Teddy bear factory closes for business (From Free Press Series)

Teddy bear factory closes for business

A Pontypool-based factory that produced teddy bears for the oldest manufacturer of the toy in Britain has had to close after nearly 40 years of business.

Dean's Rag Book Company was founded in London in 1903 and relocated to Pontnewynydd in 1968 after beginning an association with Monmouthshire-based Gwent toys.

From 1915 onwards Dean's became one of the largest toy companies in Britain, creating its own cartoon character Dismal Desmond in 1926 and producing the first Micky Mouse toys in 1930.

In 2003, with the business still going strong, the company - which by then had changed its name to Wendley's - produced a number of commemorative bears and held a special jamboree in Cardiff to celebrate it's centenary.

The firm also released a book, entitled Dean's Rag Book Company Limited - The First 100 Years.

But just two years since celebrating this landmark achievement Wendley's is no more, the factory in Pontnewynydd is deserted and the company has relocated to Hereford, reverting to it's original name, Dean's Rag Book Company.

At it's peak, Wendley's employed around thirty people but currently only eight work at the Herefordshire factory.

"We've closed down the Pontypool factory because of falling sales," said a company spokeswoman.

"We're still trading, making similar products but have changed our name back to Dean's Rag Book Company. We've had to down size. The market's not what it was, the factory in Pontypool was much much much to large for us.

"We used to have getting on for 30 staff but they've been going in dribs and drabs and now we're down to eight".