The shortlist for the 15th edition of the ACE Best Product Awards has just been revealed by the Association for Cultural Enterprises. This year sees 146 entries in 17 categories, from Best Range to Best Guide Book alongside Best Café and Best Shop, with nominees ranging from national to local teams, from the Natural History Museum to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
The awards celebrate quality, innovation and creativity in cultural retail through products, publication, shops and cafés, with a judging panel made up of industry experts. Cultural organisations’ retail offerings and services are needed to bring vital income to national treasures by relying on unique brand identities and quality designs, cultural institutions remain top of their game to compete with high street offerings.
“The entries this year have shown strength in all areas. It’s clear that retail teams within the sector are full steam ahead in considering in-store customers as well as those who shop from afar in product development and choices,” said Jill Fenwick, Managing Director, Association for Cultural Enterprises.
The ACE Best Product Awards will take place on Thursday, the 1st of March 2018 in Brighton at the Annual ACE Conference and Trade Show.
Best Product (under £1 million): Wrexham Museum ‘The Action Dog’, Sir John Soane’s Museum ‘Adam Nathaniel Furman 1st Floor Mug’, National Museum of the Royal Navy ‘Ernie the Knitted Sailor’.
Best Product (over £1 million): Imperial War Museums ‘IWM Spitfire Pilot Watch’, National Trust ‘Virginia’s Books Scarf – Emerald’, Tate ‘A Bigger Splash Beach Bag’.
Best General Publication (under £1 million): Sir John Soane’s Museum ‘Sir John Soane’s Greatest Treasure: The Sarcophagus of Seti I’, The Charterhouse ‘Revealing The Charterhouse: The Making of a London Landmark’, Wellcome Collection ‘Sound by Bella Bathurst’.
Best Café: The Hepworth Wakefield Café, Edinburgh Castle Tearooms.
Best Shop: BALTIC, British Library.
Full list available here: https://acenterprises.org.uk/ace-best-product-awards-2018-finalists
