Brand Licensing Europe Confirms New Exhibitors, a New Licensee Pavilion and Advice Centre

As the sun sets on summer in Europe, Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) reveals exhibitor numbers have surpassed 250 (14% up on last year) including almost 60 first timers, strong visitor and retail registration and the launch of a new Licensee Pavilion and Advice Centre for 2023.  

To date, 251 companies are confirmed to exhibit at BLE next month, including Mattel, AC Milan, Pokémon, Aardman Animation, Crunchyroll, FC Barcelona, Natural History Museum, Gallimard Jeunesse, Hasbro, Jazwares, Le Petit Prince, Paul Frank, Perfetti Van Melle Group, Riot Games, TF1 Licensing, Smiley, Ubisoft, Van Gogh Museum and many more. Over the summer, the numbers were strengthened with the addition of Boat Rocker, Guinness World Records, Milano Cortina 2026, Nine Mile Babies, last year’s License This! Winner Spookysaurus, Konami Cross Media and many others.  

Meanwhile, visitor registrations from retailers and manufacturers have been steadily rising and are tracking well ahead of last year, with registrations confirmed from Deichmann, Next, Aykroyd & Sons, H&M, John Lewis, Ferrero, Celio, Famosa, Primark, Aldi, Ravensburger, Tesco, FatFace, Lidl, Ackermans, Simba Dickie Group, George at Asda, Liberty London, Goliath Games, Amazon, PepCo, Erve, ASOS, Boots, Panini SPA, Selfridges, Funko and many more.   

Category representation is broad with registrations covering toys, apparel, homeware, greetings, stationery, health & beauty, food & beverage, live experiences and many more. 

Thousands of meetings have been requested through BLE’s online Meetings Platform. Organizers are expecting the Meetings Platform to be incredibly busy from this week and urge visitors to start planning itineraries as soon as possible and remember to block out 5-7pm on Wednesday Oct. 5 for the free Welcome Drinks on the show floor.  

“Now summer’s over and we’re just one month until BLE, it’s time to get planning: get those meetings booked in before brand owners close their calendars and you miss out, schedule time for shopping the floor for inspiration and relevant education sessions – the agenda is online and our second keynote will be announced next week,” says Ella Haynes, event director, Brand Licensing Europe. “They are someone who has never spoken at a Global Licensing Group event before and somewhat of an exciting departure for us. Plus, don’t forget to block out 5pm-7pm on day one for our show floor Welcome Drinks. This will be followed by Licensing International’s Soho Nights party in central London. Tickets are on sale now, so make sure you get those booked, too.” 

Also revealed over the summer - a new Licensee Pavilion (stand C171) and Advice Centre (stands C230 & C231) for BLE 2023. The Licensee Pavilion has been introduced in response to increasing demand from licensees who want to exhibit, often because they have services to offer the retailers in attendance and showcase their products to the exhibiting brands.  

This year’s Pavilion features:  

Elsewhere on the show floor, BLE attendees will find more exhibiting licensees including first timers Half Moon Bay, Erve, Outerstuff and StoneK, plus Sun City, Fashion UK, Sabor, Bioworld, Difuzed, Jazwares, which returns with a bigger presence for 2023.  

“We’ve always attended BLE as visitors, but this year we decided to exhibit because we want more people to know about the collaboration service we offer to brands and retailers,” says Lucy Earing, head of product, Half Moon Bay. “We’d love to find more partnerships – perhaps retailers who want to partner on DTR – or brands that need guidance / a partner that can support them in creating assets and want product at retail. Of course, we’ll also be there as visitors and will be looking out for licenses ourselves.” 

Also premiering at BLE this October is the Advice Centre, which launched to huge success at Licensing Expo, Las Vegas, earlier this year. Attendees will be able to enjoy free expert advice from suppliers in the centre, including: 

Register for a free visitor ticket for Brand Licensing Europe 2023.