Museum licensing outgrows the UK's $19.2bn brand market by about a point

The Guardian puts the licensing push down to funding cuts and rising costs at institutions that are often free to visit ^[4]. We do not know yet whether licensing income can offset either. The trade body's figures as reported do not separate museums from other attractions, and none of the museums quoted said what their programmes earn ^[3][5].

The Natural History Museum gave the only internal growth rate. "Our licensing programme continues to grow consistently at about 15% year on year," said Louisa Skevington, its licensing manager ^[5]. At that pace a programme doubles in about five years ^[2]. It is also close to twice the growth of the art property category the museum sits in ^[3]. "It's about finding creative ways to bring the museum and its stories to people wherever they are, while continuing to grow the reach and impact of the programme," she said ^[7].

Skevington said experiences are becoming a more important part of the programme ^[5]. Its paint and clothing deals were goods, finished once they shipped ^[6]. The hotel suite and the Sandbox game are services that partners deliver under the museum's name every night and every session ^[1][6]. I think a board should weigh that difference before it chases the faster attractions category.

The British Museum and the V&A are pitching the size of their collections. Craig Bendle, who manages product licensing at the British Museum, said there is growing interest from brands that want to create something "genuinely distinctive", and called its collection of more than 8m objects an "extraordinary source of inspiration" ^[11]. Demand for Bayeux tapestry tickets "demonstrates the appetite for major cultural moments, and the opportunity to build on that interest beyond a visit to the museum", he said ^[10]. Tapestry merchandise from the museum's separate retail team, including a Liberty collaboration, made it into Vogue ^[15].

The V&A's partners include CASETiFY, for William Morris phone cases, and the art store on Samsung's Frame TV ^[14]. Jen Maude-Roxby, its head of licensing and business development, said its 2025 ranges show the "growing role licensing plays in taking the V&A beyond our museum walls" ^[12][13].

According to the Guardian, the museums arriving at this week's fair face stiff competition. The agenda includes talks on the "Bluey effect" and the new Harry Potter TV series ^[9]. A finance director could fairly ask whether a licensing team is worth paying for when a grant has just been cut. The record gives a partial answer: one museum compounding at about 15% ^[5], inside a category growing about a point faster than the market ^[1].