The bank will support Saracens as they seek to return to the Premiership and re-cement their standing as one of Europe’s most successful rugby union teams, a decade after winning their first English league champions title and a decade on from Shawbrook’s own inception.
Shawbrook said its day-in-day-out experience of ambition presents an obvious synergy with the north London club as they challenge for the Championship title, and promotion, in order to deliver Premiership rugby for a fan base complementary to Shawbrook’s own customer and intermediary audience.
Another key factor behind the partnership is Shawbrook and Saracens shared belief in inclusivity.
The Club has been taking great strides to address gender inequality within professional sport by investing heavily in its women’s rugby team and its netball team, the Saracens Mavericks.
Shawbrook, too has taken steps to improve inclusion within the bank and the wider financial services sector and will work with Saracens to support charitable and grassroots initiatives.
Saracens also has a strong commitment to its surrounding community, with the Saracens High School opened in 2018 to raise the aspirations and improve the academic attainment of young people living in one of the most disadvantaged communities in the local area.
As part of the sponsorship Shawbrook will provide ongoing financial support to the 20-year-old ‘Saracens Foundation’, the mission of which is to transform lives on and off the pitch to build stronger communities.
Shawbrook will feature on all three of Saracens’ team kits and will have a significant presence at their stadiums.
It will also feature on the ‘Shawbrook Stats Centre’, to share key player information and data across multiple platforms, ad will have a large corporate box for home games.
Lucy Wray, CEO at Saracens commented: “We both consistently strive to be the leaders in our respective fields, and we share a deep commitment to diversity and inclusivity.
Following the recent announcement of the StoneX partnership, this is another great milestone for the Saracens family as we look towards an exciting future.
“We look forward to the rest of this season as we hope to return to some normality and push towards end of season goals across all three Saracens teams. It will be great to have Shawbrook by our sides as we do so.”
Meanwhile, John Eastgate, managing director for Shawbrook Bank’s Property Finance Division added: “The ability to support all three of the Saracen’s teams is another aspect of the partnership that we are particularly proud of.
“Inclusion within sport is incredibly important, and its vital that organisations like ours commit to encourage and support diverse talent. We are looking forward to watching the men’s, and women’s rugby sides as well as the netball team on the field and court with Shawbrook on their shirts.”
