23 August 2007

WIMBLEDON ANNOUNCES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP WITH HSBC BANK PLC

The All England Club, Wimbledon and HSBC Bank today announced a new global partnership designating HSBC Bank plc as the exclusive Official Bank and Official Credit Card to The Championships, Wimbledon.

The announcement of the five-year agreement was made during the Finals (20-25 August) at Wimbledon of the UK's largest national junior grass court tournament – the Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge – a quest on which more than 15,000 young players from all over Britain originally set out in pursuit of their own Wimbledon dream.

From 2008, that event will be sponsored by HSBC, to be called the HSBC Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge.

At The Championships, HSBC will be responsible for providing the on site banking services for the players and public and will be involved over the year in the Club's various banking requirements. In addition, the agreement also covers associated UK and international marketing benefits, particularly the Club's website, www.wimbledon.org.

“We are very pleased to have entered into this partnership with HSBC Bank” said Ian Ritchie, Chief Executive of the All England Club. “Both organizations enjoy rich histories and traditions, as well as a desire to see our businesses advance through the use of technological innovation – the new Centre Court retractable roof in 2009 being just one example for Wimbledon.

As the world's local bank, HSBC's international presence and reach – be it from South America to Europe to China - offers us fascinating opportunities to complement our existing commercial activities worldwide. At a more local level, we are delighted to welcome HSBC's enthusiastic support for British tennis through sponsorship of The Road to Wimbledon National 14 and Under Challenge. The reputation of that event, and indeed The Championships, can only be enhanced by having a sponsor and Official Supplier of the calibre of HSBC.”

Dyfrig John, director and chief executive of HSBC Bank plc, said: "The All England Club and Wimbledon are amongst the most prestigious brands in British sport. Combining their extraordinary profiles with that of HSBC, the world's local bank, creates a formidable partnership both here and abroad. It will help us to cement our relationships with existing and potential customers. At the same time, it enables us to support the excellent work the Club is doing both in staging the world's premier tennis tournament and developing British tennis as a whole."

The Championships, Wimbledon, (in 2008, June 23 - July 6) are attended by an average 450,000 visitors. Worldwide TV audiences comprise an estimated 1.8 billion people from 562 million homes across 178 countries watching over 8,000 hours of BBC supplied television coverage. On the Web, in 2007, over eight million unique users had logged onto www.wimbledon.org by the end of The Championships, an all-time Grand Slam record. The site was visited more than 40 million times with 266m page views.

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Official Suppliers to the Championships

• The Club has always sought to retain the unique image and character of The Championships which has been successfully achieved over many years by development a range of long-term mutually beneficial Official Supplier agreements with a range of blue-chip brands, as well as specifically not commercializing the grounds overtly.
  
• Official Suppliers, of which there were 14 for the 2007 Championships (eg; Rolex, Polo Ralph Lauren, IBM, Philips, Slazenger, Hertz) provide goods and services, which are both essential for the staging of The Championships, and which meet the Club's objective of improving the quality of the service provided to the players, spectators, the media and the staff involved in organizing and running the event.
  
• Official Suppliers have the right to use the Club's crossed rackets logo and to highlight their Wimbledon association through advertising and promotions in key markets around the world.
  

The Official Suppliers

The Road to Wimbledon

• The All England Club sponsors a thriving junior tennis programme under the title of The Road to Wimbledon, the mission of which is to inspire and encourage young people into the sport.
  
• The Road to Wimbledon includes a number of local and national schemes/activities for juniors at The Championships or during the year.
  
• In addition to the National 14 and Under Challenge, these are: Wimbledon Junior Tennis Initiative (WJTI), Museum Education Programme, 'Playing for Success' Study Support Centre, LTA Juniors, 'Play Tennis Zone', Children's tickets, Championships' Ball Boys and Ball Girls, Singles Finals' Coin Tossing Ceremonies.

The Road to Wimbledon