Brimtoy originally started out in 1914 as the British Metal and Toy Manufacturers (BMTM), which got into financial difficulties in 1921. The tradename used was Brimtoy and when the BMTM was wound up in November 1921, production was continued by a new company, simply called Brimtoy Ltd. In 1932 Brimtoy was taken over by fellow toymaker Wells and as Wells-Brimtoy toys were being made until the late 1980s, since ca 1970 under the name CMT Wells Kelo.

BMTM/Brimtoy originally made clockwork 0 gauge trains and pull-a-long floor trains which were near copies of the cheapest ranges of the German firms like Carette, Bub and Bing. The locos had simple 0-4-0 mechanisms. In 1919 a rather curious model of Brimtoy’s own design appeared, a 4-4-0 clockwork loco with a length of 32 cm, called Lloyd George, after David Lloyd George, prime minister from 1917 till 1922. With its side entrances and closed rear of the cab it looked like a tank engine, but was supplied with a tender. The cab was very narrow, giving the loco rather a strange appearance. On the rear of the cab was the Brimtoy logo, a depiction of Nelson’s Column, with the lettering ‘Brimtoy Brand’ and ‘British Made’. The clockwork mechanism had no reverse and was activated and stopped by a wire protruding from the rear of the cab. The model was in production with the name Lloyd George until 1924, when it was renamed George the Fifth and as such was made until 1926. Its colour was then changed from red to green and the loco made as the Flying Scotsman until the takeover by Wells in 1932.