Next step in Town's International Development programme
Huddersfield Town has today announced that it will make its first foray into China as part of the Club’s wider International Development plan. The Club plan to lead a delegation of local businesses and Club Partners to China in April 2013 in the first major project of its new International Development programme.
Following last week’s announcement that Huddersfield-based Fired Up Corporation joined the Club as its first International Partner (click HERE for full info), the delegation will head to East Asia in just under three months’ time, to visit the city of Zhongshan, China via Shanghai.
Fired Up Corporation has offices and a 300,000 sq ft manufacturing facility close to Zhongshan City in Guangdong province, and Town has teamed up with them to take a party of business delegates to the area for one week in April with the aim of creating new international business links for local businesses that want to expand their market.
Richard Kaye, CEO of Fired Up Corporation, has already given his contacts in China a taste of what to expect from Huddersfield Town, presenting Government Officials in Zhongshan with a printed replica Town shirt adorned with the number 88 – eight is a lucky number in China. Click HERE to watch a video of the presentation!
Huddersfield Town will use its fellow Club Partner, Virgin Atlantic, to fly the delegation from the UK to China and back.
Town’s Commercial Director Sean Jarvis explained the next steps ahead of the visit to China:
“This trip to Asia is a first for Huddersfield Town and we’re very excited about its prospects.
“As I’ve previously stated, our International Development programme is underpinned by the principles of knowledge transfer and business relationships and we hope that we can use football as a vehicle for international trade.”
“We will take a delegation with us to China that includes Club partners and those businesses that are interested in exploring China as a new market for their business.”
International Development Manager Ajin Abraham commented:
“The expertise of the Fired Up Corporation has been vital for us to get this far and I would like to thank Richard and his team for their assistance and support. Our partnership with Fired Up Corporation is a relatively new one, but there is already a brilliant working relationship.”
“From a commercial point of view, our thinking is that businesses should look at opportunities such as these to explore avenues of doing business in new and emerging markets. There are international trade missions run by organisations such as the UKTI among others, but we believe that the power of the Huddersfield Town brand would instantly help open doors for partner businesses. English football has an immense appetite worldwide and one would be surprised at the opportunities that we could help realise through initiatives such as these. We know that the Fired Up Corporation would help provide invaluable ‘on-the-ground’ information for businesses joining us on this venture.”
“We would still be interested in talking to any businesses that feel they could benefit from this visit.”
If you believe that your business could benefit from this visit, please feel free to drop a line via email to Ajin Abraham (ajin.abraham@htafc.com) or call +44 (0) 1484 484 173.
Huddersfield Town will also help to deliver a new Football Development programme over eight weeks of the summer in Nantou Town, China during the summer, teaching up to 180 local youngsters how to play the ‘Huddersfield Town’ way. Full details of this programme will be revealed in due course.
