Company News

The team has received amazing support from some high-profile sponsors in order to make the dreams of their loyal fans come true.

Sponsorship is all important in the BTCC, indeed in any motorsport series, so I sat down with Neil Purcell of ‘Talent Works International’, one of Special Tuning UK’s new sponsors to get look at motorsport from a sponsors point of view…

How did you become involved in the BTCC and YRC in particular?
“I was contacted by Hannah; she was looking for some sponsorship and targeting local businesses. Although we have offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Romania, Holland, Milan, Spain, Israel and Switzerland our business is based in Northampton. I was initially contacted to lend support to the  Clio’s, she then very quickly and very excitedly came back at me about an opportunity in Touring Cars, which was even more appealing - I was ready to sign on the spot.”

Have touring cars and racing always been a passion of yours?“I like motorsport in general, I didn’t know a lot about BTCC although that quickly changed! I enjoyed Formula One, I had a lot of clients who’ve been around the sport and some friends are involved in it so I was quite excited about the thought of getting branding on my own car.”

Tell us more about ‘Talent Works International'
“It’s a very new concept, I started the business about three years ago and we’re involved in global mapping, not recruiting, rather competitor insight and competitor mapping. We’re the only truly global company that can deliver what we deliver, we work with a lot of PLC’s and currently we’re one of the biggest growing companies in our sector.” – Quite a nice reputation to have!

Hmm…unique concept, quick growth, mass appeal – sound familiar? Was it the YRC similarities that appealed to Talent Works International?
“It did appeal, I’ve met a lot of people in the motorsport industry and I don’t think I’ve been as impressed with any as I was with YRC. It seemed very new, a very different type of concept, a little bit less corporate which we quite liked and the team seemed very down to earth and fun to work with so it’s been good.”

How are you finding your first BTCC weekend?
“It’s been great. I saw the car yesterday, out on track for the first time, which was pretty fantastic and I’ve met with Fulvio and Phil so it’s been very special. It’s much more exciting being here than what it is watching it on TV and our clients absolutely love it.

“They have been here since this morning, they’ve been arriving all day, seen the races and have gone off to do some racing simulation so they’re very happy.”
 
We’ve seen recession bite business and motorsport, particularly hard. With that in mind how important is it that companies continue to give support and nurture future talent?

“It’s incredibly important, nurturing talent is what our business is based on, we’ve been lucky enough to grow through the recession so I guess we’re making an impact and our clients have helped us to do that. I think a lot of our appeal to clients is the same as YRC’s, they were looking for something different.

“I do think it’s very important, incredibly important to nurture future talent. I’m looking forward to seeing Phil race and see what he can do; he seems a very special, talented guy so we’ll be really looking forward to seeing him out on track.

“This opportunity couldn’t come at a better time, we wanted to say thank you to our clients for supporting us and being with us over the last few years so I’m happy that many of them are here. It’s a brilliant way to say thank you, a little less formal which we like and YRC have looked after us really well. They’ve delivered on every promise to us, I’m very impressed.”