Children’s publisher Alligator has been a leading mass market supplier of licensed and non-licensed colouring and activity books and creative play stationery, both in the UK and internationally since 2000. The company is run by co-founders Neil Rodol and Andrew Rabin.
Alligator works with some of the biggest licences in children’s entertainment, from Barbie and Paw Patrol to Hello Kitty and Gabby’s Dollhouse, designing and producing high-quality great value products that retail at supermarkets, department stores, garden centres, toy shops, stationers and more.
Neil, who oversees licensing, operations and finance, and co-founder Andrew, who manages sales, product development, design and creative, worked for the same publishing house for a decade before deciding to go into business together, setting up Alligator from a small, rented office, armed with just a fax machine and two Nokia mobiles, purchased from The Orange Shop in Hampstead. They are now based in Finchley, operating with a team of 15.
Unlike many other suppliers, the company holds enough stock to meet immediate demand of every item it has for sale in its Midlands’ warehouse facility and has made hassle-free, fast fulfilment the USP of the business.
“We act almost like a restaurant with a huge à la carte menu – If, say, you want a Barbie colouring book, with a traditional publisher you might have to wait months for the next print run, whereas we have that item readily available; Sainsbury’s can phone up and say, ‘We want 5,000 by tomorrow,’ and we’ll deliver. Everything is in stock, all the time, because we invest our money heavily in inventory.”
Neil Rodol, Co-founder of Alligator Products