Innovative appliance firm Dyson is to become Bath Rugby’s new title partner for the next two seasons, it was announced this morning.
The partnership is the first of its kind for Malmesbury-based Dyson, best known for its pioneering bagless vacuum cleaners. The firm said the time was right to support a world-class local team with international ambitions.
The club and the company said they share the characteristics of perseverance, fighting spirit and a faith in youth.
Financial details of the sponsorship deal, which covers the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, have not been disclosed.
The Dyson logo will now appear on Bath players’ jerseys and in all official promotional material and merchandising.
Bath Rugby owner and chairman Bruce Craig said: “Both Bath Rugby and Dyson share a culture of high performance and pursuit of excellence. We both relentlessly seek improvement in everything we do and we both relish taking on tough competition.
“For us, this new partnership is a positive sign of the progress the club has made recently and is a huge encouragement as we strive to achieve our ambition to become the best club in Europe.
“We are excited about what Dyson can bring to the club. They are a forward-thinking, innovative organisation and I’m sure they will help challenge how we do things, both on and off the field. We will certainly be taking inspiration from their history of tenacity and taking on the big boys, as we face some of the finest sides in England and Europe next season.”
Inventor and company founder James Dyson said: “Dyson started out in a coach house in Bath with just two graduates and I developing the first cyclonic vacuum cleaner.
“When I wasn’t busy toiling with prototypes, I was off to see Bath Rugby play just up the road. Twenty-one years later I’m surrounded by over 2,000 people at Dyson who, with an average age of 26, are keen on playing sport.
“Bath remains our local club – many Dyson people live there and keenly support the team. Bruce Craig and his family, armed with his infectious enthusiasm and tactical skill, are transforming the club.
“It has been a joy and inspiration to witness Bath Rugby’s rapid regeneration and see the club’s ambitious expansion plans first-hand. Just as Rome, Verona and Pula have Roman coliseums at the heart of the city, Bruce Craig's proposed new stadium is an architecturally sympathetic coliseum for Roman Bath, designed by Wilkinson Eyre. We are backing a world-class team that shares Dyson’s faith in nurturing youth and have fighting spirit in abundance.”
Dyson has created a unique set of shirts that it says match different Dyson technologies with player positions. The front row will wear Dyson digital slim shirts; the second row will be Dyson Animal; the back row will be Dyson on a ball; half-backs and fullbacks will wear Dyson hot + cool; while the speedsters in the centre and on the wings will wear Dyson 110,000rpm – after the small, fast Dyson digital motor.
Dyson replaces Bath-based wealth management firm Novia as the club’s main sponsor. Novia, which had been involved with the club since 2011, remains an official club partner.
Pictured: Bruce Craig and Sir James Dyson at Bath Rugby's Farleigh House HQ with Bath first-teamers, from left, Gavin Henson, Francois Louw, Stuart Hooper, Ross Batty and George Ford. Picture by Patrick Khachfe/Onside Images
