A raft of familiar licensing names are in the running for accolades at this year’s Progressive Preschool Awards – this year celebrating its ten year anniversary event on 15 November 2022 at the Royal Lancaster London.
Licensed names have once again come up trumps in the product category awards shortlist, with the apparel sector faring well via Disney deals from Character.com, Fashion UK and Dennicci, George and Peppa showing up with Misirli and Character.com from Fashion UK, while heritage characters have also shone through with Sophie la giraffe and Winnie the Pooh.
In addition to a strong turnout across apparel, licensed ranges also dominate across the Best Licensed Toy Range, Best STEM/Education Range, Best Preschool Publishing Range and more – see the full list of finalists here.
Need more reasons to attend? Well, how about the five below…
- The goody bags are back – the event has always been known for its famous goody bag… and this year Ideas International is doing the honours via its partnership with Little Tikes and its Cozy Coupe. The award winning case will be filled with goodies from the trade – sure to make you the most popular mummy/daddy/aunty/uncle or other.
- There’s a dragon coming to tea – there have been many success stories with the famous Dragons’ Den investors taking the plunge with companies in the kids product space. We know Peter Jones is keen on some RC toys, Touker Suleyman loves nursery brands, while Tej Lalvani is the only human who can get vitamins into children without a fuss. One of them is coming to say hello and offer some insights into why they see kids products and brands as the best investments out there.
- Charlie Baker is back in the house – the stand up comic, singer, actor, voice over and presenter returns as your host with the most.
- There are new digs – the awards has been running for a decade and as part of the celebrations, this year it is moving to the Royal Lancaster London, to allow for larger capacity.
- All the friendly faces – like the magazine, the awards is unique in that it is totally cross category. So you’ll see all your usual clients and mates, but you’ll also meet some new ones. Attendees come from toy, nursery, apparel, publishing, homewares, fashion, licensing and more.
The Progressive Preschool Awards are a firm favourite for the licensing sector – tickets and tables are currently still available, but imminent booking is advised as the event is expected to see record numbers of attendance. You can book your places online at the Max Publishing Box Office here, or contact event organiser Createvents – cheryl@createvents.co.uk or by calling 0118 3340085.
The major retail finalist categories have also been announced, including Best Supermarket Retailer, Best Online Retailer and more – view the entire shortlist here.
Sponsors of the 2022 event include: Acamar Films, Amscan International, Aykroyd & Sons, Azaria PR, Bébélephant, BBC Studios, BTHA (Toy Fair), Centum Books, Geomag, Good Baby Guide / Good Play Guide, Hasbro, Harrogate International Nursery Fair, Hippychick, Ideas International, The Insights Family, Jazwares, Joie, Jura Toys, Media Snug, Misirli, Online4Baby.com, Paramount Consumer Products, Penguin Ventures, Poetic Brands, Rainbow Designs, Redan Publishing, RH Smith & Sons (Smiffys), Toymaster, Vista PR, Walker Books, WildBrain CPLG.
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