Sponsorship
With British sport becoming more competitive, both on the field and in the board room and many British companies looking for new and inventive ways to market themselves, sponsorship in the sports arena is becoming commonplace.
British companies now invest in excess of £1 billion in sport sponsorship. Companies engage in sponsorship for various reasons, corporate image, company identity, making repeated use of its logo, corporate presence and goodwill. The sport, in return, receives both extra income and increase in both standards and status.
Landbridge Shipping has a passion for sport and a genuine desire to support British sporting achievement. Initiated by Managing Director Len Hayes, they are taking active steps to support British sport, thereby forging strong links with the community and increasing their public profile by supporting various sporting events and clubs.
Middleton Cricket Club
Landbridge Shipping supports local league cricket by sponsoring Middleton Cricket Club in the Central Lancashire League.
Central Lancashire League cricket has provided the grounding for many overseas players entering the English domestics game. Would Sir Garfield Sobers have taken 36 off a Malcolm Nash over for Nottininghamshire without serving his "English Apprenticeship" with Radcliffe.
Middleton have also played their part in this arena, offering the job of professional to Basil D'Oliveiria in 1960 before he moved onto Worcestershire and England in 1965. The position of club professional is currently held by Sri Lankan Ravin Peiris as Middleton continue to do well in this seasons competitions.
Rochdale Football Club
Rochdale FC, founded in 1907, are currently members of the Nationwide Division 3. and play at Spotland Stadium, Sandy Lane in Rochdale.
Spotland currently has a capacity of 9,228 (4,652 seated) but their highest attendance dates back to 1949 at 24,231. Rochdale's highest transfer paid was £80,000 to Scunthorpe for Andy Flounders, while the highest fee received was £400,000 from West Ham United for Steve Bywater.
As with all lower division professional football clubs, finance is becoming more of an issue. Rochdale have several sponsorship deals that provide much needed income. In addition they also provide conference facilities and executive box and suite facilities for mach day corporate entertainment.
Landbridge Shipping play an active part in the clubs sponsorship strategy by taking the role of official Man of the Match sponsors for the Spotland club.
Pontefract Racecourse
In June 1999 Landbridge Shipping moved its sponsorship strategy to a national level with the sponsorship of the Landbridge Handicap Stakes at Pontefract. The race, the 7.45 at Pontefract on 14th June 1999, was ran over one and a quarter miles with eleven runners.
Racing at Pontefract dates back to 1801 and hosts a number of meetings throughout the flat racing season. Pontefract stages Britain's longest handicap on the Flat, The Tote Marathon Handicap.
The course is an undulating left-handed oval of two miles with a short run-in of two furlongs and a stiff uphill finish of three furlongs. The course is considered to be the longest continuous flat racing course in the world. Front-running tactics often pay dividends, particularly in the shorter events, with a low draw on the inside almost always a big advantage.
To complete the record The Landbridge Handicap Stakes was won by Zulal, who beat Dansker by a head in a time of 2 minutes 14 seconds.