For the area in Birmingham, England see Chad Valley, Birmingham

Chad Valley, Birmingham

Chad Valley is a small area of Birmingham, England, located between Harborne and Edgbaston. It contains a fish pond and the Chad Vale Primary School....

Chad Valley is a long-established brand of toy

Toy

A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...

s in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 owned by Home Retail Group. The company has its roots in a printing business established by Anthony Bunn Johnson in Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 in the early 19th century. Under the management of his son Joseph and grandson Alfred the company moved to the suburb of Harborne

Harborne

Harborne is an area three miles southwest from Birmingham city centre, England. It is a Birmingham City Council ward in the formal district and in the parliamentary constituency of Birmingham Edgbaston.- Geography :...

, in the valley of a stream called the Chad, from which the name comes. The company was one of the UK's leading toymakers for most of the 20th century, but in the 1970s it closed several factories and was taken over by Palitoy

Palitoy

Palitoy was the name of a British toy company.It manufactured some of the most popular toys in Britain, some original items and others under licence...

 in 1978. The radio broadcaster Kenneth Horne

Kenneth Horne

Kenneth Horne was an English comedian and businessman. The son of a clergyman and politician, he combined a successful business career with regular broadcasting for the BBC. His first hit series Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh written with his co-star Richard Murdoch arose out of his wartime service as...

 was Chairman and Managing Director of the company from 1956 to 1958.

The brand name was bought by Woolworths

Woolworths Group

Woolworths Group plc was a listed British company that owned the high-street retail chain, Woolworths, as well as other brands such as the entertainment distributor Entertainment UK and book and resource distributor Bertram Books...

 in 1988 and remained in use until that company's closure due to insolvency. Home Retail Group, the parent company of retailers Homebase

Homebase

Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...

 and Argos

Argos (retailer)

Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...

, purchased the brand for £5 million on 20 January 2009. The Chad Valley brand is now available exclusively at Argos

Argos (retailer)

Argos is the largest general-goods retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland with over 800 stores. It is unique amongst major retailers in the UK in that it is a catalogue merchant...

.

External links

• A Chad Valley Affiliate site - Chad Valley
• Chad Valley business site (takes you to the Home Retail Groups Website)