Fun, action, magic, fashion icons and some very British humour on show at stand E010

At BLE 2011 JELC will underline its reputation in the industry for successfully lending its extensive experience to any licensing challenge with a strong line-up that offers something for everyone. There’s the explosive Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) with its worldwide fan-base. Then there’s the cheeky and very popular humour of the Bamforth Collection and Grumpy Old Gits, the laid-back appeal of Plain Lazy to teens and young adults, and the fashion and fun of Barry M. Add the magical appeal to young girls of Gem Fairies, launching at BLE, and with further exciting properties yet to be announced E010 is a stand with across-the-board appeal.

Ultimate Fighting Championship®
Mixed Martial Arts is the fastest-growing sport in the world and a hit in studios and gyms worldwide. It is also becoming somewhat of a licensing phenomenon through the Ultimate Fighting Championship® (UFC®) who stage wildly popular live Events around the world - as British fans will no doubt confirm when the big names of UFC® come to the UK on 5th November to battle it out at the LG Arena in Birmingham. Retail support is already guaranteed in anticipation of strong demand in the run-up to what is always a spectacular event.

Bamforth Collection
The Bamforth Collection of thousands of memorable (and memorably naughty) postcards, has become a licensing success in a number of categories — all the more impressive considering that its launch was at last year’s BLE. Licences have already been awarded in such diverse categories as gift confectionery, metal signs, greetings cards — including print-on-demand — men’s t-shirts and boxers and beer glasses — an impressive haul after only 12 months. Many more deals are on the way and now the brand’s enormous potential is starting to take it overseas to the huge markets of both Brits abroad and overseas territories that appreciate quirky, saucy British humour.

Grumpy Old Gits
After years of sell-out card and gift sales, it’s hardly surprising that Grumpy Old Gits has made a successful transition from best-selling gift line to a whole range of new categories. Images and one-liners perfectly suited for the lovable old (or not so old) male grump in everyone’s life have made a successful appearance on Father’s Day socks and pants sold through in Tesco — so successful, in fact, that they'll be back for Christmas. A new confectionery line, previewed at Autumn Fair International, will be on show at BLE. And the core category of cards has marched triumphantly on with a very well received new range from International Greetings for Asda and other major retailers

Barry M
Barry M is a byword for affordable, high quality, and, most importantly, fun cosmetics for teen and young women. For many of its fans, however, it’s also a genuinely loved brand with a devoted following. That’s why Barry M and JELC feel the time is right to take the next step and build on the brand loyalty and enormous popularity of this most British of cosmetics companies. Plans are already advanced to take the Barry M name into such categories as stationery, accessories, electricals, apparel, beach products, eyewear and phone accessories, with a view to product launching around Spring Fair 2012.

Gem Fairies
New to BLE is the Gemma International creation Gem Fairies. Princesses who touch their gem necklaces and transform into Gem Fairies, they were designed in the classic fairytale mould for the 2-6-year-old girls’ greetings card market. The Fairies were so well received that the range is now being developed into a licensing programme. A comprehensive style guide has been developed and early licences are expected in toys, publishing and apparel, with gifts and, of course, bedding to follow shortly after.

Plain Lazy
JELC is also working alongside Plain Lazy (stand B078), the hit lifestyle brand inspired by surf, street, skating, music, fashion and leisure that has established a strong licensing programme in areas as varied as bed linen and backpacks. Now licensees will have an opportunity to share in the brand’s success in the apparel market as the brand looks to move beyond its core outlets of independent and department stores, as well as Plain Lazy’s own stores, by allying with selected licensing and major retail partners.

RSPCA
The RSPCA is taking space on the JELC stand to promote the biggest licensing programme in its history. The Society and JELC, which is working with the RSPCA campaign on a consultancy basis, are looking at deals in such areas as apparel, giftware, housewares, stationery, publishing, pet food, wild animal food and pet accessories.

Jane Evans, MD of JELC, says: “We represent many different clients from very different disciplines and backgrounds and, as our exciting, varied and popular BLE line-up shows, we have formulated successful licensing programmes for each of them. We are looking forward to meeting the wide range of retail and licensing decision-makers that BLE attracts and inviting them to share in that success.”