The rebirth of Meccano

Meccano‚ invented at the beginning of the 20th century by Frank Hornby‚ delighted children around the world until the arrival of plastic and electronic toys years later. When new toys arrived, the company started losing money and eventually filed for declared bankruptcy in 2000. When Alain Ingberg and his son Michaël learnt about this in the press, they became very optimistic about the brand’s potential to build a reputation. Alain Ingberg convinced Nikko (the French leader of radio-controlled cars at the time) whom he represented in France and Spain‚ to buy the company. There were then various developments which aimed to relaunch Meccano. An important commercial agreement was made which helped Meccano penetrate the American market. Management also put in place an ambitious and serious development plan throughout the world, modernised the original Calais site, and innovated, creating new products, without losing sight of the brand’s tradition, which remained true to hundreds of publications and dear to many fan clubs. This talk takes a look back at this thrilling story.