What a week we have had! After winning 5 awards in the IWSC, we’ve won another trophy for our growing trophy cabinet. On Thursday, we were awarded the Best Newcomer award for our Downton Abbey drinks at the Licensing International Excellence Awards 2020! These awards are like the Oscars of the licensing world, so it’s a huge honour to have our Downton Abbey drinks recognised by them! 

The main purpose of the Licensing International Excellence Awards, which has been running for 35 years, is to highlight the achievements and accomplishments of the global brand licensing industry. We received news that we were finalists earlier this year, alongside some huge and well-known nominees. Being shortlisted was a privilege in itself! The awards ceremony is usually held in Las Vegas for a glamorous and celebratory occasion, however, they were this year moved to a virtual awards ceremony. Although we were gutted to be missing out on the excuse to visit Las Vegas, we were thrilled to still be a part of the awards from the comfort of our Ripley Distillery! And our hugely exciting win wasn’t tainted!

The Newcomer award recognises ‘a company, property, product, service, platform or experience new to the licensing business, which has demonstrated success in its first year and shows promise for future growth’. Our Downton Abbey drinks are a relatively new addition to our Harrogate Tipple family, but after all of the care, love and research we have devoted to every aspect of our Downton Abbey collection, it’s extremely rewarding to have won the award. 

Despite the difficulties that this year has brought, the awards we have won over the last week have made all of our hard work pay off! Cheers!