Crawley Town have announced Rentokill Initial as new principal sponsor. We spoke to Reds general manager Tom Allman and Rentokil Initial CEO Andy Ransom about the deal
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00:00Hi there, I'm Andy Ransom, I'm the CEO of Rent-A-Kill Initial.
00:13I'm really excited, this is fantastic. We love football at the company and this is an
00:22opportunity for us to give something back to the town in which we're based. So Rent-A-Kill
00:27is based in Crawley, we've been here a long, long time. We all say, look we're not a multinational,
00:33we're a multi-local and it's about being relevant and being involved and giving something back
00:38to the community. With Crawley getting promoted, which was just fantastic, what a great time
00:44for us to come and be part of the Crawley family. So yeah, we're really excited.
00:47Yeah, was that part of the attraction, the fact that they had such a good season last
00:50year or is it something you've just been looking at over the years?
00:53Everyone likes to follow a winner, don't they? It's always more fun when your team's
00:57winning and that was nice. But look, Rent-A-Kill's 100th anniversary is coming up next year,
01:04so this is also part of how we wanted to celebrate in the town that we're based in. So yeah,
01:09it's great that the team's done well and got promoted, but it's more about being part of
01:13the Crawley family and Crawley town and hopefully the success that the team's going to have
01:18from here and into the future.
01:20And what are you hoping to get out of this partnership?
01:23Ah, look, we are an employer in Crawley town and we want people to come and work for us
01:30and we want great people who are part of the local community. So for us it's a little bit
01:35of a give and get. So we want to give something to the town, we want to give something to
01:39the club, but we're also hoping that our association of our brand with the great football club
01:45is good for us as well. So we want people to come and learn about Rent-A-Kill, maybe
01:48come and have a look and see what we're about and maybe come and work for us. So we think
01:53we'll get something out of it as well.
01:59Yeah, so we're pleased to announce Rent-A-Kill Initial as the club's new official principal
02:03partner. As such, they'll obviously be on the front of our match kits for next season.
02:07So, you know, as you say, a really exciting time for us, a good time for them to be joining
02:13on our journey. So, no, yeah, really excited.
02:16How long has it been in the making? Has it been quite a lot of work getting this deal over the line?
02:20Believe it or not, it's been a few years actually. We had conversations a while ago and for whatever
02:24reason it just didn't come off. And then obviously with the promotion, we started having some
02:28conversations again around the turn of the year really. So, no, it's been a long process,
02:33a lot of people involved, but no, today's announcement is fantastic and yeah, just looking
02:38forward to getting the shirts unveiled and starting the season.
02:41And how important is it to have a local company, obviously they're based in Manor Oil, was
02:44that important for you finding a sponsor?
02:46Massively important, you know, I think with all of our commercial partners, fans will
02:49know that we do try to go local. So, someone like Rentokil, you know, a FTSE 100 company
02:55who's also based in Crawley, it's a dream partnership for us really. They're obviously
03:00a big employer, a lot of our fans work for Rentokil initially. So, no, it's honestly
03:06a bit of a dream partnership for us really.
03:08We've had a good few released already, some new, some renewals. We've got a few more still
03:14to come before the season starts. Hopefully, obviously, some more signings on the pitch
03:18as well. So, no, it's a busy time here, but everyone's really excited and just can't wait
03:22to get going.
03:23And you had such success with Brickborrow last year, didn't you? And they're back on board
03:27this year. I mean, tell us a little bit about that partnership because it seemed to work
03:30so well.
03:31Yeah, no, the Brickborrow guys are fantastic and I think they're a great example of, you
03:35know, a partner that come to us with ideas and, you know, ways to activate their brand
03:42through us, which has been brilliant. And as you say, none more so than the Orsi goal
03:47makeover. We've had some chats about maybe what we can do next year. So, yeah, there'll
03:51be some news coming on that. But no, yeah, Tom and Cammie are great guys. Obviously,
03:58Eden Utilities on the back of the shirt this year, a short partner, which we'll hopefully
04:02be announcing shortly as well. But it's, you know, it's for all of our partners. Everyone
04:05here is a fan first, which is fantastic for us. And then if we can get some sort of commercial
04:12added value on both sides, then again, that's the dream for us.