SEAN JARVIS has fronted the biggest commercial expansion in Huddersfield Town’s history – and he has no plans to take his foot off the accelerator.
The club’s elevation to the Championship has opened up all sorts of avenues for vital revenue, and Jarvis has wasted no time in pushing the blue and white cause.
A partnership with Virgin Atlantic illustrates how Town are flying high off the pitch, but Commercial Director Jarvis values all the club’s business and community links and says the aim is to be “the biggest and best” they can be.
Perhaps the most visible success story has been the shirt sponsorship deal agreed with Rekorderlig Cider, but the new Huddersfield Town Foundation is close to everyone’s heart – helping children and young people in the community – the Pedal for Pounds charity cycle ride goes from strength to strength and the club’s partnership portfolio has grown from 15 to 54.
That’s essential growth to help support the input of inspirational chairman Dean Hoyle, and Jarvis says the ambition on the field – manager Simon Grayson has brought in a host of new signings – will be matched every step of the way by his team behind the scenes.
“This last few months has been very exciting with a lot of partnerships being renewed and a whole list of new ones coming along,” said Leicester-bred Jarvis, who joined the board three years ago.
“The most notable, I suppose, is the Virgin Atlantic deal, which is fantastic and takes us to a whole new level – but since Steve Simonsen missed that penalty at Wembley, we had an e-mail within 30 minutes of that final and it’s been like that ever since!
“Hospitality packages have been very popular, the boxes are sold out and we are very pleased and very happy with the whole situation, although we are always looking at ways to progress the club and ways we can develop.”
While Town’s strong commercial links grow in this country – and they plan to glean all they can from the top established Championship clubs – Jarvis is also looking further afield to push the club’s standing over the next few years.
“Virgin are going to be involved in our international development, which is something we are in the process of forming,” he explained.
“We are looking to develop links with territories around the world and we so far have links with people in Chile, Dubai, Vancouver and connections with Australia – so we are looking to see how they can develop.
