Judging for the Product categories took place at the Emirates Stadium on July 4.
Some 140 retail buyers made their way to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium yesterday for the judging of the Product categories in this year’s Licensing Awards.
Over 5,000 products were on display in the Highbury Suite at the North London football club.
Every major retailer was represented, with buyers from a variety of categories attending to cast their votes.
These included Argos, Asda, Blue Diamond Group, Fat Face, Forbidden Planet, Groupon, Harrods, House of Cards, Intu, Jojo Maman Bebe, John Lewis, Laura Ashley, M&Co, Marks & Spencer, Matalan, Paultons Park, Pep & Co, Photobox, Primark, Sainsbury’s, Shop Direct, Specsavers, Stanfords, Tesco, WH Smith and The Hut Group.
In addition, this was further bolstered by a large number of delegates from the Brand Licensing Europe Retail Mentoring Programme, giving them an opportunity to view products in their own categories and beyond.
Delegates came from Blue Inc, Character.com, Dixons Carphone Warehouse, Geek is Chic, Morrisons Nutmeg, M&Co, Matalan, Sainsbury’s, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, The Entertainer, Toymaster, TruffleShuffle and Tesco – further underlining the breadth of retailers lending their support to The Licensing Awards.
Julia Redman, head of buying at M&Co, said a number of her team present at the judging were involved with the Retail Mentoring Programme. “It’s great for them to see a different side of the business and see the impact that the licensing industry actually makes,” she told The Source.
Leeann Magee from Matalan added: “This is just amazing for inspiration and it’s amazing to see everything all in one room. You don’t really understand the scale of it until you see everything laid out together; it gives you the chance to see what’s big and important in the market.”
You can get a taster for the judging day in our picture gallery below.
The finalists in the Product categories of The Licensing Awards will be announced by the end of July.
(Main image, left to right: Joe Hales (Primark), Pippa Woods (Tesco), Dayna Kent (Morrisons), Katie Briggs (WHSmith), Denille Halsall-Rooney (Matalan)and Iain Betterton (Stanfords).)
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