BLOODHOUND Sponsorship update
Leading international fashion brand Belstaff announced as Official Eyewear Sponsor for the BLOODHOUND Project
Cooper Tires, leading UK engineering company Renishaw and global IT firm Oracle among latest sponsors
The BLOODHOUND Project is delighted to announce a new partnership with leading international fashion brand Belstaff. It is a significant ‘first’ for the Project and presents an exciting opportunity to share our story with new audiences. This follows announcements by Cooper Tires, leading UK engineering enterprise Renishaw Plc and global IT firm Oracle, all of whom have signed up to be Project sponsors within the past three months.
These partnerships underscore the international reach and growing appeal of the Project, which will be enhanced further following the 200mph public debut of BLOODHOUND SSC seen by global media audience on 26th October.
Belstaff is now Official Eyewear Partner to the Project. The company has spent the past 8 months designing high performance sunglasses for the BLOODHOUND team to wear when deployed in the harsh environment of Hakskeen Pan, Northern Cape, South Africa, where the record attempts will be conducted. Belstaff has also presented each member of the Team with a bespoke jacket emblazoned with the BLOODHOUND logo, and will be selling these jackets to the public after the runs at Newquay.
Oracle is Project BLOODHOUND’s Cloud partner, providing technology to help the Engineering Team collect and analyse real-time data from more than 500 sensors installed on BLOODHOUND SSC, which will help them to optimise the Car for its record-breaking runs in South Africa. The performance data will also be broadcast live to classrooms around the world. In addition, following Project Director Richard Noble’s keynote speech at Oracle OpenWorld earlier this month, it was announced that Oracle Academy is joining forces with BLOODHOUND Education to connect the Academy’s computer science curriculum with the technology behind the BLOODHOUND Project. Two BLOODHOUND-themed projects will be made available to classrooms and computing clubs in 120 countries, with the aim of inspiring up to 3.5 million students.
Renishaw plc has been a long-term supporter of the Project, using 3D printing technology to produce the Car’s titanium steering wheel and nose cone. It is now a financial sponsor of the Project, investing in the BLOODHOUND Education charity to support its work inspiring young people about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Cooper Tires is now the official BLOODHOUND Tyre supplier, for both fleet cars and support vehicles. Cooper, which owns the well-known Avon tyre brand, is a sponsor of Arsenal Football club and original equipment supplier to Geely. It also has a major presence in South Africa.
“We are delighted to have Belstaff, Oracle, Renishaw and Cooper as partners,” said Project Director Richard Noble. “It is not only a terrific vote of confidence in our abilities, but proof of the Project’s growing international profile and appeal. Earlier this month, for example, we were guests at Oracle’s Open World event in San Francisco and were astonished to see BLOODHOUND SSC positioned centre stage and being promoted on billboards and banners on the streets. It has captured people’s imaginations, and with the support and expertise of these major brands, we can do an even better job of inspiring young people about science and engineering.
“We have been successful in raising funds over the years, despite the odd global recession, but have not been able to control when cash has come in. That has meant the Project has sometimes moved slower than hoped, but there is now real momentum behind us. We have successfully demonstrated the Car to a global audience, have 4,000 school students coming to see it at Cornwall Airport Newquay on Monday 30th October, and are in detailed discussions with a number of high profile organisations. We hope to be making further positive announcements very soon.”
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For more information, interviews, imagery and videos
The latest imagery and videos can be accessed at http://bit.ly/Newquay2017
Media contacts:
Jules Tipler jules.tipler@mettlepr.com / +44 (0) 7811 166 796
Richard Knight richard.knight@mettlepr.com / +44 (0) 7725 996 625
Sponsorship enquiries:
Ewen Honeyman, Marketing Director +44 (0) 7885 788 412
Tony Parraman, Head of Sponsor Liaison +44 (0) 7971 930 456
Notes to editors
The BLOODHOUND Project is an international education initiative focussed around a 1,000mph (1,609km/h) World Land Speed Record. The primary aim is to inspire the next generation of scientist and engineers by showcasing STEM subjects (science, technology engineering and mathematics) in the most exciting way possible.
BLOODHOUND SSC is a combination of fast jet, F1 car and spaceship. The Project is followed in over 220 countries and territories.
At full speed, BLOODHOUND SSC will cover a mile (1.6km) in 3.6 seconds – that’s 4.5 football pitches laid end to end, per second, or 300m in the blink of an eye.
The World Land Speed Record of 763mph (1,228km/h) is held by Thrust SSC, a UK team led by BLOODHOUND’s Project Director Richard Noble and driven by Andy Green.
The Project engaged with over 130,000 students in the UK alone in 2016 and aims to deliver BLOODHOUND educational events to 3.5 million students around the world.
65% of students engaged by the BLOODHOUND Education Programme would now consider engineering or science as a vocation (sample size: 1,804).
Applications to study engineering at university have increased as a result of Project BLOODHOUND (sources: University of West of England; University of Swansea).
A team of UK students from Joseph Whitaker Young Engineers Club, Nottinghamshire, achieved a speed of 553mph (889km/h) with their entry to the BLOODHOUND Model Rocket Car Challenge, supported by Guinness World Records.
A full list of BLOODHOUND Project sponsors can be found on the BLOODHOUND website at www.bloodhoundssc.com/sponsors
- Main sponsors – Nammo, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Rolls-Royce, Castrol
- Official timing partner – Rolex
- Network and video partner – Cisco
- Cloud partner – Oracle
- Official logistics partner – Arthur Spriggs & Sons
