Warner Textile Archive

Research solution

The company partnered with Dr Alix Green from Essex’s School of Philosophical, Historical and Interdisciplinary Studies - an expert in historical archives and demonstrating their value to companies.

Research Assistant, Samantha Woodward, was also hired for the 3-month partnership having previously identified ways in which the archive could use digital innovation to improve their structure.

The project set out to review how items from the collection had previously been used commercially to create case studies to use as business models for future clients.

Warner Textile Archive’s historical and commercial contracts were also analysed to summarise commercial relationships with clients and identify contracts for negotiation.

Informed by discussions with the team, a flowchart for their licensing process was updated and expanded and, as part of efforts to simplify the history check process, a new record system containing information on the designs licensed was built. Additionally, a new matrix to visualise copyright risk was developed to aid in the licensing process.

Business value

Through the collaboration with the University, the team received a licensing review of the last ten years, a summary of licensed designs, and updated processes for efficiently managing commercial enquiries.

A pipeline of commercial priorities was delivered to directors that included detailed case studies where immediate negotiation of commercial contracts were advised. Recommendations were also made on pricing strategy, brand development and recognition, and ways to streamline record management.

Following the project, estimated profits for Warner Textile Archive have shown a 50% increase, with the business motivated to explore a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Essex to further understand how the collections can help inform their growth strategy.