Aberdeen Asset Management gets on its bike with new sponsorship deal

The three year partnership is aimed to help NFTO fulfil its ambition of being the next UK team to compete at the UCI Pro-Continental level.

Aberdeen said it will use the partnership to increase the awareness of its brand and engage stakeholders via a number of events to get a taste of what it’s like to race in a professional cycling team.

NFTO was ranked the number one team in the UK at the end of the 2014 season and is this year competing in all of the country’s most high-profile races. Next month’s inaugural Tour of Yorkshire is the first race in which NFTO will compete as part of the partnership, with the team set to race in the Tour of Britain and the Tour Series amongst others, most of which will be aired on FTA TV.

Team founder and owner John Wood said: “We are extremely proud to be teaming up with Aberdeen Asset Management in 2015 and onwards. It’s the perfect partnership for us and we couldn’t have found a more ambitious and forward thinking company to get onboard and support our aspirations.

“Aberdeen participates in sponsorships where it can get actively involved and make a difference. They have a history of supporting sport from the grassroots and helping to develop talent. This approach fits with NFTO’s ambitions to reach Pro-Continental level in 2016 and World Tour by 2018. We want to continue to nurture youth talent like the exciting Eddie Dunbar and provide a career springboard for World Tour talent such as Adam Blythe (NFTO, 2014) and Steele von Hoff in 2015 to return to the pinnacle of the sport.”

Martin Gilbert, chief executive at Aberdeen Asset Management, added: “This is the first time we’ve worked with a cycling team. The profile of and participation in the sport has grown massively in recent years and we have a long track record of supporting UK sports people from the grassroots up to professional. Partnering with NFTO makes sense because they’re a strong, successful team with big ambitions. Both are qualities we admire. Many of our own people and those we work with enjoy cycling, so it’s an opportunity to engage with them and increase the awareness of who Aberdeen is and what we do.”

Aberdeen’s existing sport sponsorship portfolio includes golf, sailing, skiing and rowing. The group is also involved with a number of cultural and arts sponsorships.