Hartlebury Trading Estate has renewed its sponsorship with a local cricket club to help support the sport at grass roots level and encourage its thriving youth system into 2019 as part of its commitment to supporting the local community.   Ombersley Cricket Club, which is part of the newly created elite Birmingham League in Division 1, is based close to the Estate and will wear the HTE logo on match-day shirts as part of the sponsorship.

Rupert Jeffries, asset manager for Hartlebury Trading Estate, said: “As the biggest source of employment within Worcestershire, we’re very committed to giving back to the surrounding communities and sponsoring the local cricket team.   “Ombersley CC is one of the leading amateur clubs in the county and we wanted to renew our involvement in recognition of the importance the club places on the development of its cricketers.   “We have been impressed with the resources the club has dedicated to its players at all ages and levels, which has seen a number of its players picked to represent the county at a professional level, recently including Josh Dell and Jack Haynes from last year’s intake. The club’s approach to inspiring and improving its young players is something we were keen to invest in to help play our part in keeping Worcestershire on the sporting map.” 

Neil Slade, Director at Harris Lamb and agents acting on the Trading Estate, said: “We are delighted to continue with our sponsorship as part of our corporate and social responsibility, both promoting our Estate but also helping the local community.   “Ombersley Cricket Club has a great reputation in the county for promoting youth cricket, where it has a significant number of members from the region and runs several teams. We are pleased to be able to help it grow as a club and give back to the community.”   Tim Oakley, Chairman of Ombersley Cricket Club, added: “We are indebted to Hartlebury Trading Estate for its continued support. Our club has a thriving youth system where the sponsorship helps with the day-to-day running of the various programmes we have in place, whilst also assisting with the general upkeep and maintenance of our club and ground.’

The cricket club has strong links with Worcestershire County Cricket Club, which Hartlebury Trading Estate also sponsors, and where many of the current squad have either helped develop as younger players, or indeed where they currently ply their trade, such as Brett D’Oliveria, Josh Tongue, Josh Dell, Jack Haynes, Ben Cox and Gareth Andrew. 

Record-breaking Australian batsman Callum Ferguson also plied his trade for the amateur club during the 2018 season.   Hartlebury Trading Estate extends over 200 acres of parkland offering in excess of 1,500,000 sqft of industrial and office space, where the landlords can offer quality, refurbished buildings from 500sqft starter units to larger distribution warehouses and manufacturing premises.