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Banking giant HSBC kicked off its latest sporting initiative by sponsoring a grassroots rugby festival at the Bahrain Rugby Club last weekend which attracted scores of children from across the Gulf.
And according to Patrick Gallagher, the bank’s chief executive officer in Bahrain, it is a wise business investment as well as a show of corporate responsibility.
“HSBC is committed to helping to grow the sport of rugby at all levels, and in particular in helping to develop the grass roots of the sport,” he explained. “As one of the largest global supporters of rugby worldwide we believe we have a responsibility to ensure that the support extends all the way through the game.
“It is important, therefore, that we are able to give thousands of young people across the region and around the world the chance to take part, compete and stay healthy.
“We carefully measure the results of all our sponsorship activities around the world – full measurement and evaluation of all our partnerships is crucial to ensure they evolve and deliver genuine return on investment.
“Whilst we cannot share the confidential results it is fair to say that our rugby programme delivers strong return for the bank, specifically against customer acquisition, customer retention, brand awareness and understanding, high level relationship development and employee engagement objectives.”
HSBC’s tradition of sponsoring sport dates back to 1980, with the Hong Kong Sevens Rugby Tournament.
Mr Gallagher, an amiable Irishman is married to Helen. They have three children, Ashling, 12, Cameron, 10, and Robin, seven. The family has been in Bahrain since 2009 and live in Saar.
Cameron, in fact, plays with the Bahrain U10 Rugby Team and was in action over the weekend. As well as being proud of his son’s endeavours, dad is delighted with the company’s association with the game. He said: “We believe that the strong values of the sport of rugby are mirrored by HSBC and our staff.
“HSBC stands for courage, respect and integrity. So does rugby. Our youth rugby programme in the Middle East allows us to connect with our staff, our customers and the wider community across multiple markets through these shared core values.
“The bank’s commitment to rugby around the world also echoes its future-looking strategy. As a future Olympic sport rugby is a fast growing game, attracting an increasing number of participants and spectators in emerging markets that are strategically important to the bank, particularly across the Middle East.
“So there is a great match between rugby and HSBC and the bank has been a sponsor of youth rugby in the Middle East for three years now.”
But wouldn’t HSBC be better off concentrating its resources on simply backing major sporting events? Not according to Mr Gallagher: “It is really important to us that our investment in rugby does not just go only into the prestigious, elite end of the sport. Of course we are very proud of our flagship rugby sponsorships such as Principal Partner of the British & Irish Lions and title sponsor of the HSBC Sevens World Series among others.
“We are also extremely proud of the HSBC rugby ambassadors that we work with across all our rugby programmes worldwide – international legends of the game including Jason Robinson, Jonah Lomu, George Gregan, Gavin Hastings, Jonathan Edwards and Josh Lewsey.
“These are the sporting giants that HSBC works with to bring our sponsorships to life through youth coaching clinics, customer events, employee days and much more.”
It appears to work on the field of play too. Some of the children turning out for Bahrain at the weekend only took up the sport after being inspired by Robinson’s recent visit to the club. One parent said: “My nine-year-old son showed little interest in rugby until he met Robinson – afterwards I had to take him to training sessions every Friday morning!”
