love history!  It actually borders on the OCD.  When we were with him in Salisbury Cathedral, I was blown away by the extent of his knowledge about all things to do with the Cathedral (built 1300’s) and the life, times and happenings that are connected with it.  And what an amazing storyteller he is!  I didn’t know there are only four original copies of the Magna Carta in existence and the best one is in the Cathedral. He would start telling us something, for example about the martyrdom of the clergy, and I would listen in a mildly interested way.  But by the time he had finished his story, I was thinking. ‘Wow, that’s fascinating’.  I don’t know how he remembers all that information.  But that’s what happens when you have a passion for something. (I’ll admit I only retained a fraction of it – sorry, Ben).

That’s why each TymeAgain product has a tag which features the history of the item – whether it be factual, as in the case of a Roman Spatha sword or mythological, as with the Excalibur.  When a child holds one of our swords, or the Journeyman’s Staff or whatever, that story is a part of the magic.   Oh, and another thing about the labels – kids love to collect them!