Industry Shorts: Persil, Castore, Land Rover, Paddy Power Betfair

Persil has announced a partnership with England rugby legend Will Greenwood, who takes on the role of Persil Rugby Ambassador.

It follows the annoucement of the brand’s partnership with England Rugby last year.

In his new role, Greenwood will work with Persil to support the brand’s mission to create four million opportunities for families to get outside and “embrace dirt” in 2019.

Persil is activating its England Rugby partnership by offering a range rugby-related experiences and prizes to encourage outdoor activity.

British sportswear brand Castore has announced further details of a long-term official kit partnership with Andy Murray, who will continue to wear Castore sportswear on and off the court.

Murray is also to become a shareholder in the Castore business, taking on the role of Board Advisor, with plans to collaborate on product development for a future technical tennis apparel range.

The deal was first revealed at the 2019 Austalian Open – a tournament that Murray admitted at the time might prove to be his last. The player has subsequently confirmed that he plans to return to the court this summer and will debut his new Castore match and training kit.

Founded in 2015 by Brothers Tom and Phil Beahon, who both came from professional sporting backgrounds, Castore creates performance sportswear and already has a presence in more than 40 markets worldwide.

In a recent £3.2m financing round, the business welcomed investors including former Saatchi & Saatchi chief executive, Robert Senior and Net-A-Porter investor, Arnaud Massenet. 

Murray said of the partnership: “Castore is a young, exciting brand that offers something different, with products that are really well cut and designed. For me it was a natural progression from previous kit partners. They’re the best I have tried and trained in. I am looking forward to working with their design team on the tennis line and to be part of a British success story. The company is founded on ethical principles in the way it treats suppliers and staff and that’s something that really resonated with me.”

Land Rover, a Worldwide Partner of Rugby World Cup 2019 (RWC2019), has announced a new partership with the Japan Rugby Union, which will see the car manufacturer become the first official partner of World Rugby’s legacy and rugby development programme, Impact Beyond.

In the build-up to Rugby World Cup 2019, the deal will see Land Rover work with World Rugby, Asia Rugby and Japan Rugby Football Union on a programme of grassroots festivals introducing thousands of young people to the game.

The initiative was first launched in Japan in 2018 when 171 rugby schools in all of the 12 RWC2019 host cities held a ‘Rugby Introduction Day’ with around 3,000 children participating.

In the year of Rugby World Cup, this programme will expand nationwide to include non-Rugby World Cup hosting cities, with approximately 300 rugby schools taking part. Each will host a training session targeted at elementary school children.

Paddy Power Betfair has revealed plans to rebrand as Flutter Entertainment as the betting group seeks to strengthen its foothold in the US market.

The move, which is subject to shareholder approval, will not affect the trading names of the group’s individual brands.

Paddy Power Betfair revealed that its revenue rose by nine per cent to £1.9 billion in 2018, but profits were down five per cent at £451 million once £24m worth of investment in the US sports betting market was taken into account.