Shorts; Harry Kane, Castore, Sam Pilgrim

Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur striker and England captain, has been appointed as a brand ambassador to Hong Kong-based finance and insurance company AIA Group.

The ambassadorship builds on the company’s 10-year association with Kane through AIA’s partnership with Tottenham Hotspur.

Through the partnership, AIA will collaborate with the Harry Kane Foundation (HKF) to ‘champion the importance of health and mental wellbeing.’

The campaign will commence with Harry’s self-produced animation entitled Harry Kane: Resilience to ‘promote the importance of positive thinking, self-belief and having the support of others.’ 

Harry Kane said, “I am delighted to be appointed as an AIA Ambassador. I believe in the value of maintaining a healthy lifestyle and feel it is important to use my position to encourage people to look after their mental health. I am looking forward to working closely with AIA and supporting the company’s efforts to improve the health of communities across Asia.”

British sportswear brand Castore has announced that it has increased the size of its debt facility from £50m to £75m.

Participated in by all three of Castore’s existing banks – HSBC, BNP Paribas and Silicon Valley Bank – the newly increased revolving credit facility will give Castore additional levels of liquidity to support its growth ambitions and enhance its financial flexibility.

It has been put in place following continued strong trading for the business and strong forecast growth in 2023.

Tom Beahon, Castore Co-Founder, commented, “Castore’s vision is to become the number one premium sportswear brand in the world, and this increased debt facility is a strong endorsement of our growth strategy towards becoming this.”

Castore’s sports sponsorship roster includes Oracle Red Bull Racing, England Cricket, Rangers FC, Newcastle United, Sevilla, Saracens, and athletes such as Jos Buttler, Adam Peaty, Matt Fitzpatrick and Sir Andy Murray.

English freeride mountain biker Sam Pilgrim has signed a partnership with German bike manufacturer Canyon Bicycles.

The former FMB World Tour champion will ride Canyon’s bikes for his numerous competitions in 2023.

Pilgrim commented, “2023 with Canyon is gonna be epic. It’s a dream come true. I’ll be riding the best bikes alongside the sickest team which means loads of amazing times, a bunch of sick videos coming your way and I’ll be hitting a few contests over the year, and loving every minute of it. Let’s go!”