Millions of people around the world are flocking to cinemas to see The Lego Movie, a 3D computer animated blockbuster based on the ubiquitous toy range.

But few realise the company behind the brand’s range of time pieces is based in the North-East. Gavin Havery reports.

JIM Richardson confesses he did not spend too much time playing with the popular plastic construction blocks as a boy.

But that has not stopped the 48-year-old, who has three children of his own, building a multi million pound business out of spin off products associated with the Danish brand.

Having become a licensee in 1998, he was able to use his own expertise as a watch designer to create novelty watches and clocks on the back of the Lego brand.

Jim says: “I don’t ever remember getting any Lego when I was a kid.

“We weren’t from that great a financially strong background. But it is a great product and it is a fun industry to be in.

“We are a very odd part of the watch business. We make watches that kids can build. It goes against traditions of the watch business, but you have to get to the heart of what the brand is about.”

Traditionally, Lego sets consists of colourful interlocking plastic bricks with various other parts to make objects such as buildings, vehicles or anything that captures young imaginations.

Recently, kits with instructions based on Hollywood films have become best sellers with a wide range of scope for spin offs.

“Construction is a core value of the company so we build all of that into our products.

“With our watches, the kids don’t just wear them. They are a fashion item and you can build it yourself and all of the pieces come off. The child can use different colour combinations and create their own version of the watch.”

Characters associated with the firm’s business partners such as Lucas Films, which makes the Star Wars movies, now adorn the smart Tyneside offices where ClicTime’s products are created.

“The clocks are based on Lego mini figures. Although they wake you up in the morning, the child or parent is buying it for the emotional attachment the child has got with the character. That is what sells these items. It has got nothing to do with the fact it is a clock.”

From relatively small beginnings, ClicTime Holdings, is now a global firm in its own right with an annual turnover of £18m.

As the sole timepiece licensee for Lego, it sells 2.5m watches and clocks around the world with over 30 staff in offices in New York, Hong Kong and…Blaydon.

The company moved the former vicarage of St Cuthbert’s Church, last year from its previous base in Ponteland, Northumberland, where Jim lives.

Today, the unassuming stone built property, once used as a housebuilder’s HQ and by the NHS to help adults with learning difficulties, it is now home to the company’s creative talent.

“We do everything ourselves. We design the products ourselves with the design team in this building and make our own products right from the plastic granules to the finished article in a factory in the Far East. Then we bring it back to the UK to distribute through retailers such as Argos and John Lewis and different people like that.”

Although Lego has been around since the mid 20th century, the rise of modern play equipment and computer games meant the toy market has become more and more crowded.

When Jim began working with Lego he could not have predicted the brand would enjoy such a resurgence of popularity and become such a big part of many aspects of recent popular culture.

“They had some difficulties making the transition, but they started to license products that are going to engage children in a positive way, including watches, clothing and computer games.

“They want to give them positive experiences of their brand outside the building bricks and we were one of the first licensees. Lego has been a powerhouse in their own field.”

Despite the recent recession, which started in 2007, the last seven years have seen Lego and ClicTime expand their businesses exponentially.

While many companies were going bust as the banking crisis took hold in the years that followed, ClicTime has grown to ten times the size it was before the economic downturn.

Jim says: “Children’s products are interesting. There is one thing that parents don’t tend to cut back during recessionary times and that is children’s gifts. They will still buy kids Christmas presents and something for birthdays.

“They may keep their car longer than normal or keep their shoes a little bit longer, but for their own children they don’t stop spending.”

“Kids products can weather a recession quite well.”

It is hoped the release of The Lego Movie, an animated family feature which sends up and subverts corporate and consumer culture, will only further the ongoing popularity of the brand “The film is going to be huge. It is pretty massive for us. There is no reason why it shouldn’t do well.

“Lego has this endearing quality to it. We have either all played with it when we were children or our kids now are playing with it now.

“It has got tremendous personality.”