“Thrilled”, “a fantastic night”, “overjoyed”, “a true honour” just some of the winners’ feedback from Tuesday’s grand reunion.
The winners of The Licensing Awards 2021 have been busy celebrating, with a number sharing their joy with LicensingSource.net.
Held on Tuesday 14 September and hosted by Tom Allen, the event saw the industry return to The Great Room in the Grosvenor House Hotel for a much anticipated grand reunion.
You can read the full list of winners by clicking here.
Sally Carnota from Hasbro, which won Best Preschool Licensed Property for Peppa Pig (pictured above), told LicensingSource: “Having our beloved Peppa Pig win the highly competitive Best Preschool Property award for the third year in a row is just incredible! We are all bursting with pride. Peppa’s success is built by a powerhouse team of people across Hasbro, eOne and all our licensed partners whose combined efforts continue to take Peppa from strength to strength.
“What a team and what a night! Huge thank you to all at Max Publishing for putting on such a special evening; the joy in the room was just magic.”
A fellow Hasbro winner was Abbie Burrows, category manager UK and EMEA, who was named this year’s Licensing International UK Rising Star.
She commented: “There are no words to describe the feeling of winning, it is so amazing. It was a fantastic evening and what a way to be reunited as an industry, congratulations to all nominees and winners. The support from the team at Hasbro has been phenomenal as well as those within the industry, I’m very grateful… here’s to the future!”
Mike O’Connell, md of Rubie’s Masquerade – which won Best Licensed Dress-up or Partyware for its Star Wars, The Mandalorian Costume for TU Sainsbury’s – said that the team was “thrilled” to win.
“To be honoured by your peers is incredibly gratifying,” he said. “I’m fortunate to work with some of the industry’s most talented people every day, who together all deserve recognition for this achievement. It was a fantastic night and a pleasure to finally be able to see familiar faces once again.”
L.O.L Surprise was awarded Best Children’s or Tween Licensed Property for the second year in a row, with MGA’s Sarah Fletcher commenting: “The brand continues to go from strength to strength – and it’s fantastic that our licensing achievements have been recognised in this way. There’s also lots more to come this year – as the brand’s first official movie L.O.L. Surprise! The Movie hits Netflix this October, as well as a new original music album and, of course, a brand-new range of innovative toys ahead of Christmas.”
The Pokémon Company International was also celebrating winning Best Gaming Licensed Property. The company’s Jade Kellman, senior licensing manager UK and Nordics, told LicensingSource: “It’s a great achievement for the team at The Pokémon Company International and highlights our hard work, determination and dedication over the last year during these challenging times. It was great to be back at The Licensing Awards this year to catch up with our industry friends. What a night!”
Magic Light Pictures’ Alexandra Sanson said that the team was “overjoyed” to win Best Licensed Live Event, “alongside some fabulous competition”. She added: “The Gruffalo Adventures with Kew Gardens had great synergy and received great feedback. We’re very happy to be extending our partnership with Kew for another year.”
Danilo’s licensing director, Dan Grant, also graced the stage to collect the Best Licensed Paper Products or Stationery Range for its Peaky Blinders Calendar, Diary, Greeting Cards and Gift Bag Collection.
He commented: “We were up against some tough competition as always in this category, so to walk away with the trophy is a real honour and a reflection of the hard work that the team at Danilo has put into creating and selling this range at retail.
“I would also like to thank Banijay and the Peaky Blinders production team who we have worked with on this highly successful brand over the past three years. Now it’s time to ‘Go Fetch the Cake’ and celebrate…”
From a sporting point of view, The FA’s Nicky Stanton collected Best Sports Licensed Property for England Football, saying that it was a “true honour” and “a proud moment for all of us within the team”.
She added: “For us at England Football it’s a collaborative effort both on and off the pitch, so its been an incredible year of celebrations. We owe a lot of credit to our wonderful licensing partners spanning a wide breadth of categories who make our job easier. As always The Licensing Awards evening was its usual brilliant spectacle, and so great to be all together as an industry after so long.”
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