Retail visitor numbers rose by 4%, compared with pre-Covid levels in 2019, with days two and three the busiest on record for Brand Licensing Europe’s 22nd event.
BLE 2022 hosted over 230 exhibitors, including more than 30 first-time exhibitors. 4,475 meetings were booked through the online platform, a 46% rise on 2019 levels.
It was also reported that the quality of visitors and conversations at the show were stronger, with more decision-makers and people with an in-depth understanding of the industry attending (41% compared to 35% in 2019).
Retailers in attendance included Aldi, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Carrefour, Lidl, Morrisons, Asda, The Entertainer and many more.
Anna Knight, svp of licensing, Global Licensing Group, commented: “It’s taken four days of sleep to recover, but what a show. This year was the best BLE I can remember in my seven years – it was just amazing from start to finish and I really do want to thanks everyone who exhibited, visited, worked with us to fix things including the best group of contractors ever, and the whole BLE team. It wouldn’t have been possible without the team. To say they go the extra mile is doing them a massive disservice.
“I am also delighted to say we enjoyed our busiest ever day three on record this year. When I shared the highlights video from our final day on LinkedIn, I confessed that it was one of my proudest moments ever.”
Ella Haynes, BLE event director, continued: “Everyone I talked to commented on how busy the show felt, how the buzz was back to the BLE days of old and that makes me incredibly proud.
“I’d just like to remind everyone they can now watch all the educational sessions for free and on-demand in our online platform. The content was so strong this year, all of the sessions were incredibly well attended, and the Mattel keynote was literally standing room only, so if you didn’t get to see it on the day, don’t worry, you haven’t missed out.”
