ÂÜÀòÂÒÂ×

Ian’s career has crossed a number of disciplines, from licensing, wholesale sales, retail loyalty and also retail. He started with a six-year stint in the food industry at Unilever, which was followed by a move across to non-food and specifically the toy industry, setting up the grocery division for Mattel in the UK. Retail beckoned next, with Ian joining Early Learning Centre, setting up the shop in shop with Sainsbury’s, category managing 16 bays of retail space and writing toy strategy, while working from Sainsbury’s head office in Holborn. Just under four successful years as sales director at TOMY UK gave Ian further exposure to a broad cross section of UK retailers, before making the move into the world of licensing. Here, Ian has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry including CPLG, BBC Worldwide, 20th Century Fox and TLC before co-founding Licensing Link Europe Ltd - a boutique licensing agency - which he has run successfully with his business partner Chris Taday for the last 6 years. In all, over 25 years of industry experience.