Gordon Morrison – CEO at the Association for Cultural Enterprises – discusses the power of licensing

Gordon, thanks for making time. Can you give us an insight into the purpose and objectives of The Association of Cultural Enterprises?
It’s really quite simple, we are a very practical trade association. We exist to help cultural organisations of all shapes and sizes to maximise their commercial returns – or to put it more bluntly, we help them make money! We provide a raft of resources, data and insights, online and in-person training, networking and inspirational events all bespoke to the cultural sector, and all aimed at improving commercial performance.

Can you tell us about your members?
We work with more than 520 organisations from in and alongside the cultural sector… From the very largest cultural institutions like the National Trust, the V&A, National Museums Scotland, Cadw and Titanic Belfast, to the very smallest independent one-man band operators, with a membership from across the UK and beyond.

Given the existing challenges within the cultural sector relating to risings costs and diminishing funding, the role of commercial activity and self-generated income has never been more important, and we are seeing more and more cultural organisations join us for support, guidance and access to our training, resources and network every month.

I’ve been CEO now for just under 18 months, and in that time, membership has grown from circa 400 organisations, to the more than 500 we are proud to support today, which equates to more than 1,650 individual cultural venues across the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe.

You mentioned that a core focus for the organisation is around revenue generation. Can you elaborate on the current sources of revenue for the arts, cultural and heritage sector?
In recent years, certainly up to the pandemic, we were probably best known as ‘the retail guys’, as so much of cultural commerce was wrapped up in retail. While retail is still a vital part of the enterprise offering, as the industry has diversified, so has the Association, with training, guidance, insights and resources provided on a vast array of commercial activity – including catering, events, venue hire, e-commerce, visitor experience, licencing and IP, publishing, ticketing and more.

In our recent sector wide benchmarking study, commercial activity now brings in 40% of all revenue into the cultural sector, considerably more than grants and funding and philanthropic giving, making it the single biggest source of revenue for the sector. Diversification of income streams has been key to this growth.

“Every single cultural organisation has assets that are truly unique.”

The Association of Cultural Enterprises recently announced the nominations for its annual awards. One of the categories in the awards is for Best Licensing Initiative. How have you seen this category of revenue generation evolve for your members in recent times?
Licensing as a revenue-generating activity has evolved significantly over recent years. Many organisations have started to leverage their intellectual property more creatively, such as licensing images, merchandise and digital content. This approach has allowed them to tap into new markets and generate substantial income.

My advice to any members looking at licencing as a potential revenue generating activity is quite simple, identify your unique assets. In my experience every single cultural organisation has assets that are truly unique, such as iconic items in their collections, authentic stories and proprietary content. Much of this has the potential to be licenced. Work out what your most saleable assets are and exploit them!

Are there some core principles organisations should keep in mind when developing products for their shops? What trends in retail are you seeing?
Ours is a sector that is leading the way in retail. While high street retail has had its struggles with once leading brands disappearing year upon year, cultural retail has flourished. This is because as a sector, we are creative and we look at retail as part of the overall cultural visitor experience. By investing in unique, bespoke products and linking retail directly to the overall experience offered at the cultural attraction, telling the fascinating stories of our unique products – which are often also sustainably and ethically sourced – we are seeing a trend of destination shopping in cultural retail, which is really exciting.

What makes a good retail shop at a heritage, arts or cultural site?
Your shop should not be a bolt on or an afterthought. It should not be viewed purely as ‘the place to make money’. It needs to be considered as a fundamental part of your overall offering, and should be reflective of your organisation’s mission, vision, values, experience and story. This is what the most successful retail shops do incredibly well in the cultural sector.

How do you and your members keep up to date on design trends generally?
We cast our net far and wide! As well as working with our network of members, stakeholders and partners in and retailed to culture and heritage in the UK, we have sister organisations in other parts of the world – like the Museum Stores Association in the USA, who we share ideas and insights with.

We also very much look beyond the sector for inspiration, working with and alongside leisure, sport, experiences, film and other creative industries, as can be evidenced by the stellar programme of speakers we have for our signature event – the Cultural Enterprises Conference, taking place this year in Liverpool on March 12th & 13th.

As an organisation you seem very aware of the need to take an ethical and sustainable approach to business. I believe you have a scheme called Seeds of Change. Can you tell us more about this initiative and its purpose?
The Seeds of Change award is designed to support innovative and entrepreneurial sustainable initiatives within the cultural sector. Its purpose is to foster sustainability in income generation by encouraging cultural organisations to incorporate sustainable practices in their operations and project delivery. The initiative provides a £10,000 prize fund to empower organisations to design and deliver projects that promote community engagement, adopt sustainable practices and explore innovative new materials and technologies to create or enhance revenue streams. Projects supported by Seeds of Change aim to make a measurable difference in how the sector approaches income generation while promoting a more sustainable future.

I was also interested to see that the Association promotes the Museum Shop Sunday programme. Can you tell us more about this and the way it has developed over recent years?
Museum Shop Sunday is an international initiative led by the Association for Cultural Enterprises in partnership with the Museum Store Association in the US, and the Museum Shops Association of Australia and New Zealand. It takes place annually on the first Sunday of December and aims to encourage consumers to shop with purpose at their local cultural attraction.

The purpose of Museum Shop Sunday is to promote the unique and meaningful gifts available at cultural venues, while highlighting how shopping at these shops contributes to the sustainability and success of these institutions. By participating, consumers support local suppliers, independent artisans, and the cultural organisations themselves.

It’s a great opportunity for cultural organisations to showcase their fantastic shops, reach new audiences, and boost sales through special events, offers, and promotions. With consumers more than ever looking for bespoke, unique, sustainable products, it is a campaign that grows from strength to strength year upon year.

Your members are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, skills and experiences. How do you ensure that you are able to deliver a programme of activities that serves the whole sector effectively?
Quite simply, we deliver what our members want! The key to running a successful membership organisation is two-way communication. We share insights, ideas and best practices with our members, but we also ask them for ideas and inspiration too. We run a comprehensive membership survey, which provides us with invaluable insights into the wants and needs of our members and allows us to shape a programme of content that meets the needs for all with an interest in cultural commerce.

Are there any new initiatives planned for 2025 and 2026 that you would like to tell us about?
One new member benefit that I am really excited about is our brand new monthly commercial performance barometer, which just launched this month. With this new resource, we have ambitious plans to capture and share data and insights on commercial performance throughout the year to enable cultural organisations to better understand what is happening in the sector and crucially, benchmark where their performance is against sector norms.

We’ll also be sharing practical insights gathered from the barometer to support commercial decision making, including some simple things like what the average price of an Americano is in cultural venues! All of this info is being made available to members in a fully filterable online dashboard, where they can access the most relevant data and insights to them at the exact time they need them. In our aforementioned membership survey, our members advised that they were craving more up-to-date data and insights, so we are delighted to oblige. And it’s completely free to members!

Sounds great! Finally, if you could be the ‘guest’ curator of a particular Museum, Gallery or Institution for a day which one would it be and why?
I studied modern history at university, specialising in the First and Second World Wars, so it would have to be the Imperial War Museums for me. The most striking thing for me about this institution is the powerful, personal, individual, human stories they tell. I can never fail to be moved when visiting. The Imperial War Museums do not glorify war, they fully shine a light on the cost of war, providing a very moving, sobering and truly fascinating experience for visitors. Oh, and they sell truly brilliant and unique products in their shops too!

Good pick! Thanks again Gordon.