British Fencing Gets £1m Sponsorship Boost

Insurance company Beazley has agreed a £1m sponsorship deal with the British Fencing ahead of the London 2012 Olympics.

Specialist sports marketing agency, WSM Sponsorship, negotiated the five year partnership between the specialist Lloyd’s insurer and British Fencing and has been appointed to activate the sponsorship.

The cash will go towards full-time training for the fencing team, as well as a national academy and events in Britain.

The deal comes as a huge boost to the sport in Britain, representing a 32% in funding after UK Sport decreased its backing two years ago.

British Fencing will look to create a legacy with the funding, using the money to support a national academy project in Nottingham.

British Fencing chief Piers Martin said of the deal: ‘This will make an enormous difference to the sport in this country. With a small amount of funding our top fencers have leapt up the world rankings, winning medals at both individual and team levels.’

Beazley chief executive Andrew Horton said the company backed British Fencing because: ‘We wanted to work with a sport where we could make a difference both at Olympic and Paralympic level, and also at the grassroots level.’

‘One of the interesting things about fencing is how it has taken root in new places that you might not expect – such as Newham in east London, which is now a major producer of top-class fencers – and we are keen to support developments such as this,’ he added.

British Fencing is currently set to receive £2.52m from funding body UK Sport for the current four-year Olympic cycle – meaning that it is one of the five least-funded GB teams in summer Olympic sport.