INDUSTRY INNOVATORS

Spotlighting a trio of companies helping an industry in transition.

MATERIALS

DREAMTEX EARTH When it comes to stepping up sustainable practices in the bedding sector, director Jo Duckworth explains how the company is walking the talk.

“At Dreamtex, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do. Since developing our sustainability strategy and branding it Dreamtex Earth, we have expanded its portfolio with our sustainable Bluey collection – made using 100% Better Cotton Initiative-sourced cotton.

We are proud to be full members of the Better Cotton Initiative, the world’s leading sustainability initiative for cotton which helps cotton communities to survive while protecting and restoring the environment.

We intend to grow our Dreamtex Earth portfolio this year and bring in other licences to join our movement.

We are continuously researching new sustainable materials and methods of production to offset our carbon footprint. We can’t wait to share our future product innovation that will create a better environment for all.”

DIVERSITY

BLACK LIVES MATTER LICENSING From licensing consultancy to retail education, Black Lives Matter Licensing Movement is on a mission to bring authenticity to industry diversity.

Black Lives Matter Licensing Movement is driving education and conversation on diversity and representation across the industry, focusing its efforts on not only the licensing sector but facilitating and enabling positive change across the retail landscape, too.

The team has made it its mission to engage mass retail with the topic of race and representation to help the high street address the ‘mismatched matter of diversity’ to ensure that the black voice is represented authentically. Black Lives Matter Licensing Movement wants to create a unified approach to the issue that drives authenticity across all operations within the retail space.

The ambition is an extension of Black Lives Matter Licensing Movement’s current consultancy work within the licensing industry. It was recently announced that the group had partnered with the children’s audio story-telling platform Tonies, to assist with product and creative development strategies.

The partnership sees Black Lives Matter Licensing Movement working closely with the Tonies team to demonstrate ways to “diversify product ranges to ensure authenticity and inclusivity.”

Saphia Maxamed, founder of Black Lives Matter Licensing Movement, said: “We are aware that not every category can carry our licence, after all, the products and partners need to make sense. However, we are extremely happy the industry is open to working through how they can best support the movement and make the changes needed to be supportive of the black community.”

Money received from the Tonies partnership will be given back to the black community through the Black Lives Matter’s Giving Back Initiative. This is the movement’s platform for empowering the black community while working to improve education to help eradicate systemic racism.

TECHNOLOGY

DEPENDABLE SOLUTIONS Compliance documents, contract terms, approvals? As Maksua Hoque, marketing manager of Dependable Solutions explains, help is at hand.

“When it comes to licensing management software, Dependable Solutions boasts an innovative suite of specialist tools to help creative, financial, legal, and commercial licensing teams operate efficiently and effectively.

Its centralised tracking system means that compliance documents and approvals, as well as contracts terms - all those elements that make up the groundwork of forward-thinking licensing partnerships - can all be handled from a single, access-controlled system. ‘We set out to make communication – the sharing of assets and providing feedback to licensing partners – as easy as possible, while linking to existing systems to reduce the need for manual data entry. On top of that, our business intelligence offers over 200 reports and a series of customisable dashboards, all exportable in several different formats.

Dependable Solutions is the provider of choice to over 65 licensing companies around the world. We have been supporting licensors, licensing agents, and licensees for over 17 years. Our 40 expert staff take pride in their work and look forward to supporting the licensing industry for many years to come.”