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March Blog - Partnerships & growth off the field

22 March 2022

Joe Kaniecki, Head of Partnerships, reflects on a busy off-season that saw Glos sign a historic Ground Naming Rights Deal with Seat Unique & grow a number of other relationships with sponsors.

As we head into the summer months and the new season almost upon us, it’s a hectic time for all involved at the Club with the resumption of domestic cricket just a matter of days away. In my role as Head of Partnerships, this time of year sees me primarily act upon the hard work that has been done over the winter. When the last ball of the season is bowled, attention immediately turns to the renewal of existing partnerships and the expansion of the Club’s sponsorship portfolio.

Since the end of the 2021 campaign, the Club has signed a new multi-year kit deal with New Balance, extended existing contracts with Hunter Selection & St Austell, agreed to strengthen its relationship with the Cayman Islands, who now also sponsor our training wear, and most recently, signed a historic ground naming rights deal with existing partner Seat Unique, meaning our home ground will be known as the Seat Unique Stadium for the next four years. We’ve also agreed sponsorship deals for the first time for our boys pathway, with Walker Logistics, Bristol Fire and Astra Security stepping in to support the next generation.

In addition to attracting new sponsors and partners, we also try to expand on existing relationships which is a route myself and my colleague Julie Creese, Partnership Executive, have taken when it comes to agreeing deals; these have included extensions for St Austell, Thatchers and the already mentioned deal with Cayman Islands. Where possible we look to engage partners in multi-year deals to reduce the amount of sponsorship opportunities available at the end of each season.

When joining the Club back in 2019 there were a lot of relationships which had come to an end, and with more sponsorship opportunities than ever before, multi-year partnerships whereby the Sponsor can fully feel part of something is key to our ongoing success.

This year in particular has seen a number of significant expansions of existing sponsorship deals, which would not have happened without the club delivering on and off the field. The ambition for success on the pitch is there for all to see and it’s that ambition that has allowed the Club to grow significantly off the field. Such continuous progress can only be done as part of a wider organisational desire to make progress.

My role forms only a small part of what we achieve as a Club and our achievements on partnerships would not be possible without the support of the players, ground and operations staff, marketing team, and so on.

While the hard work is almost done in securing sponsors for 2022, my focus now turns to providing them with a community they feel a part of and providing them with what they want to get from a partnership with the Club. We want to help enable potential growth for every business that works with us and in turn, give them the want and need to do more with it, as an even bigger part of the Gloucestershire Cricket family.

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