Meet Great Cornard 26-year-old Dan Hewitt who turned his passion for vintage toys into thriving business Phoenix Toys and Models
When Dan Hewitt was around five years old his great aunt Peggy worked in a toy store. Every time she came to visit she would bring him a present from the shop.
Little did she know where her gifts would lead. The tiny models, often farmyard animals, were the start of a hobby that turned into an obsession.
By the time Dan was 12 he was already a fledgling toy dealer. Now, at 26, it’s not child’s play any more but a thriving business.
And among the thousands of items that sit in - or pass through - his vintage collection one still has a special place in his heart.
The little white Charolais bull is not the most pristine, or the most valuable, but it is not for sale at any price.
“It was possibly the first toy my great aunt bought for me. It was the first one I loved, and it’s still my favourite,” he says.
Dan’s collecting passion made the leap from hobby to business in the first Covid lockdown in 2020.
Worried about what - at that frightening and uncertain time - the future might hold for the painting and restoration company he ran with partner Kerry Gooden, he began selling off a few items.
“We were in the process of a big job coming through in lockdown, but in the first few weeks we started to think things might get difficult.
“The trouble we had was getting building materials. We had to hire a 40ft container and fill it with materials to make sure we had enough to finish the job.”
Kerry, who also works part-time for West Suffolk College dealing with apprenticeships funding, adds: “We didn’t have any savings because all our money just went straight back into the business.”
As it happened, Covid was not the deadly blow they feared. “Lockdown was when we branched out with the renovations business as well, and went into full house renovation, working all over the country including in London,” Dan says.
But by then the potential of dealing in vintage toys was also becoming clear. Now they run the two enterprises side by side.
And Kerry - they have been together since they were teenagers - has finally stopped laughing at his obsession. She is now building up a toy collection of her own.
Dan grew up in Fakenham in Norfolk and recalls following his big brother’s love of models made by the company Britains that are the mainstay of his collection now.
“I have a brother Rick who’s 10 years older, and you always want what your older siblings have.
“We used to play with each other’s Britains models. From memory I don’t remember there being many fallouts about me stealing his stuff!
“We lived in a very agricultural area, and we both were interested in tractors and farm machinery and agriculture.
“Our mum and dad always used to get us toys related to what we were interested in.
“Mum took me to my first toy fair in Norwich. I think I was eight or nine.”
There he first met a mentor who became the inspiration for his own collecting, and his wish in turn to pass on his interest to youngsters.
“Steve was obviously a lot more knowledgeable than me. He showed me different toys I’d never seen before - really rare things - and sometimes gave me stuff for free.
Soon I was going from just having a few bits and pieces to ‘I want this, I want that’. I used to fund it all myself, buy stuff to sell on, from the age of 12. I was always a bit entrepreneurial.”
Years later, when Dan and Kelly began going to toy fairs together, their paths crossed again.
“When we started doing the fairs I saw him across the room and it was just like old times,” said Dan. “And now I’m passionate about getting young people involved and interested.
“My little brother Harley, who’s 11, is collecting the Britains space range, astronauts, aliens.
“We went to a big fair in Twickenham together. We both had rucksacks that were absolutely full. He got his first ‘space’ toy there.”
Dan’s love of the toys never waned until he went to university and his collection stayed at home.
He studied business management and marketing at Essex University. “It was really good and I enjoyed it. When I came out of university I wanted to go into management consultancy. Then I realised it was going to be city-based.
“The previous year I had set up a painting business to earn a bit of money, and I just carried on. That is now a fully fledged business, Phoenix Renovations.
Dan and Kerry have been together for eight years. They have lived in Sparrow Road, Great Cornard, which they say is a lovely neighbourhood with a real community feel for five years.
When they moved in Dan’s toy collection went into the loft. Now the ever-expanding stock is 'everywhere' they say.
“We’d have a good boxroom full, up to the ceiling, but it’s in our office and Kerry works from home and is getting squeezed into less and less space,” Dan said.
But they are about to reclaim some space at home by moving it into a vacant unit near one he already uses for his other business.
And of course there are now two collections to house with Kerry developing a keen eye of her own.
“I really enjoy it. When I first met him I used to take the mickey. I couldn’t understand why people pay for these things.
“I have to apologise for seven years of doing that. I agree now that it’s brilliant.”
Dan adds: “Now if we buy a collection to sell, Kerry has to go through it and keep a few bits out.”
They buy and sell at fairs and online, but face to face is by far their favourite way of doing business.
“It’s the fairs I enjoy more because you see people with similar interests.” he says. “Some stands are specialist, like trains, but it’s all vintage, celebrating the past.
“One of the nicest things about it is the people you meet. If you have something you’re not sure about there’s always someone who is willing to help. It’s a real community, and you have a mix of ages.”
“We’re the babies,” said Kerry, “and we make a point of having proper chats with people. It’s quite old school which I really like.”
“People are so helpful,” said Dan. “If it’s a dealer buying from a dealer no-one takes the mickey - everyone is really fair with each other.
“We’re looking forward to the upcoming season which will be very busy with weekend fairs in venues including Newark, the NEC, and Doncaster.
“Mainly we collect things made by Britains, which was the brand I collected as a child.
“But we will still buy Matchbox, Dinky, and Corgi toys, which we often sell on to other dealers.”
With two businesses to keep going it’s as well neither Dan nor Kerry likes to sit around doing nothing.
“We like to go camping but even when we do that we end up sorting stuff out for work,” Kerry says. While we were camping recently we were doing an online auction with Lacy Scott in Bury.
“My favourite toy is a Land Rover in a box, it was the first proper thing of mine that I ‘pinched’ from the collection.”
Any fan of Antiques Roadshow will know that rare old toys can sell for enormous sums. But the kind of models Dan and Kerry deal in are more accessible - quite a few are even within pocket money range.
“Some little figures are £30 or £40. The cheapest item would be about £1,” he says. “The most expensive we’ve bought is a prototype truck which we have on order which is £500.”
Unsurprisingly it is not just toy fairs that the couple enjoy. They also love going to boot sales.
They are sticking to the Phoenix name they use for the renovations company for the toy business, which they call Phoenix Toys and Models.
“The reason is that renovations give a new lease of life, and with toys it’s the same concept, bringing things back.
“But there is also a third meaning which is that at times we have both had mental health struggles, and the Phoenix represents coming out the other side,” said Dan.
Supporting other local small business is also important to them. “If we need anything we’re trying to stay local. Wayne Tanswell from Sudbury is doing our signwriting, and Toodlepip Designs does our flyers. We know how hard it is to run a small business,” Kerry says.
To contact Dan and Kerry email phoenixtoysand models@gmail.com.
