The Royal Horticultural Society Licensing team is celebrating its best-ever showing at the Brand & Lifestyle LicensingAwards (B&LLAs), with a record number of nominations – 12 in nine categories – and an unprecedented three category wins in the 2025 B&LLAs 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 Thursday the 24th of April, began in thrilling style for the UK’s favourite gardening charity as Jack Hendy, RHS Licensing Development Executive, 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: this is its first licence for art and craft products.
This wonderful 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 but also its design: the colourful and uplifting imagery used in both the packaging and the products themselves takes its inspiration from the RHS Lindley Collections, the world’s finest collection of botanical art.
And then of course, the RHS made it three awards on the day by winning the highly competitive Best Licensed Heritage or Institution Brand award, open to museum, gallery, heritage, charity or visitor attraction brands, which the RHS formerly scooped in 2017.
To triumph here was especially impressive for the RHS team as, like the RHS itself, every one of the nominees in this category was a household name with a long and distinguished history.
And the RHS was the centre of attention in another way, thanks to support from multiple licensees who helped to create the wonderful table centrepieces at the Awards lunch. The centrepieces included an orchid and a selection of licensed RHS products from nominees Burgon & Ball, Willsow and Freckleface Home Fragrance, as well as other valued licensing partners including Cottage Delight, Drew Brady & Co (SOCKSHOP), Mr Fothergill’s Seeds, The Somerset Toiletry Company and Woodlodge Products. One lucky attendee on each table took a centrepiece home.
These awards have capped an excellent 2024 for the RHS Licensing campaign, which in recent years has grown its licensing programme, opened doors to new retailers, collaborated with well-known brands as well as small craft and family-run brands, supported UK industry and expanded the number of countries it reaches. It has done all this, moreover, while introducing some substantial changes in sourcing and sustainability practices.
But it’s an important win for another reason. The RHS does not have a big licensing team, but the team always works hard and punches above its weight, today managing more than 54 licensees, seeking out new partners and ensuring that licensees and licensed products are aligned with RHS objectives.
As Cathy Snow Licensing Manger RHS says: “We never forget that we support and reflect the values of the UK’s favourite gardening charity.”
She continues: “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 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.”
