The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Licensing team is celebrating its best-ever showing at the Brand & Lifestyle Licensing Awards (B&LLAs), with a record number of nominations – 12 in nine categories – and three category wins including, for the second time, the prestigious Best Licensed Heritage or Institution Brand award.
The event, held at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on April 24, began in thrilling style for the gardening charity as RHS licensing development executive Jack Hendy rounded off his first two years in the business with the B&LLAs Rising Star Award, which recognises and rewards excellence among young professionals new to the brand licensing sector.
The celebrations continued with the announcement that West Design Products, a family-owned manufacturer, distributor and innovator of quality art, craft, stationery, toy and education products, had triumphed in the Best Brand Licensed Gifting Product or Range for its Adult Arts & Crafts Range. It was a first for West Design – but also for the RHS, because this is its first licence for art and craft products.
The range of embroidery kits and cross-stitch kits, scrapbooks, sketchbooks, and painting-by-numbers sets for a wide age and skill range stood out for its quality and design: the colourful and uplifting imagery used in both the packaging and the products takes inspiration from the RHS Lindley Collections, described as the world’s finest collection of botanical art.
Finally, the RHS commemorated a hat-trick of achievements by winning the Best Licensed Heritage or Institution Brand award (open to museum, gallery, heritage, charity or visitor attraction brands), which it formerly scooped in 2017.
RHS licensing manager Cathy Snow said: “The B&LLAs are always a highlight of our licensing year, and what a super day it was! Seeing Jack recognised for all his hard work, celebrating the first-ever win for West Design, and then joining the team on stage to receive the Best Licensed Heritage or Institution Brand award for the second time was a career highlight for me and unforgettable for all of us. We were thrilled to secure 12 nominations with our licensing partners across nine categories, but to win an unprecedented three awards was simply astonishing.”
