From the Museum of Brands comes this press release about their relocation:

The UK’s only museum dedicated entirely to brands is relocating on 6 October 2015  to larger premises on London’s Lancaster Road.  Since it opened  in Notting Hill’s Colville Mews in 2005, visitors to the Museum of Brands have increased fourfold, to a staggering forty thousand  in 2014. Continued growth and success have led the Museum to find a new, larger home at the London Lighthouse building, on Lancaster Road. As well as providing unrivalled insight into the history of British consumer society from the late 1800s, the move will enable the Museum to offer two unique venue spaces for hire during the day and the evening, perfect for conferences, drinks receptions and much more.

The Museum of Brands opened in Colville Mews, Notting Hill in 2005; showcasing the history of consumer culture through an impressive 12,000 items from the Robert Opie Collection. Since then its visitor numbers have increased fourfold to some forty thousand, and to accommodate increasing interest and visitors, the Museum is moving to new, larger premises at the London Lighthouse Building, formerly owned by the Terrence Higgins Trust. Rosemary Gillespie, CEO of Terrence Higgins Trust, who managed the sale of the Lighthouse to the Museum of Brands said: ‘The Trust is delighted that the building will remain part of the community’.

For those not familiar with the Museum, you can discover 150 years of British consumer society, uniquely through brands and contemporaneous products, by travelling through the Museum’s time tunnel, organised decade by decade from the Victorian era. Sweets, washing powder boxes, posters, toys, household appliances, food packaging and fashions – and the brands behind them – reveal their significance as an essential part of daily life. The Museum caters for both individual visitors and group visits which can be combined with a talk introducing its collection. Not surprisingly, it is a particular draw for students and marketers seeking inspiration, and occasionally also brand owners seeking evidence for their own purposes!

In 2009 the Museum, in its role as an educational charity, created a permanent display and practical educational resources in conjunction with the UK  Intellectual Property Office,  to introduce people to the role that intellectual property plays in their lives and work. Dr. Dev S. Gangjee, Lecturer in Intellectual Property at LSE, stated that his students “visit was the equivalent of fieldwork for a trade mark law course, giving them an opportunity to test legal concepts like distinctiveness and registrable subject matter… Lots of learning in a memorable setting”. The Museum, in its new setting, will build on these practical resources and continue to work with students and local, national and global communities to deliver engaging learning experiences through both taught sessions and self-guided visits.

The Museum also lends itself to being a unique venue space and successfully hosts over 100 corporate events every year. It has worked with some of the world’s biggest brands and advertising agencies on product launches, seminars and workshops, as well as serving as the venue of choice for a variety of charities, universities and private clients. The new Lancaster Road location will allow a doubling of the space, available for hire both during the day and for evening functions – a creative conference room with lots of natural light for daytime events and a stylish hall available available every evening for private dinners, drinks receptions and much more. Added to each of these will be a stunning garden at the Museum’s new location.

Sir Paul Judge, Chairman of the Museum, said: “This is an exciting and significant next step for the Museum and for London. The move will provide a better platform for learning on every level – the marketing community in particular will benefit from enhanced exhibitions and public programme facilities‘.

The Museum moved to Notting Hill in 2005 with the support of household names such as Kellogg’s, Cadbury, Diageo, Twinings, pi Global, Vodafone and McVitie’s. The Museum is currently on a fundraising drive towards the move to its new premises on 6 October 2015 and welcomes all enquiries on this front, which should be directed to Anna Terry, Development Director by email – anna@museumofbrands.com – or telephone – 020 7908 0882.

Link to website http://www.museumofbrands.com/whats-on/news/museum-relocation.html

For more information contact:

Theresa Macaulay
Museum Manager
DL: 020 7908 0881
theresa@museumofbrands.com