The Royal Air Force will be celebrating its 100^th birthday on 1^st April 2018. Celebrations will be marked by special events designed to commemorate, celebrate and inspire, highlighting events from the past and looking forward to the next 100 years.

In search of the perfect mascot to raise funds and awareness of the centenary, Squadron Leader Stu Phillips head of the special projects team, contacted Britain’s leading teddy bear designer founder of The Great British Teddy Bear Company,  Paul Jessup.

After extensive research studying original air force uniforms; Paul hand created a standing fully jointed version of his famous Great British Teddy Bear from a specially made plush fabric, the fabric is folded and rolled between steam-heated drums in alternate directions to create vintage curled pile given the bear a traditional loved effect. The bear is wearing an authentic WW2 miniature brown leatherette, Irvin flight jacket with a working waist belt and buckle. The Jacket has been expertly lined with a contrasting faux fur fabric and is worn above an air force blue shirt and tie. His matching flight helmet has been designed with ear holes so that it fits perfectly on the teddy bears head, he even has a pair of flight goggles. ‘The detail and quality of each of the fabrics are essential to the design, the uniform must be authentic in every regard to satisfy the RAF requirements, this is a unique bear representing 100 years of service.’ said Paul Jessup.

When deciding on a name for the official RAF 100 centenary teddy bear the RAF settled on ‘Hugh’ naming their bear in recognition of General Hugh Trenchard the first Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal Air Force.

The RAF created a Facebook page for @Hughtheflyingbear to follow Hugh as he travelled through the USA with the RAF, flying on as many service aircraft as can be arranged to celebrate the USAF 70th Anniversary and the RAF Centenary. With an official Aircrew Flying Log Book to record his exploits, Hugh will eventually become a historical artefact and will be donated to the RAF Museum in the UK.

Hugh’s journey will also be recorded through participation thanks to an idea from designer Paul Jessup; ‘each air force base has their own unique embroidered patch, Hugh is only 36cm tall, so his jacket is not big enough to wear over 200 patches, so I designed a replica military kit bag in authentic heavyweight khaki cotton. This keeps Hugh clean as he travels, and every base will sew on their own patch to record his journey before he lands at the RAF Museum in London. It is an honour and a privilege to create this commemorative artefact.’ said Paul Jessup

Paul Jessup attended the prestigious Camberwell School of Art and The Royal College of Art before setting up the Stone Jessup Design Consultancy in Covent Garden. Paul secured exclusive consultancy contracts with Royal Doulton, Wedgewood, and Enesco and built a reputation for creating innovative licensed packaging for many of Britain’s most famous Heritage Brands. Paul sold Stone Jessup in 2001 and decided to use his artistic talents and extensive character licensing knowledge to create a new iconic British brand.

Paul’s aim is always to create the one teddy bear that you will choose to keep, the teddy bear that you pass on to your children along with your story ensuring your memories are preserved for the next generation. His philanthropic principals are the heart of The Great British Teddy Bear Company. Paul has created insightful and innovative ways of placing teddy bears in the middle of positive life experiences, that bring joy to the purchaser the recipient and benefit an associated charity.

In 2006 Paul was asked to design the 150 year anniversary Florence Nightingale Teddy Bear for the Florence Nightingale Museum. He was given unique access to the museum archive allowing him to create miniature replicas from Florence’s real dress and famous lantern. ‘It was a privilege to work with the museum curators and historians I was inspired to hear how Florence inspired young women to become nurses and fascinated to learn that every nurse in the world recites the Nightingale Pledge when the graduate’ said, Paul Jessup

Understanding that some children have more than enough and some children don’t have enough to survive Paul began thinking about how some parents buy an additional toy for their child when they already have many, and that sadly there are some children without parents. Paul decided to use his teddy bears so that when gifted they encapsulate a memory and at the same time provide an opportunity for someone else to reach their full potential.

Through research; Paul discovered that all nurses in the world are united and are members of the International Council of Nurses, 130 national nurses associations representing 20 million nurses. Paul decided to support the ICN by using his Florence Nightingale Teddy Bear to raise funds and awareness their key charitable initiative The Girl Child Education Fund. ICN promote Florence to their 20 million international nurses. Florence Nightingale Teddy bears are purchased by nurses to give to their children, £4 from the sale is donated by The Great British Teddy Bear Company to educate female orphans of nurses in third world countries. One proud daughter gets a bear that reminds them of their mum, and another receives an education

In an interview Paul Jessup said: ‘Our commercial success as a business can be measured by the fact that we now manufacture 17,000 bears a week and Florence is sold in 24 countries, it is testament to Florence Nightingale’s legacy that  110 years after her death even in Teddy Bear form she is still bringing nurses together across the globe and inspiring young women to reach their full potential.’

Beijing Business News (Reporter Wei Wei) On June 26, Ruyi International Brand Management signed a contract with The Great British Teddy Bear Company Co., Ltd. The ceremony was held in Beijing, and Ruyi International has now obtained the brand authorization of the Great Britain Teddy Bear in Greater China. In the future, Ruyi International will cooperate with The Great Teddy Bear brand IP to fully develop the Chinese market.

President Yang Dajun said that “The British Teddy Bear is a superior IP, the biggest difference with other teddy bear IP is that the Great British Teddy Bear is an iconic British character with a historical background with an existing loyal fanbase. ”

Yang Dajun said that in today’s Internet and social e-commerce subvert the past sales model, the rich IP is the origin of the real fan emotion. As an investor, the reason for investing in IP is because the Chinese IP licensing market is on the rise. Compared with the world’s largest US market, with the improvement of China’s intellectual property management level, the IP market plus the Internet will surely usher in the rapid growth of the next five years.

Ruyi International has been committed to the management and operation of international brand IP for many years. At present, Yuyi International has an existing IP licensing business in Europe, Japan, Korea, and North America. Now it has Picasso Picasso, MA.AL.BI, Aquascutum, Geives and Hawkes and other global well-known brand IP resources covering low, medium and high segment market positioning. In the future, based on the characteristics of The Great British Teddy bear, Ruyi International will create products that satisfy consumers of all ages in the Chinese market.

Paul Jessup, Founder of The Great British Teddy Bear Company, has a vision for this partnership: “Ruyi International is an internationally recognized leading professional in brand operations and marketing. They have a deep understanding of British brands and know how best to introduce our Great  British Teddy Bears to Chinese consumers.”

It is reported that the British Teddy Bear Company was founded in 2007. In 2008, the company was renamed “The Great British Teddy Bear Company” by the British Home Office. The British Teddy Bear has become the epitome of British culture, politics, history and tradition, and is sold in top toy and gift stores in more than 22 countries.

The Great British Teddy Bear Company are delighted to announce a partnership with Mix City Shanghai. The opening of GB Teddy Bear Secret Garden marks the beginning of a long term partnership between China’s leading luxury mall owner and The Great British Teddy Bear Company. ‘We are delighted to introduce GB Teddy Bear to Shanghai and look forward to working closely with this Great British Brand’ said General Manager Ryan XIN. ‘We have created a new teddy bear in collaboration with Mix City Shanghai which combines the luxury and style of Mix City with the quality and tradition of The Great British Teddy Bear Company’ said Founder Paul Jessup.