Licensing Industry

Name:
Andrew Carley

Time in licensing industry:
12 years

First job in licensing?
UK sales executive in clothing at CPL.

What were your responsibilities?
Selling and managing CPLG’s UK portfolio across the clothing and home textile categories – a very different environment to today.

Current job in licensing:
Head of merchandising at Contender Entertainment Group.

What are your responsibilities?
Managing the current portfolio of Contender’s properties – a combination of wholly owned, co-productions and third party. Building international licensing and merchandising programs. Assessing the commercial strengths of potential co production and wholly owned opportunities. Build a third party agency business. Maximise merchandising opportunities across Contenders DVD distribution rights and film distribution rights.

What is your greatest achievement so far?
Getting my head round the fact I’m married with two children(some may say still to be achieved!) In terms of licensing, helping acquire the rights to The FA whilst at CPLG. The acquisition helped CPL become a mainstream sports licensing agency at a time when sports licensing was relatively small scale.

What's the best licence you've worked on so far in your career?
The FA and latterly Peppa Pig.

What licence would you most like to have in your portfolio?
If you’ve heard of it, then it’s probably too late! The BBC brand would be a fascinating project; worldwide appeal, enormously respected and huge heritage, but I couldn’t cope with the politics. The 2012 Olympics would also be very interesting.

If you could choose your dream job in licensing, what would it be and why?
At present I don’t have one, ask me in a couple of years.

What is the best thing about working in the licensing industry?
Variety and change across every aspect of the business – the environment, the people, the properties, the categories – the list goes on.