Warriors Women have secured RFU sanction and finance to kick off the Allianz Premier 15 season in earnest
- Following the RFU’s reinstatement of the club’s licence to compete, the Warriors Women leadership team confirm financial support to commence the season and participate in the Allianz Premier 15
- Existing club sponsors and new backers are providing finance to allow the team to compete while the administrator’s work to secure new owners continues
- Local Worcester business, Cube International, has agreed an interim acquisition of Worcester Warriors Women’s assets and entitlements and is providing funding to start the season
15 November 2022. Sixways, Worcester. Following the return of Worcester Warriors Women to competition recently in the Allianz Cup, the team’s Director of Rugby, Jo Yapp and its Operations Director, Josh Payne, confirmed that they had secured the necessary financial backing to kick-start Worcester’s participation in the Allianz Premier 15 which kicks off against Harlequins on November 20th.
Existing team sponsors and a local Worcester business have underwritten the team’s operating costs to the satisfaction of the RFU; these funds will enable the team to compete with confidence while the administrator concludes the process of securing a new owner for the overall club. As part of the agreement, Worcester Warriors Women will continue to have rights to train and play at Sixways, thereby ensuring Premiership rugby will continue to be played at Warriors Way.
The financial support secured by Jo Yapp and Josh Payne has come from existing club sponsors including auctioneers and agricultural salvage experts, Adam Hewitt Ltd, IT managed services provider, EBC Group and the UK’s largest independent lubricant specialist, Exol Lubricants.
Another local business, Cube International, with interests in sports promotion and management, has stepped forward to acquire (subject to contract) Warriors Womens’ assets and entitlements and is providing the balance of the team’s operating costs until the end of the year to ensure the team’s continued participation in all of its cup and league fixtures. Should the assets of WRFC Trading Ltd t/a Worcester Warriors not be acquired by a new owner by the end of the year, Cube has indicated its willingness to manage the ongoing funding of the women’s side as an independent entity.
Richard Lane, CEO of EBC Group said, “We have formed a strong commercial relationship with Worcester Warriors, as both a sponsor and technology partner. We are delighted to help support Warriors Women, ensuring that they have a sustainable future. We are fully committed to the club’s next chapter and look forward to hearing Sixways resonate to the cheers of fans again.”
Adam Hewitt, CEO of Adam Hewitt Ltd said, “We have partnered Warriors for over ten seasons. It has been a matter of pride for our staff to be a sponsor of the club and consistent with the whole community, we were devasted by its demise. But along with other sponsors like EBC Group and Exol, we believe that something so important deserves to be rekindled to ensure that rugby continues to be played at Sixways. Backing Warriors Women is something we are all committed to doing and we wish the team every success with their forthcoming Prem15 campaign.”
Josh Payne, Warriors Women Operations Director said, “The community around Warriors is so strong that our first instinct when the club went into administration was to search out help from the Warriors family. I’m delighted a number of our sponsors and other local businesses have given us a solid financial foundation – essential for the RFU and administrator’s support – while the due process of securing new owners is conducted. This means the focus of staff and players can be back on the Rugby, confident in the knowledge that wages will be paid, and the commercial operation of the side is financially underwritten. As we look forward over the coming months, we also hope to find out whether we push forward on an independent footing or as part of a wider rescue deal for the whole club.”
Warriors Women’s Director of Rugby, Jo Yapp added, “On behalf of the players and staff at Warriors we would like to thank all the local businesses that have enabled us to get back on the field. We are now able to look ahead with excitement to the start of the Premier 15’s season.”
Worcester Warriors Womens’ Allianz Premier 15 launch will take place during the week commencing November 14, with an unveiling of the team’s 2022/3 season team kit, a squad and backroom staffing announcement and the launch of a new website developed by local team partners, Design Religion, for the forthcoming campaign.