Boots, Dunelm, Lululemon, Matalan, MINISO and Poundland are among the new retailers participating in this year’s Retail Mentoring Program organised by Brand Licensing Europe (BLE).
Following record breaking retail attendance at Europe’s leading licensing event in 2024, they join buyers from returning retailers Asda, character.com, DFS, FatFace, HMV, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, My 1st Years, New Look, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, The Entertainer, The Very Group and The Works.
Delegates on this year’s CPD-accredited, retail engagement initiative have already completed module one of the online learning tool Licensing Unlocked and are now gearing up to attend the third Licensing for Retail conference in London on 3 April, run in partnership with Licensing International.
The invite-only retail audience will enjoy sessions from:
- Opening keynote: Simta Sawhney, senior director licensing – Paramount Consumer Products
- UK & Ireland, South Africa, Israel, Australia & New Zealand
- Amy Harbour, head of licensing and commercial partnerships, The Science Museum
- Jelena Stosic, strategy director, Kids Industries
- Rory Partis, director UK Toys & EuroToys, Circana
Facilitated roundtables will follow hosted by licensing insiders and retail leaders including:
- Helen Lynch, HL Retail Brand Licensing Consultancy
- Steve Manners, Licensing International
- Charlotte Hyson, director of franchise and retail marketing
- Rob Broadhurst
- Bethan Garton, Cloudco Entertainment
- Ian Downes, START Licensing
- Scott MacRae, Retail Buying Expert (ex Asda, NEXT, Arcadia)
The day will close with informal networking and the full agenda is available to view here. Retailers can enquire about a spot here.
Retail Mentoring Program Host Days
Later in the year, Retail Mentoring Program delegates will spend at least one day hosted by a leading licensor/brand owner. New hosts for this year are:
- Royal Museums Greenwich
- All3Media
- The FA – a sports first for the programme
Returning hosts include:
- Bravado
- Warner Brothers Discovery
- Hasbro
- SEGA
- WildBrain CPLG
- CAA
Informa’s Global Licensing Group head of retail, Laura Freedman-Dagg, commented: “We couldn’t be happier with this year’s cohort of retailers joining us for the Retail Mentoring Program and the Licensing for Retail conference. Continuously driving engagement with a diverse and qualified retail attendance is an important part of the BLE strategy and this group is certainly that.”
She continued: “We’re also so grateful for the support we get from our friends and partners from the licensing industry. The ‘host days’ show retailers what it’s like on the brand side of a licensing partnership and always score well on retail feedback forms. We really believe the program shines because of the time and effort our licensor partners put in for our delegates.”
Retailers interested in participating in the 2026 Retail Mentoring Program can enquire here. The full agenda for Licensing for Retail conference is available to view here and retailers can enquire about a delegate spot here.
Top: The Retail Mentoring Programme is organised by Brand Licensing Europe (BLE).
