Leaders brand Owners will converge on the POC Conference Stage. Innovations for brand and licensing industry will Showcase at the event.

Leaders brand owners will converge on the POC Conference stage

On 11 November at the Royal Geographical Society, London, Products of Change (POC) will host its annual Conference, gathering together industry leaders, retail voices, and innovators, where the industry’s biggest challenges become practical solutions and partnerships are sparked the shape the future of the sector.

Sustainability is not decreasing in priority for industry leaders, but rather being so embedded into their processes that it is being adopted as the new and right way to operate business, encouraging efficiency, resilience, and innovation. It is setting apart the companies that are committed to the future of the industry.

This will be showcased in a first-of-its-kind panel on the stage, bringing together: Greg Simmons, Moose Toys; Siobhan Gardiner, the LEGO Group; Eszter Csicsai, Mattel; Theron Grim, Hasbro; Anita Majhu, BBC Studios; Candace Hodder, Disney Consumer Products; Marcus Parry, Tottenham Hotspur; and Thomas Sauren, Rights & Brands.

They will explore how sustainability and innovation are being embedded both vertically within their own organisations and across their global licensing partnerships.

The next phase of progress cannot happen business by business. Through the Products of Change Leadership Council and closed EPR Working Group, these organisations are already coming together to share knowledge, align approaches and tackle common challenges – from EPR and packaging to data, materials, circularity and partner engagement.

This candid leadership conversation will explore what we can solve together, how we can make change easier for our partners, and where greater industry alignment can accelerate progress as we move along our pathway to 2030. Because the next stage isn’t simply about individual leadership – it’s about turning individual progress into collective industry transformation.

Exciting and ground-breaking innovations for brand and licensing industry will Showcase at the event: the solutions are ready and waiting to be adopted.

When it comes to ensuring the brand and licensing industry remains forward-looking, resilient and adaptive, there has to be a focus on innovation. This is particularly true when it comes to sustainability – a goal that relies on out of box thinking and new solutions.

At the Products of Change Conference, innovation will be a key theme. Not only will it be a thread running through every presentation and session of the day, but it will amalgamate in an Innovation Showcase.

Products of Change has an ever-growing network of innovators: the companies and start-ups that are pushing the boundaries of how and with what we operate as an industry. At this year’s Conference, there will be a bigger line-up of innovators than ever, and POC continues to establish its leadership in introducing the innovations and solutions needed to the industry. They will be exhibiting in the tabletop spaces, as well as taking to the stage at the end of the day for an Innovation Showcase, where they will each pitch and share their future-thinking solutions with the audience.

• BioFluff: BioFluff is a startup based in Paris, New York, and London which produces natural, plant-based alternatives to fur, shearling, plush and other fluffy materials. Creators of the world’s first 100% plant-based fur, shearling and plus, BioFluff has been working with leading brands across fashion, interiors and toys to reimagine fur.
• Io.tt: io.tt is a connected products platform with a client portfolio spanning brands, music and sports and powering more than 4bn QR and NFC triggers in 130+ countries across a breadth of use cases. At the Conference, io.tt will share some of the recent work it has delivered as product manufacturers respond to shifts like GS1 project sunrise and DPP.
• James Cropper:Lake District, UK-based paper mill and innovation powerhouse, James Cropper, is a leader in advance materials and is at the forefront of fibre technology. One such innovation is its pioneering CupCycling technology, recycling used coffee cups into speciality paper.
• DyeRecycle: DyeRecycle transforms real-world post-consumer textile waste into spin-ready materials. Its proprietary solvent strips away everything that currently sends textiles to landfill – returning high-quality fibres, free from dyes, blends, and finishes.
• Baneco: Baneco makes fibre from the four tonnes of residue left for every tonne of bananas harvested. It’s low-carbon, farmer-first and year-round, replacing plastic and virgin wood in packaging for global brands.
• Arda Biomaterials: Arda transforms agricultural waste into high-performance, plastic-free polymers and materials, delivering scale and price parity while empowering circular economies. Treating nature as its structural reference system, Arda reconfigures natural protein hierarchies to engineer performance from the molecular level.
• Balena:A material science company developing high-performance biopolymer materials for a diverse range of applications. Developed using a combination of high molecular weight biodegradable polymers, naturally occurring bio-based constituents, and other biodegradable modifiers to enable functionality, high performance, and circularity.

Whether you’re a retailer, brand owner, manufacturer, supplier, designer or innovator, the Products of Change Conference 2026 is where the industry’s biggest challenges become practical solutions – and where the partnerships shaping the future begin.