75 LSB 2020_muk.qxp_NEW LSB 2008 GRID 18/09/2020 17:07 Page 75
Lisle Licensing is celebrating ten years in business in 2020, having forged its niche within the children’s and lifestyle space over the past decade. LSB catches up with the father-daughter team of Colin and Francesca Lisle to find out more.
TEN YEARS OF LISLE LICENSING
Family
Inset: Frankie became md of Lisle Licensing earlier this year, while her father Colin remains on hand to support the business.
fortunes
T
Frankie says that she and Colin always envisage that here are many successful family-run children’s brands will be an “important element” companies across the toy and licensing within the business, but they will continue to seek out industries. One such father-daughter team is new opportunities in other brand categories such as currently marking ten years in business in 2020 and, lifestyle, gaming and sport. as far as they’re concerned, this is just the beginning. Frankie believes that having a diverse portfolio has Ten years ago, Francesca Lisle had just left her role certainly helped it through the years – as sales executive at Santoro Graphics, while her especially in 2020 as the licensing industry father Colin was managing international sales and has been navigating the pandemic – and there marketing agency, Intertoy. “We were both Right: Nitro Circus has helped the are some announcements coming up on new very cautious to start with,” Frankie tells agency expand into properties which means she is “optimistic for LSB. “I purposely had gone to do my own extreme sports. The agency the future”. thing after I graduated so to not just follow Below: has a reach in the “The UK has a number of very successful in my father’s footsteps. We were both also gaming and lifestyle space thanks to the licensing agencies many of which have their very conscious that what happens at work Tetris brand. own USPs, so it is a very competitive market had to stay at work and home life stayed place,” Frankie continues. “We always try to be personal, so if there were any disagreements it alert and watch how our competitors’ never turned into anything major and luckily it position different brands. It is a very fasthasn’t. I feel super honoured to work with my dad.” moving industry and Lisle as a business has Colin – who has enjoyed an illustrious career always been very agile, which we believe has within the toy business, having started working been an important factor in our evolution.” with Denys Fisher back in 1969 – continues: The past ten years has certainly seen a fair “Frankie has always been very hands on with bit of change – not least the number of TV licensees, and in the early years I spent more channels available and the rising importance time with the brand owners. Earlier this year, of digital media. Offers Frankie: “In a way it’s we announced that Frankie was to become much harder to predict what the next trend the md and now has the full responsibility will be, but that’s also part of the exciting across all aspects of the business. My role is changing landscape.” to support Frankie and the business on She continues: “We have certainly come a long way individual projects and I also naturally take a in ten years, and I would like to think we use the next particular interest in the children’s brands and the ten to grow on that. Part of our DNA is the hands-on toy/games partners we work with.” approach I still have with our licensors and I wouldn’t With a family background in toys, it’s perhaps not want that to change, as I believe this gives trust and surprising that Lisle Licensing has always boasted a comfort to the respective brand owners who know strong line-up of children’s brands. Its first licence was their licence is in safe hands. for toy brand ZhuZhu Pets, while its current portfolio “I would like to think that in the next ten years, Lisle includes the likes of Animaccord’s Masha and the truly earns its stripes as one of the UK’s best Bear, Rainbow’s 44 Cats, Superthings from Magic recognised independent licensing agencies,” Box, lifestyle brand Tetris and extreme sports brand Frankie concludes. Nitro Circus. LICENSING SOURCE BOOK EUROPE 2020
75