The IWM brand licensing team guides licensees through the museum’s inspiring collections and helps translate them into successful products. 

The team has worked with a wide range of organisations including The Royal Mint, Airfix and Ancestry.

Working with IWM's Collections

Made up of the everyday and the exceptional, IWM’s unique collections tell the stories of people's resilience and creativity in the face of adversity.

In addition to IWM endorsement and branding, licensees have access to IWM’s vast collections, which include posters and graphic art, film, photographs, documents, paintings and sculpture. The extraordinary archive offers licensees a wealth of artwork to inspire innovative product development. Licensees are further supported with world class curatorial expertise and historical accuracy giving authenticity and depth to products and marketing campaigns.

IWM welcomes over 2.2 million visitors annually to its five museums and heritage sites. Through its communication channels IWM boasts 6.5 million web visitors, 177,000 loyal eNews subscribers, over one million followers on social media and 811,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel, with its variety of informative content.

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What our licensees say

From commemorative coins and watches, to gin, jigsaws and biscuits - IWM's brand licensing team has worked with partners to create a wide range of quality products. Read what some of our licensees have to say about working with IWM. 

  • Three boxes for IWM jigsaw puzzles rest on a table.
    IWM

    "Working with the IWM has been incredibly supportive and inspiring. Their wealth of knowledge has helped us create jigsaws that are not only fun to piece together, but also informative, and capable of bringing different generations closer. The breadth of imagery and historical assets they provide has enabled us to develop truly stunning products, that our customers love."

    Bev Tew, Project Manager, All Jigsaw Puzzles

  • "Working with IWM is genuinely valuable for The Royal Mint. Their depth of knowledge and access to remarkable historical material brings a level of authenticity that simply can’t be replicated. From the earliest conversations through to final product launch, their team combines curatorial rigour with a clear understanding of audience and commercial objectives. That balance ensures every piece we create together is not only historically accurate, but meaningful — something that resonates with collectors on a personal level.

    Our partnership works because we share the same standards and sense of responsibility. By bringing together IWM’s powerful storytelling and archival insight with The Royal Mint’s craftsmanship and design expertise, we’re able to produce commemorative pieces that feel both respectful and compelling. The collaboration is thoughtful, efficient, and built on mutual trust, which ultimately translates into products of real substance and lasting national significance."

    Phillippa Green, Licensing and Partnerships Manager, The Royal Mint

  • A pen rests against a pen tube and near a photograph of a Spitfire.
    IWM

    "It has been a privilege for Retro 1951, Inc. to partner with the Imperial War Museum on our licensed writing instrument series from 2023 to 2026. Initially introduced through our UK distributor - a natural fit given our history of WWII warbird-themed products - the collaboration was defined by the IWM team’s professionalism and expertise.

    They provided comprehensive guidelines and brand materials that set clear expectations, and they were consistently proactive in sharing photos and historical context to ensure the accuracy of our designs. Every step of the production process was seamless. The collection was well-received by our customers, with the IWM name lending invaluable legitimacy to the line. We are proud to have been a part of this effort and highly recommend the Imperial War Museum as a collaborative partner."

    Richard Koehler, Creative Director, Retro 51

Organisations that have worked with IWM's brand licensing team include:

  • Adam Mathews Digital
  • Airfix
  • Ancestry
  • AVI-8
  • The Bradford Exchange
  • Flame Tree Publishing
  • King and McGaw
  • The London Mint Office
  • Lovarzi
  • Micro Designs
  • Retro 51