The origins of the Company go back almost sixty years, to January 1950 when John Ayrey and his father opened their first model shop, only about a mile away from the present Shipley premises. From the earliest days they imported models into the UK from Germany and the rest of Europe. This included Eheim trolleybuses and Seuthe smoke systems amongst others. The Company grew, opening additional Retail shops in Huddersfield, Leeds and Manchester. The retail shops were sold in the late 1970’s and the Company concentrated on the import and wholesale distribution of die-cast collector’s models.