Start Licensing Ltd, a leading independent licensing agency has secured the third party licensing rights to a portfolio of well known brands from Unilever, comprised of Pot Noodle, Peperami, Bovril and Slim-Fast.
Ian Downes, Director of Start Licensing Limited commented: “We are delighted to announce this new partnership. We believe that Unilever’s portfolio presents a great opportunity for us to develop an exciting range of non-food licensed products and it is an opportunity that will be well received by licensees. These brands are well known with a great heritage and present significant licensing opportunities. Indeed, brands such as Peperami and Pot Noodle have already had some success in licensing so there is a platform to build on.”
Start Licensing will be seeking to develop products in areas such as apparel, housewares, publishing, greeting cards, bedding, print on demand and dress up.
Downes continued: “Working with Unilever will allow us to build on our experience in the area of brand licensing and to develop some exciting partnerships with existing and new licensees. Brand licensing allows a creative and focused approach to licensing. These brands are high profile and have a very distinctive brand personality with well defined consumer audiences, which help enormously in licensing terms. We look forward to a successful partnership. ”
Julie McCleave Commercial Manager for Licensing at Unilever UK commented:   “We are delighted to be working with Start on an exciting non-food licensing programme for across these four iconic brands. We believe Start will help us accelerate our licensing strategy further in the UK.”
Brands that are included in the representation are:
  1. Pot Noodle: Brand leader with 80% value share of the Instant Hot Snacks market and £81m annual sales. 
  2. Bovril: second biggest seller in category (behind Marmite) with over 15% value share of the Meat Extracts market and £9.3m annual sales.
  3. Peperami: Brand leader with 50% value share of Hand Held Meat Snacks market and £44m annual sales.
  4. Slimfast: Brand leader with 44% value share of the Slimming Aids market and £30m annual sales.
Data source: Mat 19th Feb 2011 IRI
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Additional Notes/Comments: For further media information contact:
Ian Downes, Start Licensing Limited
020 8337 7958
07776 228454
Unilever UK Limited– notes to editors
Unilever UK is one of the country’s leading FMCG players, with a turnover of £2.5 billion. The company owns 28 brands spanning 14 categories and has a household penetration of 98% in the UK.
Start Licensing Limited – notes to editors
Start Licensing Limited was launched in 2003 and is well established in the UK and international licensing markets. Founded by industry expert Ian Downes, Start is regarded as an innovative, creative and results driven agency. Its clients include DC Thomson for The Beano and The Dandy, Bang on the Door, Britvic Soft Drinks and Kindle Entertainment’ pre school TV series Big & Small. Prior to launching Start Licensing Ian Downes was Group Managing Director of Fox Kids Consumer Products division.