Kent Cricket Spring Update: Partnerships
Wednesday 6th March 2024
Following on from CEO Simon Storey’s Spring Updates that proved to be popular with Members & supporters, our Director of Partnerships, Andy Griffiths, has given us an update on everything happening at the Club from a partnerships angle on the eve of the 2024 season.
It feels like only yesterday that we said goodbye to the 2023 season, but it’s a really exciting environment at the minute, with all of us at the Club, and our partners, getting ready for the 2024 season in less than a few weeks!
Partnerships play a vital role in the success of our Club. The revenue we gain from the Commercial side of the business is just as important as what’s made by our Ticketing & Membership team. Through working in Partnerships, we’re also able to continue to offer the fantastic work that our team does in the Community from Deptford to Dover, as well as bringing local and national businesses exposure to our supporters, both in-ground and online.
Welcome to our new partners!
Before we dive into the 2024 cricket season, I’m really excited to announce that we have some new partners that have joined the wider Kent Cricket Family for this year and beyond.
I’d like to extend a huge welcome to:
- Alcaline, an East Kent-headquartered haulage company which operates largely in the Anglo-Italian market.
- Alcaline are based ten minutes from the Channel Tunnel terminal and thirty minutes from the Port of Dover, and deal with all enquiries to and from Italy, France and Switzerland. In Kent, Alcaline have a number of warehouse units with racking and storage facilities, offering distribution services from their Hythe HQ. David Zaccheo, General Manager at Alcaline said: “We’re delighted to support this successful county cricket club. At Alcaline we believe that our local community is hugely important and we want to help in any way we can. This sponsorship is part of our commitment to helping the local Kent community and investing time and money into causes that make a difference”.
- Orbital, a leading provider in the UK of fast, reliable, cost effective communications services.
- Orbital’s mission is to provide future proof, innovative and effective solutions to their customers. Their Professional team offers a personal service which continues for the entirety of their customers’ journey.
- H & K Safety Services, the new title sponsor of the Kent Cricket Podcast.
- H & K Safety Services are a Kent-based business with national coverage. They offer a wide-range of services through their friendly, dedicated team and knowledgeable pragmatic approach to respond to ever-changing health and safety requirements.
- SEC Works Group, a marketing intermediary established to provide a manufacturing solution to the marketing industry nationally.
- SEC Works Group manage creative solutions for brands with innovation and craftsmanship. To date, they’ve delivered thousands of projects, from growing potatoes in a branded educational bus, to fitting porcelain bathrooms in an exported bathroom showroom vehicle.
- Lukehurst, who have Rainham and Sittingbourne stores, and offer a wide range of furniture, beds and accessories.
- Lukehurst’s Sittingbourne store also offers curtains, carpets and flooring. In Rainham, they have ‘the Chapel’, which specialises in carpets & flooring, curtains, blinds & soft furnishings and wallpaper. Lukehurst also have a 10,000 square feet warehouse on the Eurolink estate in Sittingbourne, which is used for the daily dispatch and delivery of carpets, furniture and beds throughout the region. The company employs 35 people and the business has increased somewhat from that first day in October 1970 when just 25 pence was taken!
New roles for our established partners & partnership extensions
As we welcome new partners to the Club, we’re also constantly looking for ways for our existing partners to maximise their relationship with us to keep our partnerships as mutually beneficial as possible.
I’m delighted to confirm that Bayliss Executive Travel are now an Elite Partner of the Club. Bayliss Executive Travel have been partnered with Kent Cricket for nine years now and have provided both our playing squad, and on occasion our supporters, luxurious travel around the country to away matches and finals. We’re extremely pleased that Bayliss Executive Travel has extended its partnership with us until at least the end of 2027 and we’d like to congratulate them on their 20 year anniversary!
Castore, our official Kit Supplier, have extended their partnership with us for another two seasons. Our last few kit designs from Castore have proved to be very popular with our supporters, and we’re excited to reveal a new Kent Spitfires One Day shirt for this season very soon.
Our valued partners at Aston Lark have merged with the Howden Group and under their new Howden banner, have become a Community Partner of the Club. Our Community partners help us to deliver community projects, where we aim to have thriving cricket clubs and schools at the heart of the community providing a high-quality experience which is accessible to all; with an ambition to inspire a generation to say that ‘Cricket is a game for me‘.
Another of our Community Partners, Le Shuttle, have extended their association with the Club for another season – we’re also excited to be working with them during the 30th anniversary year this year. Speaking of anniversaries, I’d also like to wish a heart congratulations to Porchlight, our official Charity Partner for the 2023 & 2024 seasons, on their 50th anniversary, too.
We’re delighted to have extended our partnership with Kent-based award-winning English sparkling wine makers, Chapel Down. Last year the players enjoyed a tour of the Chapel Down vineyard near Tenterden and I know that our Hospitality guests also enjoy their wines during the season!
Kent College’s support of our first-team tour to India
You may have seen on social media that a number of our Men’s First XI squad have been working on their game in Mumbai before the start of the season. The group, consisting of Jack Leaning, Matt Parkinson, Nathan Gilchrist, Tawanda Muyeye & Joey Evison, have been joined in India by our Men’s Batting Consultant Toby Radford to practice outdoors and in spin-friendly conditions.
This has been made possible by the support of Kent College, who have also committed to providing our Community Team with use of their grounds and pitches to continue to do their good work around the Canterbury area.
Thanks too to Tassels Solicitors, Greenman Solar & Parkinson Business Finance Ltd. for their individual support of some of the players on this tour as player shirt sponsors.
Cripps LLP’s support of our Girls Area Cricket Programme (GACP)
It’s an exciting time for Women & Girls’ cricket in Kent with more clubs and schools setting up girls’ cricket programmes each season and the introduction of the Kent Women’s Premier League last season. We’re very grateful to Cripps LLP for their support of the GACP going forward. The GACP is vital in providing a higher standard of competition than school and junior club cricket, to challenge and enable development of talented players, helping to prepare them to compete for places in the County Age Group Squads.
The GACP is made up of three area hubs, East, West and Metropolitan. The squads have been selected from the county age group trials, which were held at the end of last season. In year one there was an U11 and U13 squad for each area, and now in year two (2023-24) we have introduced an U15 age group. Each area will have eight indoor training sessions, two outdoor training sessions or inter squad matches, and a competitive summer match programme.
Liz Carter, Purpose and Impact Manager at Cripps, said: “Cripps is delighted to support the Girls Area Cricket Programme. Sport that is inclusive to and accessible for everyone has many health and social benefits for both individuals and communities. Diversity and inclusion is so important to our own business and as part of International Women’s Day 2024 we’re proud to be inspiring inclusion. We’re excited to partner with Kent Cricket to support this programme and are looking forward to seeing the positive difference this makes to Women & Girls’ cricket in Kent.”
Cripps’ support comes alongside our Women’s Headline Partner, Canterbury Christ Church University, who are the title sponsors of both our Kent Women team and the club-level Kent Women’s Premier League. We’re incredibly grateful for their continued backing of women’s cricket in Kent.
If you or your business would also like to support our women’s cricket programmes, we have opportunities to support the Kent Girls’ Area Programme in both East Kent & in the Metropolitan Kent/South East London Areas. Please do get in touch with me if you are interested and we can discuss further.
FrogBox to live-stream Kent Talent Pathway matches
An exciting innovation for 2024 – we’ve partnered with live streaming providers, FrogBox, to secure live streaming equipment for our Talent Pathway fixtures this season. Not only will this mean that the families of our players and our Members & supporters can keep tabs on up-and-coming talent, but we can also use the footage in a scouting & coaching capacity to help inform training regimes for each player.
Chris Watling, Global Sales Manager at FrogBox, said: “We’re thrilled to partner with Kent Cricket and bring our live streaming services to the club. This partnership embodies our shared commitment to advancing the sport of cricket whilst providing clubs with the tools they need to succeed.
“Live streaming the Kent Cricket Pathway fixtures is a great opportunity to promote grassroots cricket within the county. This collaboration will revolutionise the way fans engage with emerging talent, as FrogBox’s live streaming technology becomes the lens through which Kent Cricket’s Pathway Teams will be showcased. FrogBox’s automated highlight functionality will allow players, coaches and fans to consume the key match moments at their fingertips, enhancing talent identification, personal development and overall enjoyment. This partnership not only signifies a strategic alliance between technology and grassroots cricket, but also signals a new era for aspiring cricketers to take centre stage.
“Ultimately, our goal is to level the playing field and to ensure everyone has equal opportunity to experience and participate in sport. We feel that this partnership aligns with our vision and it is great to be working with Kent Cricket.”
As you can see, a vast amount of hard work is being undertaken by our Executive team at the Club. We are all working hard to keep Kent Cricket at the ‘top table’ of county cricket.
A lot of our important work is only feasible because of the support of our partners – and we’re all very grateful for their support.
As Simon previously mentioned in his updates, we have many volunteering opportunities and we’re always grateful to receive one-off financial contributions; donations and bequests are often directed to fund our boys and girls development pathways or help us with a project to improve facilities around the ground. Get in touch with us at members@kentcricket.co.uk if you’re interested.
Or you could join us as a sponsor and partner with the Club, to network, become part of the Team Kent Business Club Family, raise your profile, all whilst enjoying some hospitality on matchdays. Please e-mail me on andy.griffiths@kentcricket.co.uk if you’d like to find out more. Your support does make an incredible difference.
Here’s to a successful 2024 season!
Andy Griffiths
Director of Partnerships