BREAKING NEWS….Rainbow Productions receives the King’s Award for Enterprise
Rainbow Productions, a global leader in manufacturing bespoke mascot costumes and organising the appearances of licensed characters at live events, is celebrating its biggest honour in the forty years since its founding: the King’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2025.
The King’s Awards for Enterprise – personally approved by His Majesty The King – recognise and celebrate business excellence across the UK. Recipients of the King’s Award for Enterprise have demonstrated outstanding success in their respective fields.
Rainbow won its Award in recognition of its international trade success – in particular its outstanding short-term growth in overseas sales. It has added thirteen new markets since 2022, and its overseas sales have grown by 106%. It now operates in an incredible 65 countries globally.
A brief list of its successes includes mascots for major international football tournaments and teams like Juventus and Barcelona; FMCG brand characters for Kelloggs and Mondelez; character appearances for worldwide film premiers like Sonic the Hedgehog™ and Paddington™; and costume characters for globally recognised attractions including Peppa Pig World, Alton Towers Resort and LEGOLAND® Resorts worldwide.
Its latest major agreement is a partnership with COTALAND — supplying costume characters for a brand-new theme park located alongside North America’s only permanent Formula 1 racetrack in Orlando, Florida.
Rainbow Productions was established in 1985, developing licensed IP into character costumes for use at live events – unusual then, but today an intrinsic part of the visual marketing mix. Today Rainbow is unique in offering a complete mascot manufacture, wardrobe and costume character events management service, one that boasts four purposely designed units, and employs over 30 full-time members of staff, 90 freelance makers and approximately 250 trained mascot artistes.
But Rainbow is also looking forward – investing in new innovative technology such as 3D printers and digital patterning, as well as hiring and training the creative and highly skilled staff that have helped the company to maintain a long-term global competitive edge.
This dedication to quality and detail has given Rainbow a major international presence and an important role in numerous world-famous attractions and spectacular events such as the Queen’s Jubilee Pageant Parade. Most recently the company became the Global Licensee for Hasbro, making Rainbow Productions the sole Peppa Pig costume character manufacturer for all territories worldwide.
Rainbow Productions’ Managing Director, Simon Foulkes, comments: “A Rainbow mascot is widely regarded as the gold standard within the industry. The company prides itself on putting innovation, quality and sustainability at the heart of each and every project.”
He adds: “This award provides Rainbow with a global competitive acknowledgement that will allow the company to boost UK business and remain at the forefront of worldwide costume character industry.”
