Cambridge United shooting at the wider goals of business and community

The way chief executive Alex Tunbridge is running League One Cambridge United is an object lesson for any CEO, regardless of the sector in which they operate. Tunbridge and the board are immersing the U’s within the entire Cambridge community, including business and academia, by forming partnerships with the key players.

And they are embracing the issues that concern and inspire the many and varied personalities within those communities. As far as Tunbridge and his backroom team are concerned, if you take Cambridge, the city, as a body then United needs to be its heart and soul.

To that end-mission Tunbridge as CEO has already taken the pulse of the Cambridge body collegiate and learned what makes it tick. So health and wellness form part of the club’s remit along with continuing education. And that spreads to any gender and age group.

The club plans to soon introduce a more progressive branding profile, including an update to the outmoded club crest and associated digital promotion activities.

The club also continues to embrace new – and not necessarily local – sponsors of all manner of activities. After we spoke, Tunbridge was liaising with a hi-tech company in the United States about a sponsorship opportunity that could bring further significant income to the club and further strengthen its already impressive links with international hi-tech and life science exemplars.

It already has stadium sponsorship at the Abbey, courtesy of American tech company Cledara which rightfully boasts that more corporate IT teams than ever discover, buy and manage software via Cledara.

With 1,000+ customers in 32 countries and 5,600+ software vendors, Cledara is able to promote itself as “the world’s leading software management platform for finance teams.”

Continuing the transatlantic theme, United’s women‘s team – which plays in the FA Women's National League Division One South East – has as its principal partner New York company Fora, which operates sophisticated workspace across the planet, including in Cambridge, of course.

On a broader basis, United is battling to recruit an increased cohort of corporate sponsors. As part of the initiative, its Business Club is growing consistently and members span a broad range of industries and services.

A modest membership cost gives access to four networking events per season, company logo on the CUFC website Business Club page with link through to their own website, promotion of the membership on LinkedIN and one invite per season to the well-supported Business Club network events.

Tunbridge says the campaign for future success is embedded in its growth strategy. There are improvements planned for the stadium; current break-even attendance is 7,000 per home game but the intention is to push potential capacity to 11,500 “to be competitive in League One.”

Tunbridge says: “There is nothing to be gained at this point from looking up or down the league.”

Already excellent food, drink and relaxation facilities for home and away fans will be further improved, thanks partly through the club’s existing sector-relevant sponsors. But the CEO is swift to add that, physical facilities aside, United hasn’t lost sight of the continuing crusade to capture hearts and minds.

Besides the thriving women’s team and associated activities, United works hard to ‘catch ’em young’ to underpin the support base of the future.

Now in its third season, the club’s Matchday Passport comes included with all Junior U's Membership Packs and features dedicated pages to all League One teams – allowing young supporters to keep track of their attendance at home games.

Junior U's can simply take their Passport along to the Kids' Zone, where they will receive a stamp of each opposition crest for each fixture throughout the season.

Those who attend the most games throughout the season will be eligible to receive a Bronze (15-17 games), Silver (18-20 games) or Gold Medal (21-23 games) at the end of the campaign. All Under 14 Season Ticket Holders are automatically enrolled as Junior U's, whilst Membership for non-Season Ticket Holders costs just £25.

The future is important to the club but so is the present and it has moved smartly to align itself with the most fertile brains in the university city.

The University of Cambridge and the soccer club agreed a new partnership with the shared ambition of working together to help the wider city and the community, supporters, and current and prospective students.

The partnership focuses on three initial areas – community, inclusion and sport – and pilot programmes are already proving successful. These include events and visits to the club’s stadium as part of initiatives to encourage more prospective students from deprived backgrounds around the country to apply to the University; and to enable more existing students to attend games.

The University and Club have also established a high level partnership group which meets regularly to drive progress and identify areas of opportunity.

New programmes are likely to focus on supporting wellbeing and mental health, encouraging healthy lifestyles and improving access to sport.

Professor Bhaskar Vira, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, whose remit covers University sport, says: “The University is a global institution but it is also right at the heart of our local community here in Cambridge, working with others in partnership.

“We know that sport can inspire people of all ages and backgrounds and I welcome this exciting partnership with United which I hope will help build new and positive relationships which further benefit the city and its communities.”

United and Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) also agreed an exciting sponsorship partnership aimed at helping fans of the club – and the wider Cambridge community – through the power of sport.

As one of the club’s Principal Partners, ARU works closely with United and the Cambridge United Foundation to both improve health and wellbeing, and raise aspirations right across the city. It has a strong focus on health and wellbeing.

United already has strong links with schools, young people, and parents, particularly in the Abbey area of Cambridge, and the partnership will see ARU’s Schools and Colleges teamwork with the club to highlight education opportunities and career paths.

The partnership will also see a number of initiatives aimed at ARU students and alumni, one of whom is Cristina Vila Vives – the founder and CEO of Abbey Stadium sponsor Cledara – thus completing another virtuous centre circle!

To get in touch with the U’s re. corporate sponsorship opportunities or to pursue involvement in any of the club’s other activities contact Neil Rowe: E – neilr@cambridgeunited.com

Make mine a Guinness – record, that is!

Cambridge United supporters can take part in the Club's Guinness World Records™ attempt for the most signatures on a piece of sports memorabilia at this Saturday's home game against Wigan Athletic.

The club is aiming to beat the existing record of 2,089 signatures with a 40XL home shirt and at the time of writing was already approaching 500 following a number of events carried out across the city in the past few weeks. So get along to the match and write your name in a piece of history!