TOTAL LICENSING
Grant Tripp, Licensing Manager for RHS, provides an overview of some recent developments with the RHS licensing
programme including an innovative collobaration with textiles company Ulster Weavers:
“The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has been licensing for nearly twenty years. In 2000, Licensing became part of
RHS Enterprises Ltd the trading arm of the RHS.
The RHS was founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society. In 1861 the Society was granted a royal charter and the
name was changed to The Royal Horticultural Society. The RHS is the UK’s leading garden charity and is recognised
worldwide for its horticultural excellence. The RHS also hosts the Chelsea Flower Show, among others. The Society’s
renowned reputation for excellence, innovative design and ‘quintessential Britishness’ are the core brand values that
Licensees are buying into when they consider the RHS.
Until quite recently, the RHS has only licensed the artwork from the RHS Lindley Library, which arguably has the fin-
est collection of botanical art. The collection holds in excess of 22,000 original works and countless images in bound
volumes, spanning five centuries and five continents. The Society continues to collect new works by leading botanical
artists annually. The use of these images on products had been the primary focus of RHS Licensing.
All of which leads to the collections that we have licensed with Ulster Weavers. Ulster Weavers is a long term RHSE
“The quest for
licensee. We have worked with them for many years. They are a respected brand leader and have an innovative and
authenticity is a key to
evolving approach to design and product development. In many ways they are the ideal licensee. Therefore we are
the success of heritage
very comfortable with inviting Ulster Weavers to our Library to select images that will form the inspiration for future
licensing as licensees
designs. They have the same reputation for excellence as the RHS has and the two brands together reinforce each other.
and consumers alike
Licensing through Ulster Weavers also increases the RHS’s awareness to a broader audience.
should respond well to
In addition to Ulster Weavers, RHSE seeks to work with design led companies that can use the botanical artwork and
the fact that institutions
use it creatively. We always see our artwork as a source for design inspiration by the licensee.
and organisations can
Hunter Boots has taken our artworks, deconstructed them, recoloured some of them and created a stunning range of
offer them
Wellington boots and clogs. The boots have also been on the Vogue website recently.
intellectual property
Another product of interest is our 100% recycled aluminium furniture made by Tredecim. The furniture design was
assets not available
inspired by a necklace design by Gertrude Jekyll found in her notebook held in the RHS Lindley Library. Gertrude Jekyll
elsewhere and crucially
was an outstanding garden design in the early 20th Century.
assets that are
This is just part of the very large range of RHS Licensed products manufactured by over fifty licensees.”
distinctive...”
ample the recently launched action fig- offering licensees additional communi- provenance that they offer...the idea
ure range from the Character Group) cation platforms to boost the value of that we can take an original William
there is a significant part of the pro- the license to the licensee. Morris artwork, digital re master it and
gramme taking its inspiration from the Michael Ayerst Managing Director of then produce contemporary interiors
Royal Navy’s archives and collections. licensee Surface Vie who create cus- from it is an exciting proposition...we
A good example of this is a watch de- tom wall prints and coverings for can then take these Heritage collec-
scribed by Olivia Smales from IMG: home interiors using licenses such as tions and make them attractive the
“The origins of the Royal Navy stretch the V & A and The National Gallery en- large numbers of consumers that what
back 500 years, to 1509, when King dorses this: something beyond rather bland cliche
Henry VIII was crowned and began the “...Surface View took the decision to ridden mass produced artworks...”
process of commissioning ships to pro- work closely with heritage brands be- Clearly licensees are becoming more
tect the British Isles. The long tradition, cause I believe there is a value in the aware of the benefits and values of
heritage and pride in the Royal Navy
have been developed into a number
of products including the Royal Navy
Ship’s Telegraph watch which was in-
spired by an old Ship’s Telegraph, found
in the attic of the Royal Naval Museum
in Portsmouth.”
This quest for authenticity is a key to
the success of heritage licensing as li-
censees and consumers alike should
respond well to the fact that institu-
tions and organisations can offer them
intellectual property assets not avail-
able elsewhere and crucially assets that
are distinctive. This kind of licensing
can also deliver ready mad audiences
that are not reachable by other licens-
es. Here licensors are being smart and
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