Toys are me... Schoolboy captures dream job playing vital role in quality control

IT’S the job dreams are made of – official toy tester at one of the country’s largest shopping centres.

And yesterday, the Meadowhall centre in Sheffield announced that, after a gruelling “interview” process, it had taken on 12-year-old Owen Birkett as its official “toy quality control analyst”.

Throughout the school holidays Owen, from Kimberworth in Rotherham, will be testing six of the latest toys and regularly reporting back on his findings, getting “paid” in the toys he is trusted to test.

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Following his appointment, he said: “When I heard about the job I was really excited. I love playing with toys and I save up my pocket money to buy them so I asked my mum if she would apply for the job for me.

“I was nervous when I had to go for my interview but it was really fun and I got to play with some toys and tell the people at Meadowhall what I thought about them.

“I couldn’t believe it when they called out my name and said I had the job. I’m really looking forward to making some videos about the toys so that all my friends can see what I think of them.”

Each week Owen will visit the shopping centre to try out a different toy. He will then record his thoughts in a weekly online blog and YouTube.

Meadowhall director Darren Pearce said: “It was tough to shortlist all the applicants as we had so many fantastic entries.”