Cheshire East is urging businesses to get behind the Borough’s stage of the prestigious cycle Tour of Britain – and seize the massive commercial opportunities it presents.
On September 6, stage three of the Tour of Britain – British cycling’s premier event – comes to Cheshire East for the very first time.
Cheshire East Council wants to give the business community every opportunity to take full advantage of this historic and exciting occasion.
Cycling’s booming popularity in the UK means this is a huge event, both locally and nationally. Around 180,000 people will watch a Tour of Britain stage, while the entire tour is beamed to 8.2 million British TV viewers and 129 countries worldwide, alongside widespread press coverage.
With two official hospitality areas, one at the start in Congleton and one at the finish in Tatton Park, Cheshire East Council has a range of sponsorship packages to help the community get close to the event.
Packages range from the ‘ultimate’ – full stage sponsorship, at the forefront of the stage marketing and many add-on events for a business – to our ‘affiliate’ package, offering excellent opportunities for client hospitality.
Our sponsorship brochure has full details of the opportunities available – but essentially businesses can be as big a part of the Tour of Britain as they want to be.
Interested businesses should ring the Council’s business connector Kerry Hall on 07816 144 384, or email our team at TOB@cheshireeast.gov.uk
Councillor David Brown, Deputy Leader of Cheshire East Council, said: “This really is a massive opportunity not to be missed – by both residents and businesses alike.
“Around 18 per cent of stage visitors stay overnight in the area and each stage boosts the local economy by £4.1m, on average. This is great news for the whole Borough.
“I would encourage entrepreneurs to contact us and see how they can get involved in putting their business right at the heart of this fantastic, historic event with one of our specially-tailored sponsorship packages.”
Councillor Paul Bates, Cheshire East Council Cabinet member for communities and health, said: “As a Council we believe passionately in promoting healthy sports, such as cycling, as part of our goal of having residents live well and for longer.
“We hope that this event will inspire many others to take up cycling, whether for sport or leisure, and to visit and stay in our Borough and boost our visitor economy – which we aim to increase from £800m to more than £1bn a year by 2017.
“Cycling is tremendously popular on our highways, byways and trails across our beautiful Borough and the Council has invested in developing and promoting cycle routes.
“This is all testament to our commitment to promoting healthy activities for families and to the enthusiasm shown by our residents and cycling clubs.”
Revived in 2004 and last seen in Cheshire in 2012, the Tour of Britain will once again be broadcast live on ITV4. There will be three-hours of coverage showing each stage plus a highlights programme.
The 2016 Tour of Britain takes place between Sunday, September 4 and Sunday, September 11. It is the biggest free spectator sport and followed by millions around the world.
The Tour of Britain will hit the highways of Cheshire East with a challenging leg which takes in the Cat and Fiddle A537 road, a steep climb of more than 10km.
Cheshire East residents will be able to watch from close up, some of the world’s most famous riders as they hurtle through villages and towns, including Congleton in the south – where the event will start – and Knutsford in the north, where the 182km-stage will finish in the picturesque setting of Tatton Park.
Top riders such as Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish have competed in the past but the complete line-up for 2016 will not be known until nearer the event, which starts on September 4 in Glasgow and finishes in London on September 11.
Cheshire East Council will be making further announcements about the event and how residents and children can get involved in the build up.
Watch out for further updates on the Tour of Britain website at: www.cheshiretourofbritain.co.uk or visit the Council’s website at: www.cheshireeast.gov.uk