Commercial services

We offer a range of business services including Kew Publishing, consultancy on conservation as well as image and product licensing.

Books pulled on a coffee table along with a collection of Kew products

Kew Publishing

Kew Publishing produces award-winning books for all ages on botany, horticulture, art, history and lifestyle. Inspired by Kew’s work and collections our list includes gift books, art monographs, biographies, field guides, practical guides to growing, plant identification and reference works.

We publish under our own imprint and in partnership with others. Through our publications we inspire and educate people about our work and provide access to Kew’s unique heritage, collections, knowledge and cutting-edge expertise.

We produce the scientific journals Kew Bulletin and Curtis’s Botanical Magazine published continuously since 1787 and famous for its botanical illustrations.

Sales and distribution partnerships ensure that our publications are easily available and accessible to global audiences:

Marston Book Services Ltd handle trade order processing, customer service, warehousing and distribution in UK/Europe and other territories (excluding USA, Canada and Mexico).

Saltway Global manage sales representation in the UK and other territories (excluding USA, Canada and Mexico).

The University of Chicago Press manages trade orders and sales representation in North America and Mexico.

Retail customers

Customers can buy our books online, at shops in Kew Gardens and Wakehurst or in many good bookshops. 

Contact

Lydia White, Head of Publishing: l.white@kew.org

Licensing

Kew scientific and horticultural projects may lead to licensing opportunities. We work with companies who identify with Kew and have similar brand values. These include:

  • sustainability
  • conservation
  • biodiversity management
  • scientific and research excellence
  • ethical sourcing and production

Find out more about licensing with Kew

Image licensing

Images from our world-renowned collections are available for commercial licensing, including:

  • Botanical illustrations from our Library Art and Archives - Marianne North, Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, Walter Hood Fitch, the Bauers, East India Company School collections of Roxburgh and Wallich
  • Historical portraits and archival photographs of botanists, horticulturists, plant hunters, botanical expeditions and gardens
  • Artefacts from our Economic Botany Collection, dating from the 1840s to the modern day
  • Scientific specimens from Kew’s Herbarium, Fungarium and Millennium Seed Bank
  • photographs of Kew’s landscapes and architecture, collections of plants, fungi, trees and shrubs

Purchase and download files from Kew’s image library

Further enquiries please email: images@kew.org

Commercial filming and photography

Kew and Wakehurst are hugely popular as filming and photo shoot locations. A wide range of breath-taking sites offer the perfect back drop. Available throughout the year.

Find out how you can conduct commercial filming and photography at Kew

Find out how you can conduct commercial filming and photography at Wakehurst

Corporate membership and sponsorship

Kew has a notable track record of building long term, collaborative partnerships. We engage with a wide range of organisations that share Kew’s ethos and goals to understand and protect plants and fungi for the well-being of people and the future of all life on Earth.

Corporate Membership offers organisations a chance to reward their employees with a fantastic employee engagement offering, including (but not limited to) behind the scenes tours at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst, talks with Kew experts, in-person and virtual volunteer opportunities and complimentary access to the Gardens.

RBG Kew is known for its iconic festivals and events. Sponsorship offers partners a chance to align with the Kew brand and engage with our audiences. From aligning your CSR strategy to raising your environmental profile, we would like to talk to you about your business needs and how we can help further them.

Find out about the benefits and range of opportunities to help you develop your social and environmental impact. Contact the Corporate Partnerships Team at corporatemembership@kew.org and we look forward to speaking with you soon.

Commercial Phytochemistry Unit 

Kew provides unique expertise for the evaluation of the uses of plants and fungi as well as the authentication of botanical and fungal extracts used commercially. 

Our Commercial Phytochemistry Unit (CPU) works with industries, regulators and research institutes worldwide to research the uses of plants and fungi as well as the authentication (fit for proposed purpose) and identification of plant and fungal extracts entering the trade.

We evaluate functional and novel foods and drinks, dyes, fragrances, medicinal plants, plants used in traditional medical systems such as traditional Chinese medicine, identifying extracts for insect control and distinguishing plant and fungal products for drug development, with a focus on antibiotics and the modulation of the immune system.

What we offer

  • The selection and identification of plant and fungal extracts for different uses
  • Conformation of the identification and quality of commercial plant/fungal extracts 
  • Research and evaluation of chemistry/efficacy of plant/fungal sources for commercial development

Read more about the Commercial Phytochemistry Unit