After two days of frantic activity and deal making, Brand Licensing 2006 is being hailed as the best show ever in its eight-year history. The show’s renewed popularity has been widely attributed to a reinvigorated promotional campaign, coupled with the venue change to Olympia Exhibition Centre , a revised pricing policy and a range of impressive new visitor attractions, including a 120-seat screening theatre.

Marco Pierre White, Sponge Bob Square Pants, Homer Simpson, Dennis the Menace and Noddy were just some of the celebrities and characters that appeared at the show and took part in photo calls and interviews over the two days.

“No matter where you stood in the show this year, you could not fail to notice the incredible energy within the hall, and the sense that something really positive was taking place. It has been a good year for Brand Licensing, but much more importantly, it has clearly been a great year for the licensing trade as a whole and we’re delighted to be playing a part in that success,” commented the event director for Brand Licensing, Jessica Blue. “One of the most pleasing aspects of this year’s show has been the dramatic increase in numbers of retail buyers and merchandisers; Olympia was very much the place to be for the past two days,” she continued.

Both exhibitors and visitors have been quick to praise the show. Ciarán Coyle, Managing Director of Beanstalk Europe, said: “Beanstalk had another busy and productive show at Brand Licensing 2006. Our portfolio of world-class brands attracted significant attention from brand owners, licensees and retailers. In particular, the breadth of retailers who came to the show this year impressed us. The reception we received has encouraged us to confirm our presence at next year’s show.”

For many of the visitors, the new features were particularly useful: "Our time over the past two days has been truly worthwhile and very beneficial - the quality of exhibitors has been amazing. The Screening Suite has been a marvellous tool for us to see the new key characters for 2007", Caroline James, buyer for boy’s essentials at George, Asda commented.

Next year, in response to the success of the show this year, and its anticipated growth, Brand Licensing is moving to the Grand Hall at Olympia on October 2nd - 3rd 2007. With the UK licensing industry alone worth an estimated £8bn, Brand Licensing has become an essential diary date for major retailers, manufacturers, brand holders and agents and is a key part in a global calendar of licensing events organised by Advanstar.

“Olympia is the right home for Brand Licensing and the Grand Hall gives us additional facilities and space to build on what we have implemented this year. We look forward to opening the doors once again on October 2nd and in the meantime working closely with members of the industry to give them the event that they want,” commented Jessica Blue.

More informations www.brandlicensingexpo.com