page_title: Merrythought
section_title: Present day
hierarchical_section_title: Merrythought / Present day
caption_attribution_description: English: What a smart bear on guard outside the Merrythought Teddy Bear Shop &amp; Museum at Coalbrookdale. Thankfully, at least one part of the Merrythought empire is still functioning.
context_page_description: Merrythought is a toy manufacturing company established in 1930 in the United Kingdom. The company specialises in soft toys, especially teddy bears. It is the last remaining British teddy bear factory to still make its products in Britain and is located at Ironbridge in Shropshire.
  The company's site in Ironbridge has a small museum and shop open to the public, and is where the toys are made. The site is a former iron foundry building on the banks of the River Severn, less than half a mile upstream from the world-famous Iron Bridge itself. The vicinity is known as Dale End, lying at the bottom of the Coalbrookdale valley, and falls within the wider Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site.
  The origin of the firm's name is uncertain but possibly derives from an archaic word for "wishbone" – the company has used a wishbone as an emblem since 1992.
context_section_description: The company still uses traditional methods and materials (such as mohair for its bears) to produce a limited range of hand-crafted toys, appealing to the high end of the market. The founder's grandson, Oliver Holmes, ran the business as managing director until his death in 2011; his eldest daughter, Sarah Holmes, has been involved in its management since 2010, and middle daughter Hannah Holmes since 2011, thereby continuing the Holmes family connection. As of 2011, all four shareholders are members of the Holmes family.
  The present range includes for the most part traditional and collectable teddy bears (including the company's "Punkie" and "Cheeky" variants), some other soft toy animals. Since the relaunch in 2007 the collectable part of the range consists of numerous special designs, each produced in a limited batch (typically between 75–200 units) and with new designs regularly coming onto the market. Recent commemorative bears include those for the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and in memory of the late Oliver Holmes.
  There is a notable foreign export market for the company's products, with Merrythought teddy bears being sent all over the world, most significantly in Japan, where in recent years a "cult following" of Merrythought Bears has developed; the depreciation of the British pound against the Japanese yen since 2008 has also helped sales there. The recent depreciation of the pound has also helped the company compete in the UK against imports, including those from continental Europe.
  Displays of historic and current Merrythought products can be seen at the small shop and museum located at the company's Ironbridge site, which is open seven days a week throughout the year and is free to enter.
caption: The shop and museum, which first opened in 1988, is one of the visitor attractions in the area. It is run and managed directly by Merrythought, though it used to be part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums.
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