A flurry of new names and familiar faces have announced their support of Gloucester-Hartpury RFC as this team of extraordinary women pursue their mission to retain the Allianz Premier 15s Championship.
James Forrester, CEO of Gloucester-Hartpury Rugby said: “I am hugely grateful to all of our sponsors for their support this season and to the new sponsors who are now supporting the programme.
“Our success last season combined with the growth in attendance figures, new TV deal with TNT and a home World Cup in 2025, makes this a very exciting time for Gloucester-Hartpury and women’s rugby.
“I know our sponsors share our excitement and have a genuine desire to help us grow and improve our programme. Their support will help us to achieve our goal of equity in men and women’s programmes as well as success on the pitch. We look forward to a big season ahead.”
Many Gloucester-Hartpury players are former Hartpury students, highlighting the power of the dual pathway that allows students to train and play sport alongside their studies. The pathway for both men’s and women’s rugby at Hartpury is well documented and highly respected.
Meet our 2023/24 sponsors
SPIRAX-SARCO
Spirax-Sarco Engineering is a British manufacturer of steam management systems and peristaltic pumps, headquartered in Cheltenham and listed on the London Stock Exchange. The multi-national company provides advanced electric thermal solutions, pumps and fluid path equipment to industrial and commercial settings worldwide. Returning supporters of Gloucester-Hartpury, the company funds the hiring of a Community Engagement Manager to continually strengthen the club’s ties in and around Gloucestershire.
www.spiraxsarcoengineering.com
HCR LAW
Award-winning law firm Harrison Clark Rickerbys (HCR) first partnered with Hartpury University and Hartpury College in 2022, supporting the next generation of talent in the community from farming to sport. They forged a partnership with the Agri-Tech Centre, the agricultural rugby team and of course, Gloucester-Hartpury RFC. They return for 2023/24 to support Gloucester-Hartpury RFC.
HCR provides a spectrum of city-quality legal services to business and private clients across the South and West Midlands, Thames Valley and Wye Valley corridors, the southwest of England and in Wales. It has more than 800 staff and partners providing specialist expertise in health and social care; defence, security, and the forces; finance and financial services; construction and engineering; education; technology, and agriculture and rural affairs.
WESTONS CIDER
Based in the Herefordshire village of Much Marcle, Westons Cider has a long family history of premium cider-making with its roots going back to 1880. Five Weston generations have worked with like-minded colleagues in the pursuit of their passion: creating authentic ciders that people love.
Over 200 people work at Westons, most living locally with their families in the neighbouring villages and towns. The brand is passionate about the rural community they’ve been a part of for over 140 years, and regularly engage with local events and supporting charity work. They maintain regional partnerships with many sports clubs and festivals, including Gloucester-Hartpury RFC.
COTSWOLD RAW
A long-term supporter of Hartpury, Cotswold RAW is an advocate for its world-class animal, agricultural and equine facilities – and it has extended its support once more.
Chris Brierley, co-founder and company director at Cotswold RAW, said: “Our relationship with Hartpury has been in existence for a long time. Many of our own Cotswold RAW team studied there, and we've attended Raw Feeding Veterinary Society conferences on campus too.
“We're therefore delighted to be one of the official sponsors of Gloucester-Hartpury this season, and proud to announce our partnership with leading player Zoe Aldcroft and her dog, Luna! Luna has been loving the switch to raw food recently – and Zoe certainly knows how to fuel a champion performance!”
COOPERS ASSOCIATES
The Coopers Associates Group comprises three award-winning and highly-respected brands: Cooper Associates Mortgages, Cooper Associates Wealth Management and Coopers Associates Accountants. They’re one of the fastest growing financial firms in the region, focusing on a personalised service that provides the right advice for its clients, whatever stage they are at in their life or business journey.
BIGDUG
Shirt sponsor BiGDUG was founded in 2004 and is now part of the global business equipment group, TAKKT. The company offers everything from shelving and racking, to workplace products and packaging. They sell storage products to over 250,000 customers and are another of Gloucester-Hartpury RFC’s trusted, customer-focused business partners.
KARCHER
Kärcher were impressed by the vision and ambition of Gloucester Rugby, and have been quick to recognise the challenging environment professional sport faces. Kärcher has also extended their support to both Gloucester-Hartpury Women’s team, and the Gloucester Rugby Senior Academy, with both teams proudly displaying the brand on their respective playing kit.
Simon Keeping, Managing Director, Kärcher UK & Ireland comments “We are delighted to be partnering with Gloucester Rugby Club during these extraordinary times. We both have a long history and belief that resilience and hard work will deliver top performance. Gloucester's vision and ambition align with the core values of Kärcher, as do the values of Rugby. All of us at Kärcher look forward to an exciting season”.
EVERLAST GYMS
Everlast Gyms is known for its ground-breaking fitness clubs that incorporate a hybrid of boutique group training studios and a traditional gym floor, with extensive functional zones, and ground-breaking studios providing a wide range of fitness classes and personal training services.
CHOICE TRADE FRAMES
Choice Trade Frames are an independently owned business offering trade and domestic customers a large range of doors, windows, bi fold doors, conservatories and other related products at competitive prices. Founded in 2017 their key objective is to deliver quality products at excellent trade prices.
JP Hiest, Director of Choice Trade Frames said: “As a leading independent trade supplier of windows, doors, conservatories and more across the south west and south wales for several years now, Choice Trade Frames has made a concerted effort to provide sponsorship to several youth and grass roots sports teams.
“As we have grown, we find ourselves in a position to support larger concerns alongside our ongoing commitments and we feel that Gloucester-Hartpury aligns well with our business. Not only do we see great commercial prospects from the advertising and brand awareness we can achieve through this partnership, but we also feel that women's rugby is a rapidly growing sport. In order for it to flourish, even at the highest levels, it is still at the stage where financial support is invaluable rather than just a commercial luxury, and as such we are proud to be able, through our partnership, to support the growth of the women's game."
PRO GLOBAL
Pro Global are the go-to specialists for insurers, reinsurers, brokers, InsureTechs and MGAs intending to boost their underwriting agility, extend their specialist claims expertise, improve their financial procedures or audit their compliance.
Pro Global offers advisory, consulting, outsourcing or audit services across three functional areas, helping clients to improve their balance sheet, operating ratio and competitive advantage.
Patrick Francis-Lang, Head of Group Human Resources at Pro Global said: “We’re really proud to announce our sponsorship with Gloucester Hartpury Women’s Rugby FC, uniting in the spirit of teamwork, determination, and excellence. This partnership signifies a commitment from Pro to support Gloucester Hartpury to harness the full diversity of our community to inspire the next generation of female athletes. We look forward to a successful partnership on and off the pitch."
AIS
AIS is an award-winning materials engineering company, headquartered in Gloucester. They’re a global supplier of protection and insulation materials to the energy industry.
Andrew Bennion, Managing Director of AIS said: “AIS is extremely proud to partner with Gloucester-Hartpury and are excited to play our part in helping to grow the women’s game both locally, and beyond.
“As a market leading company, we take inspiration from the winning mentality of this team. With a squad full of role models for the next generation, we can’t wait to see how they fare in their title defence season.”
CYGNET HEALTH
Established in 1988, Cygnet has developed a range of health and social care services for young people and adults with mental health needs, acquired brain injuries, eating disorders, autism and learning disabilities within the UK.
Their team of 10,685 employees support over 2600 individuals across 150 services to consistently make a positive difference to their lives.
Mandy Sellers, Operations Director for Cygnet Health Care in the South West said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring Gloucester-Hartpury RFC and believe we have a mutual passion for female empowerment and the role that sport can play in improving people’s mental health and wellbeing. Our local Cygnet Hospital Alders supports and cares for women with complex mental health needs and this partnership will provide them with opportunities to get involved and develop active interests to increase their confidence and self-esteem.”
PRIMA DENTAL
Prima Dental is another sponsor to confirm their support of Gloucester-Hartpury. This collaborative partnership between Prima Dental and the club will see them support and sponsor various local community initiatives, including access to Holiday Camps for kids aged 7 to 16 in Gloucestershire, where attendees will be introduced to fantastic opportunities in both rugby and engineering.
As a significant local employer, Prima is dedicated to fostering skills development in the Gloucester area. By successfully hiring numerous employees from the region and implementing a comprehensive educational outreach program, the aim is to inspire young individuals to contemplate pursuing a career in engineering
Brand advertisement will be displayed at Hartpury stadium and Prima will contribute to new digital content.
Image: Courtesy of GMW Photography
