Inside the last teddy bear factory

Merrythought Ltd is the last surviving teddy bear factory in the UK.

For the last 80 years, an all-female production line has hand-stitched bears using traditional techniques.

Although other teddy bear factories closed as cheap imports from China flooded the UK market, Merrythought not only survived but prospered.

Managing director Oliver Holmes says this is partly due to the ''phenomenal success'' a range of his bears have had in Japan.

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