200 attend inaugural Licensing for Retail organised by BLE and Licensing International 

The inaugural Licensing for Retail event launched by BLE in partnership with industry trade association Licensing International attracted exactly 200 attendees yesterday, including 106 retailers from Aldi, Ann Summers, George at Asda, Claire’s DFS Furniture, FatFace, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Moonpig, Morrisons, New Look, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Home Bargains, HMV, TruffleShuffle, Iceland, Selfridges, Vanilla Underground and more. 

Delegates came together for a day of top-level content designed to help them plan for the future – speakers included Mattel’s Head of Consumer Products Jon Spalding – plus practical networking with peers, the BLE and Licensing Internationals teams, brand owners, licensees, agents, consultants, media and industry suppliers.  

Exclusive content was also on show with sizzle slots from Caroline Mickler, Licensing Link and The Point.1888 featuring brands including Van Gogh Museum, Moomin and The Beatles.  

Lucy Steer, Partner & Head of Category Gifts, Dine, Cook and Seasonal, John Lewis & Partners: “I found the Licensing for Retail Day truly inspiring and innovative, with thought provoking, relevant speakers from market leading brands and agencies, as well as providing a great opportunity to connect with licence agencies, brands and other retailers.” 

Laura Freedman-Dagg, Head of Retail, Informa Markets: “A huge heartfelt thank you from me to everyone who joined us at the first Licensing for Retail Day on Wednesday. Launches are always nervy even though we had really strong content and amazing speakers, but the warmth we felt from the industry made the day a real pleasure to host.  

“We work very hard to connect the whole licensing ecosystem through live events and digital content and to see such a fantastic mix of licensors, agents, licensees, creatives, retailers and service providers come together in such an enthusiastic way was brilliant.”