Posted on 26 September 2008

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Hull KR Signs up Parasol

Ambitious Super League club Hull Kingston Rovers has signed up Warrington based business Parasol as its main club sponsor for the 2009 season.

Parasol, the UK’s leading provider of business services to freelancers, contractors and recruitment agencies, has been a sponsor at Craven Park for the last four years. And Rob Crossland, managing director of Parasol and a lifelong Rovers fan, joined the board at the beginning of the 2007 season.

Now Crossland has seized the opportunity to become the club’s main sponsor, as Lloyds TSB nationally had signalled its intention to shift the focus of its sponsorship budget to the 2012 Olympics. This has opened the door for Parasol to increase its own profile in the East Riding and on Humberside.

This news follows the recent announcement that Rovers has agreed a four year deal with KooGa, the specialist rugby kit suppliers. And the new KooGa branded home shirts, which will be on sale before Christmas will proudly bear the Parasol name.     

Paul Blanchard, Hull KR’s chief executive said:” There is an awful lot of synergy in this deal. Everyone at the club is working extremely hard to maintain the sensible, sustainable growth that we’ve seen over the past couple of years. We are now an established Super League force on the pitch, and I am determined that off the pitch our facilities, image and commercial opportunities reflect that.

“Parasol is a dynamic business with a clear strategy and this is exactly the type of company that we want to be associated with.

Crossland said: “I can’t deny that at least in a small way this is a labour of love for me. But on a commercial basis, Hull KR now has a brand that I am more than happy for Parasol to be strongly linked with.

“This partnership with Hull KR is a very important part of our growth plans. Everyone knows it’s a challenging time in business at the moment. But in a market like this you can’t afford to stand still. You have to think through every investment case carefully, but sensible investments in a tough market will always set you fair for a growth market.”

 And Crossland is well placed to make that judgement, having successfully led the management buyout of Parasol in 2006, and subsequently overseen an annual growth rate of 133.6 percent. It was this commercial strength that prompted Neil Hudgell, the Rovers chairman, to strenuously persuade Crossland to join the board, as the club returned to the top league. 

Crossland said: “Now is a very good time to make this move. This year at Parasol we’ve concentrated on sales and marketing and we’ve tried to broaden our appeal to new sectors and areas. We are again increasing our regional sales teams and working on new products so our sponsorship budget is being applied with that very much in mind.”

Crossland is hopeful that the club’s planned ground development and rapidly growing support, with over 5,200 season tickets already sold, combined with increased Sky coverage will all have a big impact on the profile of his business on this side of the Pennines.

And Parasol is no stranger to attracting corporate recognition, this year featuring in the Newsco Insider Growth 100 as the 4^th fastest growing company in the North West. The business now deals with 2,500 recruitment agencies looking after over 15,000 contractors nationwide.