And the Winner is...

 We really enjoyed exhibiting at the Association of Cultural Enterprises annual conference last week which was held in Birmingham at the ICC. It was a pleasure to meet so many inspiring people from across the heritage and cultural sectors.

After setting up our trade stand, we had the opportunity to attend the conference’s organised trip which was a fascinating walk around the Jewellery Quarter, where we explored the Jewellery Quarter Museum, School of Jewellery, Europe’s largest jewellery school, the Pen Museum and the Coffin Works.

We had a fabulous time at the evening event held at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, Night at the Museum. We enjoyed local food, music, dancing and surprise pop-up talks, with exclusive access to the museum’s galleries.

Our highlight of the conference was being given the opportunity to sponsor and present an award for the Best Shop category. Lorraine, founder of Colour Heroes, was delighted to present the winner, Amgueddfa Cymru Big Pit National Coal Museum, with their prize of a £1,000 Colour Heroes voucher. The voucher can be used to create a new and fully bespoke resource for the museum.

We have been lucky to work with the Big Pit National Coal Museum on a children’s trail last year and are looking forward to working with the team again on their new project!

‘The shop at Big Pit National Coal Museum underwent a six-month redevelopment as a trial project to find ways to increase Amgueddfa Cymru brand standards and consistency whilst still representing the unique identity of each museum in the group. The redevelopment included creating 200+ bespoke products representing Big Pit’s stories and collections, as well as an immersive soundscape, a redesigned shop space using original collections and upcycling items from the former mine, and improved signage/messaging.’ (https://culturalenterprises.org.uk/awards/meet-the-finalists-2026/)

We look forward to exhibiting at the conference show next year and showcase our new range of exciting and educational visitor resources for museum and heritage sites.