Brand Licensing Europe – sponsored by Licensing International – continues to break records. 325 exhibitors – the highest ever in the event’s history – were on the show floor at Excel London last week including 85 new for 2026.
Together, they showcased thousands of license-ready brands that will inform the retail landscape of the next two to three years. Around two thirds of this year’s exhibitors have already confirmed they will return to exhibit at BLE in 2027, indicating the strength of confidence across the industry.
“What an amazing show this has been,” said BLE event director Ella Haynes. “Everyone is talking about how busy and buzzy it has been and – more importantly – how everything feels elevated – from the volume and diversity of the brands, to the quality of the visitors and the meetings they are having and our incredible content programme curated by License Global. All of this has truly cemented BLE’s position as THE place where the future of brands, retail and fandom happens in Europe.”
Record exhibitor levels
325 exhibitors were at BLE 2026 – an increase of 20%. Major names included Hasbro, Mattel, Netflix, Paramount Skydance Corporation, Warner Bros. Discovery, The LEGO Group, Pokémon, SEGA, Sanrio, Smiley, Games Workshop, Manchester City FC and the Natural History Museum, showcasing some of the world’s biggest brands including Hello Kitty, Bluey, Harry Potter, Le Tour de France, The Beatles, Care Bears, Moomin, Le Petit Prince, Smurfs, Pringles, My Little Pony, Scooby Doo and thousands more.
85 exhibitors were new for 2026, including Hearst, National Gallery, National Trust for Scotland, Ashmolean Museum, Tate Enterprises, ATP Tour, Del Monte Europe, Hammer Film Holdings, Thunderbird Entertainment, Universal Music Group UK, Pony Canyon, CyberAgent, TBS Holdings, Killstar, the Royal Spanish Football Federation and many more.
Noa Raz, Global Licensing Director at first time exhibitor Pazu Games: “Avatar World is a global game and BLE is at the forefront for us when it comes to doing business in Europe. We will definitely be back next year.”
BLE attendee story
2026 BLE attendee numbers and quality were on par with 2025’s record breaking levels and international attendees rose by 6%. 7,200 meetings were prebooked using BLE’s online event planner – up 14% increase on 2025.
Ella Haynes: “I’m ecstatic we have maintained the incredible levels of attendee numbers we achieved last year. It’s important for me to stress – we don’t chase volume for volume’s sake at BLE – our focus is always on quality and ensuring that every single visitor that walks through the door is relevant and qualified. We are here to provide a platform to bring potential partners together, and that means making sure our visitors and exhibitors are only meeting people who are 100% relevant to their business.
“This year we introduced a small onsite fee to dissuade members of the public from coming into the show from the Excel Boulevard. The fact we did that and still maintained the record attendee levels we achieved in 2025 and such a significant uplift in meetings is incredible, and testament to the role BLE plays at the heart of the European licensing industry. In real terms, that’s almost 1,000 more meetings that were pre-booked, showing the industry turned up ready to do business.”
Gracie Owens, Marketing Manager at licensee Monmore Confectionery: “Attending BLE for the first time was a game changer for us. From the insightful beginner talks to making meaningful connections with licensors and licensees, we left energised and equipped with an exciting network of new contacts to pursue.
Retail audience
Over 1,000 retailers were among this year’s attendees, including Aldi, Argos, Bershka, Boots, Debenhams, Decathlon, DeichmannSE, Dunelm, El Corte Inglés, Fortnum & Mason, Gymshark, Hamleys, Iceland Foods, Liberty, Urban Outfitters, Miniso, Primark, Selfridges, Nobody’s Child, Temu, The Entertainer and Zara, plus first timers Decathlon, Carrefour, Auchan and Stella McCartney.
BLE’s Director of Retail, Laura Freedman-Dagg, said: “We are delighted with the quality and diversity of retailers attending BLE this year. We’ve seen groups from all over Europe coming to us with very specific objectives as well as more speculative attendees who value the trend insight they get at BLE. It’s this breadth which makes this event such an exciting and dynamic place to be – there really is a brand for every fan, which means a wealth of options and opportunity for retailers of all shapes and sizes.”
Content
This year’s content programme – curated by License Global – was stronger, deeper and bigger than ever before, delivering three keynotes to a packed out theatre with Carrefour, Jazwares and Sun City deep diving in to their Pokémon collaboration, Warner Bros. Discovery shining a light on how the team keeps the Harry Potter brand culturally relevant and commercially strong after 25 years of movies, and Universal Music Group and Apple Corps talking about licensing in the context of The Beatles, ahead of the 60thanniversary and theatrical releases in 2028.
Testament to the quality of this year’s programme, session attendance rose by 8%.
Laura Freedman-Dagg commented on the strength of this year’s programme, saying: “More and more retailers attend BLE to enjoy the conference content for inspiration and insight, as much as they are here to meet brands and hold meetings.”
BLE in the press
The media were also out in force from all over Europe, including LSA Conso, DA Retail, Lebensmittel Zeitung, ActuKids, Brandora and Licencias, attending the press briefing on day one and reporting on the show’s breaking news including Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to form Skydance.
More than 600 pieces of press coverage have been secured to date, including a feature in UK national newspaper The Guardian on Monday.
Brand Licensing Europe is the only pan-European annual event dedicated to licensing and brand extension. Next year, the event takes place 28-30 September 2027 at Excel London.
