048-049_Vegas LSB_Summer 2022.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 05/05/2022 16:59 Page 48
IN CONVERSATION WITH… LICENSING INTERNATIONAL UK
International initiative As the industry trade body, Licensing International is here to help companies grow their business across all product areas and with all retailers. LSB catches up with Graham Saltmarsh, UK md, and Steve Manners, head of marketing, to find out more about the organisation’s plans.
Inset: Licensing International is “constantly battling for the good of the licensing industry as a whole” says Graham.
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LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2022
tarting a new job in the middle of the Covid pandemic is something many executives have experienced over the past two years. But when your new job is as UK managing director of the trade body whose very raison d'être is supporting its interests in every way, there is even more pressure. Graham Saltmarsh, however, is not your ordinary industry executive, and, having joined in September 2020, he has picked up the baton of heading up Licensing International in the UK and run with it. “I am the first point of contact for all our UK members (and people who want to be members),” he tells LSB. “I organise the educational sessions and, most importantly, talk to people in the licensing industry to make sure we give them the support they need. Having worked with many licensees, licensors and retailers, I know what they need and when they need it, which really helps me support their efforts. “Interestingly, I am working much more closely with the army of support companies that really keep the industry ticking, including the legal companies (not every company has a big in-house legal team), the design agencies, agents, and of course research companies.” Graham is also supported in the UK by Steve Manners, who joined in January to head up marketing and also works closely with president Maura Regan and the team in New York to spearhead global marketing initiatives. “Having been a member of LI for many years, I know how important it is to have a trade organisation that not only supports its members but also helps further the industry as a whole,” Steve says. A number of initiatives for the UK market are now underway, kicking off with the return of the Young Professionals Network - aimed at under 35s - events in March. Graham explains: “The Young Professionals Network was established to help younger brand licensing
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