By Wednesday lunchtime – the show’s halfway point – Brand Licensing Europe had already succeeded in its 2025 mission to grow the ‘E’ in BLE with a significant increase in visitors from Europe. Visitor numbers overall are currently up 2% and exhibitor numbers rose by 9% year on year, cementing the event’s position as the business hub for the European licensing and brand extension industry and reflecting the buoyancy of the market.

Licensing International data shows retail sales of consumer products in Europe grew by 3.4% in 2024 to $79.3 billion with growth across France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the UK continuing to outpace general retail.

“The European brand licensing market is not just healthy, it’s positively thriving and buoyant and BLE is proud to have served at its epicentre for 26 consecutive years, showcasing the incredible creativity and innovation across every category from character and entertainment to sports and gaming, corporate brands, F&B, arts, heritage and so much more,” said Ella Haynes BLE event director.

268 companies are exhibiting at this year’s BLE, accounting for a record-breaking showfloor footprint. From Hollywood studios and the leading lights in entertainment – Paramount, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, Hasbro, Mattel and more – to diverse lifestyle brands including V&A, Moulin Rouge, Natural History Museum, PANINI, Chupa Chups, Save the Children and Guinness, this year’s event is a true reflection of the power, size and influence of licensing and brand extension in Europe.

Big brands and BLE

Brands returning to BLE for 2025 are Penguin Random House, Van Gogh Museum, The Smiley Company, The Smurfs, Crunchyroll, Sanrio, StudioCanal, Hasbro and Imperial War Museum. They were joined by a record breaking 76 new exhibiting companies including Moulin Rouge, MINISO, Save the Children, TV Tokyo, Guinness and many more. BLE has also enjoyed a significant increase in exhibitors from North America and Asia Pacific with Bazuuyu, MINISO, TV Tokyo and Bandai Namco on the showfloor.

Biggest ever B&L and Sports Zone

“One of the major strengths of BLE – and the reason it’s such an unmissable date in the calendar for retailers and manufacturers – is the variety of brands on the showfloor and the potential to discover new IPs that promise opportunities for differentiation, customer acquisition and revenue growth,” said BLE head of retail Laura Freedman-Dagg.

“Increasingly, I’m hearing curiosity from retailers about corporate and lifestyle brands – they all know the big entertainment IPs so they want to know what else their customers will love – and this year’s BLE spotlit the huge breadth of brands for license in this sector. The show’s Brands & Lifestyle zone featured a record number of exhibiting brands (80+). From corporate brands, which grew 47% in the UK last year*, to heritage, sports, automotive, food, charities and more, this category offers a huge variety of well established, evergreen brands with an established fan base and a year-round proposition, as well as a legacy and backstory that lends itself well to the trend for more storytelling in brand licensing.”

A sporting chance

The Sports Zone – an integral and growing part of the BLE’s Brands & Lifestyle category – is also bigger this year, playing host to a wide range of sports and sporting brands including European football clubs (Turkey’s Galatasaray is exhibiting for the first time), tournaments and competitions (BLE welcomed the Ballon d’Or), Rugby World Cup, Champions League, Tour de France, and several motor sports – 24hr Le Mans, Oracle Red Bull Racing and APEX Licensing with Lotus and BRM, Erve x LOTTO bringing a full size Pickleball court that’s seen Peppa and the Pig family, Mr Bean, Hey Duggee and Bluey and Bingo playing a game.

Location-based entertainment has seen huge popularity and growth since Covid with brands continuously innovating and wowing customers in this space. On the showfloor the hottest brand in F&B, Guinness, returned to BLE with its 0.0 taster sessions at the Lovely Day for a Guinness pop up. Teletubbies, Strawberry Shortcake, Paw Patrol, The Smurfs and Pan Am also wowed with immersive experiential activations at the show.

The attendee story

Retail and licensee attendance was also incredibly strong, with the following present:

El Corte Inglés

The Very Group

Tesco

LPP

Takko Fashion

Lidl

Aldi

Flying Tiger Copenhagen

TJX Europe

Mercadona

Mango

Inditex

H&M

Waitrose

Dunelm

Abercrombie & Fitch

Habitat

Halfords

Ocado

PGS

Looping Group

Path Entertainment

Simba Toys

Zuru

Barrado

Cotton Division

Gurris

Finsbury Food Group

Trend-setting content

As highlighted in Tuesday’s press briefing by Circana’s Rory Partis, the kidult trend continues to defy analysts and rise in popularity as young adults proudly take ownership of their fandoms. Nostalgia, multi-generational consumerism, disenchantment with movie franchises and LBE were all spotlit as key trends throughout Europe and were well represented on the content programme, with future gazing sessions deep diving into Gen Alpha, micro-influencers and Tik Tok shopping.

The day one Keynote from Mattel and Amazon MGM Studios focused on ‘Newstalgia’, giving the audience unprecedented insight into what it takes to revitalise a 40-year-old brand (Masters of the Universe) from concept to casting to consumer products. And Europe was at the forefront of BLE’s Day Two Keynote, with IMG Licensing and Circana’s Rory Partis adding colour and context.

Anna Clarke, SVP Licensing, Informa Markets, said: “Despite uncertain times globally, the world of brands continues to enjoy huge success as sales of consumer products outperform the top 250 retailers globally* and fans remain loyal to the brands they love.

“Thousands of retailers, product manufacturers and brand owners from across Europe – and further afield – are attending BLE this week in their thousands because they know how lucrative and innovative this industry is and the role we can play in bringing them together for meaningful conversations leading to crucial business deals.

“In a world where AI and digital communication is ubiquitous, human and emotional connection is ever more important. This industry – and the products it produces – are, first and foremost, built on relationships making BLE more critical than ever for catching-up, sharing information, knowledge and advice, discovering new – and new to you – IP and get insight into the brands hitting retail in the next two to five years.”

Brand Licensing Europe is the only pan-European annual event dedicated to licensing and brand extension. Next year, the event takes place 6-8 October 2026 at Excel London.

* Licensing International

About Brand Licensing Europe  
Launched in 1998, Brand Licensing Europe is the only pan-European annual event dedicated to licensing and brand extension. The London event features over 2,500 brands and more than 7,500 licensees, manufacturers, retailers, distributors, and licensing agents. Brand Licensing Europe is a part of the Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets, the licensing industry’s leading trade show organiser and media partner. Its mission is to provide licensing opportunities around the world by bringing brands and products together.

About License Global 
License Global, a part of the Global Licensing Group, is the leading publication for the brand licensing industry, delivering award-winning editorial content, including news, trends, analysis and special reports about the global consumer product and retail marketplace. Through its magazine, website, daily e-newsletter, webinars, videos and event publications, License Global reaches more than 150,000 executives and professionals in all major markets. The magazine also serves as the official publication for the sector’s trade events, which include Licensing Expo, Brand Licensing Europe and Licensing Expo Shanghai.

About Global Licensing Group    
The Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets is the licensing industry’s leading tradeshow organizer and media partner. Its mission is to provide licensing opportunities around the world by bringing brands and products together. The following events and information products are produced for the licensing industry by the Global Licensing Group at Informa Markets: Licensing Expo, Brand Licensing Europe, Licensing Expo Shanghai, License Global magazine, licenseglobal.com and License Global Daily E-News. Global Licensing Group events are sponsored by Licensing International.

About Licensing International   
Licensing International is the leading trade organization for the $369+ billion global brand licensing industry. Licensing International’s mission is to foster the growth and expansion of brand licensing around the world, raise the level of professionalism for licensing practitioners, and create greater awareness of the benefits of licensing to the business community at large. Founded in 1985, more than 1,200 Licensing International member companies in over 40 countries enjoy access to an array of benefits, including extensive educational programming and worldwide networking events. Visit www.LicensingInternational.org for more information.