In 1932, the company set up a factory in Brimsdown, Enfield, Britain to avoid customs duties.
The Nuremberg factory was forcibly "purchased" by a German businessman, and survived most of World War II under Nazi control until the Royal Air Force bombed it.
The UK factory switched to military production during the war and then returned to making games.
[citation needed] The company was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1966 and was taken over by Mattel in 1994 after a bidding war with Hasbro.
Mattel closed the UK factory and while it still produces Scrabble, most of the traditional Spear's Games are no longer made.