Copyright falkirkherald
The Entertainer, Britain’s biggest toy retailer, made a £10m pre-tax loss in 2025, down from a £6m profit the year beforeRising employment costs and tax changes prompted a head office restructure, resulting in 41 redundancies and 15 closed rolesThe Grant family, founders of the business, paid themselves a £3m dividend, down from £15.6m the previous yearOwnership of the company was recently transferred to an employee trust, giving 1,900 staff a stake in the businessThe Entertainer continues to supply toys and educational products in the UK and internationally despite the financial challenges Britain’s biggest toy retailer was forced to cut dozens of jobs following a challenging year marked by rising costs and unexpected tax changes. Documents recently filed at Companies House reveal that The Entertainer, which now operates under an employee ownership model, made a pre-tax loss of £10 million in the 12 months to February 2025, a sharp reversal from the £6 million profit it posted the year before. The impact was felt most at the retailer’s head office, where 41 roles were made redundant. 15 positions that had previously been earmarked for recruitment were also closed. The total cost of the restructuring came to just over £1 million. The redundancies followed the 2024 Autumn Budget, which TGH, the group behind The Entertainer, Early Learning Centre, and Addo Play, cited as triggering an “unheralded increase in employment costs.” The company said the restructure was necessary to offset rising operational expenses while keeping its retail network running. Founded in 1981 by entrepreneur Gary Grant and his wife in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, The Entertainer has grown to 160 shops across the UK. TGH works with major global supermarket and retail brands, including Tesco, M&S, Matalan, Walmart, and Toys R Us Canada, while its subsidiaries supply products to 30 territories worldwide. Despite the pre-tax losses, the Grant family drew a dividend of £3 million in 2025, down from £15.6 million the year prior. The accounts come shortly after the Grant family transferred ownership of TGH to an employee ownership trust, giving 1,900 staff a stake in the business. The move to employee ownership has been widely welcomed within the company, with staff now directly benefiting from the performance of The Entertainer, Early Learning Centre, and Addo Play. While the redundancies are a setback, the broader business continues to supply toys and educational products both domestically and internationally. The restructuring also reflects wider pressures facing UK retailers; rising wages and evolving tax obligations have forced many businesses to reassess staffing and operating costs. The toy sector, in particular, faces significant seasonal swings alongside increasing competition from online marketplaces. Despite a challenging retail landscape, The Entertainer remains a household name for families, offering toys and games across the UK.
