28-31_Roundtable.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 07/01/2026 20:03 Page 1
INDUSTRY ROUNDTABLE
Licensing Museum & Heritage Book chats to five senior executives – Declan McCarthy, head of publishing and licensing, Ashmolean Museum; Cathy Snow, licensing manager, RHS; Becky Stanford, head of brand licensing, National Trust; Tina Warner, image, media and brand licensing manager, Royal Museums Greenwich; and Alice Molyneux, head of licensing and brand partnerships, Liberty – about the year just gone, plans for 2026, the importance of innovation, the retail landscape and hot tips for the 12 months ahead.
Brand champions DECLAN MCCARTHY
CATHY SNOW
BECKY STANFORD
How was 2025 for your business? Declan: “The first half of 2025 was quite tricky – lots of positive meetings and new leads, but a couple of bigger deals slightly delayed. The second half certainly rallied and we saw the global drop of the Ashmolean x Hugo Boss apparel range. We hope this helps to highlight the Ashmolean to a more global network of opportunities going forward. We were also particularly proud of the Ashmolean x Bramwell Brown clocks featuring Japanese woodblock prints from the collection. These are beautiful UK made pieces and certainly a statement item in any home.” Cathy: “2025 was a cracking year for RHS licensing. Our gardening licensees in particular had a good start to the year, buoyed by nice spring weather and a good early
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LICENSING MUSEUM & HERITAGE BOOK 2026
TINA WARNER
ALICE MOLYNEUX
gardening season. In this and other categories several established licensees launched product, and we saw our best Q1 and Q2 results for several years. And, of course, we were delighted with the wins at the B&LLAs. All of this reinforced our conviction that we have the right approach for this fabulous brand, allowing us to continue the steady growth of the licensing programme.” Becky: “Overall 2025 was a positive year for our licensing programme with the introduction of several new collaborations, along with exciting new product ranges from existing partners coming to market across our core categories. The retail landscape Top: Royal Museums Greenwich is at the start of its licensing journey with collaborations already launched with Arthur Beale and Love & Roses. Left: The Ashmolean Museum is looking to build on the success of its Hugo Boss collaboration.