Q&A: Laura Freedman-Dagg, Director of Retail & Strategic Attendee Engagement, Brand Licensing Europe
Brand Licensing Europe (BLE) is the only pan-European event dedicated to licensing and brand extension, bringing together 11,000+ retailers, brands and manufacturers for three days of deal-making, networking and trend spotting.
BLE is a must-attend annual event for retailers who want to discover and secure deals with the most sought-after brands, characters and images available for licensing.
Laura Freedman-Dagg is the Director of Retail & Strategic Attendee Engagement for Informa Markets’ Licensing division, overseeing retail strategy for flagship events such as Licensing Expo and Brand Licensing Europe. With expertise in communications and strategic planning, she drives initiatives that connect retailers with brand owners and foster valuable partnerships within the licensing industry.
Can you tell us a bit about your background?
I’m Laura, and I’m director of retail and strategic attendee engagement for Brand Licensing Europe. My background is in marketing and audience engagement, and I have 15 years’ experience working on large scale global business events.
What does your company do? What is your USP?
BLE is the biggest trade show in Europe connecting major brands with retail and manufacturing partners. The event is in its 27th year and takes place 6-8 October at Excel in London.
More than 300 brand owners exhibit at BLE. Exhibitors like Netflix, Warner Bros Discovery and the BBC which will have 10, 20, even more intellectual properties to show retailers, so there are thousands of brands on the floor and always something that matches each retailer’s specific interests and consumer demographics.
You’ll also find The FA, ATP Tennis, Manchester City FC, Tour de France, The V&A, Tate Moden, RSPB, Coca-Cola, LEGO and so many more at the show – organisations which either own or represent IP which is available now for retailers to license for their own product lines.
Over 1,100 retailers attend BLE; some sending entire buying and design teams to meet the brands on show. And they include huge retailers like Primark, Marks & Spencer, Inditex, H&M, Dunelm, Tesco and Lidl. Essentially, any retailer looking to build brand licensing and collabs into their future strategy should be attending BLE every year.
What’s special about the platform and your approach?
Retailers are in real demand from exhibitors at our show, and that’s why they get VIP support and help to plan their time, find the brands best suited to their consumers and pre-book meetings with those brands.
Of course, the joy of trade shows is you don’t always know who you want to meet until you see the stands and the products and brands on them. That’s why we recommend they all save time for trend spotting as well as attending keynote presentations and networking sessions.
Our online Event Planner allows them to do this with scheduling tools as well as AI enabled recommendations of brands they may want to connect with. Retailers can also talk to me before the show for additional concierge support based on their specific objectives or areas of interest.
What advantage does brand licensing/extension/collabs bring to retailers?
Retailers are extremely important to the licensing business. They hold the keys to shelf space, customer spend and in-store impact. For retailers, the opportunity is massive, too. Global retail sales of licensed Intellectual Property (IP) heavily outperform and outsell non-licensed products (Licensing International), so partnering with the right brand at the right time can drive significant impact.
As I write this, the Football World Cup has just kicked off, and Toy Story 5 will be released within a fortnight. Both brands are already in store across multiple categories as retail claims its portion of the buzz and halo effect of these major cultural moments. Conversations about these product lines would have started, in some cases, more than a year ago. Many of them would have started at BLE or our sister show Licensing Expo in Vegas.
What challenges and opportunities do you see in UK retail this year?
Cost of living remains a concern for all retailers, and the fast growth of resale sites like Vinted continue to shake things up. But licensed products continue to sell well, and the market grows in value every year. The global market reached a record $389.8 billion in 2025.
Additional opportunities are being seen instore, which feels like it is having a real moment. ASOS is finally opening a bricks and mortar store. GAP recently returned to the high street with standalone units in London. POP MART opened a new 5,000+ sq ft flagship in London in April. And Oliver Bonas is expanding with 20 new shops in the UK.
How does brand licensing address these challenges?
Brand licensing allows retailers to tap into a trend or fandom that’s relevant to their customer in a way that’s authentic and drives real engagement.
Gone are the days of relying on major movie releases. While they remain very important to many, new diverse themes are coming through. At our global event in Las Vegas earlier this year clear themes were sport, food, music and Asian IP.
Retailers who talk to me in the run up to our shows are savvier than ever before. They may not know which specific brand they are looking for, but they absolutely know the trends they want to engage in, and I can use that information to connect them to the right brands to kickstart a conversation.
How does visiting BLE give them competitive advantage?
It’s brand licensing that gives retailers the competitive advantage and BLE is the platform to discover IP and start the ball rolling re: signing deals and partnerships. Quite simply there’s no other time or place in the year when you can find so many brands available for license. Our exhibitors arrive at BLE with leaders from across their businesses ready to discuss partnerships across all categories. The entertainment companies showcase upcoming releases, the heritage brands might be preparing for a major anniversary, lifestyle brands might be looking to tap into a consumer trend. If you, as a retailer, are in the room you can be part of that conversation at the outset.
The show also offers a lot of free education and trend insight. The kind of insight you can take back to your business to inform future strategies. Networking opportunities are also ample. Licensed partnerships tend to be long-term commercial commitments and therefore demand an element of trust. The in-person nature of BLE embraces that need for mutual understanding and collaboration.
Any final thoughts?
To register for a free pass to Brand Licensing Europe on 6-8 October, visit them online here or connect you can connect directly with Laura here on Linkedin at email [email protected]
