British Cycling agrees 8-year sponsorship with Shell

British Cycling has signed a long-term partnership that will bring wide-ranging support and investment from Shell UK as a new Official Partner. The agreement starts this month and runs to the end of 2030.

This new partnership will see a shared commitment to; supporting Great Britain’s cyclists and para-cyclists through the sharing of world-class innovation and expertise; accelerating British Cycling’s path to net zero; and helping more – and wider groups of – people to ride, including ways to make cycling more accessible for disabled people.

The partnership fits with British Cycling’s wider ambition to work with a broader range of commercial partners to support the delivery of the organisation’s strategy, ‘Lead Our Sport, Inspire Our Communities’.

Brian Facer, CEO of British Cycling, said:

“We’re looking forward to working alongside Shell UK over the rest of this decade to widen access to the sport, support our elite riders and help our organisation and sport take important steps towards net zero – things we know our members are incredibly passionate about.

“Within our new commercial programme, this partnership with Shell UK brings powerful support for cycling, will help us to improve and will make more people consider cycling and cyclists.”

David Bunch, Shell UK Country Chair, said:

“We’re very proud to become an Official Partner to British Cycling. The partnership reflects the shared ambitions of Shell UK and British Cycling to get to net zero in the UK as well as encouraging low and zero-carbon forms of transport such as cycling and electric vehicles.

“Working together we can deliver real change for people right across the country, from different walks of life, and also apply Shell’s world-leading lubricant technology to support the Great Britain Cycling Team in their quest for gold at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.” 

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Darren Henry, British Cycling Commercial Director, said:

“At British Cycling we have a strong track record of working with our partners to enhance our work, have a real impact in communities and elevate the role that cycling plays in the thinking and actions of UK businesses.

“The partnership also shows our fresh commercial approach at British Cycling, as we look to work alongside a broader range and number of partners to help us to deliver our strategy and support the long-term growth of cycling and the sport across Britain.”

The agreement includes specific investment from Shell UK to support a new programme – to be named Limitless – which aims to break down the barriers disabled people face when accessing cycling.

The ambition is to embed disability and para sport into the heart of communities and develop a clear pathway from local to elite performance, with the funding helping to create inclusive and accessible environments for disabled riders across British Cycling’s 2,000 registered clubs. The programme will be launched, and further details on how to access the funding made available, by the end of the year.

Shell, which has set five ambitions for 2030 to bolster energy security and help the UK towards net zero, will also support British Cycling through steps such as helping to support British Cycling’s transition to an electric-vehicle fleet. Shell already runs the UK’s largest public-charging network with access to more than 10,000 charging points.

This press release from British Cycling will no doubt raise a few eyebrows. Big energy and cycling? Is this greenwashing? But, on the flip side, has anyone minded the Mercedes Benz sponsorship of the World Cup? Big auto and cycling hardly seems like a likely alignment of values. As British riders, if we want to race anything other than enduro we almost always have to have some affiliation with British Cycling – even if it’s only an extra pound or so on an entry fee to cover a day license. There’s little ‘consumer choice’. Does this announcement affect your perspective on British Cycling membership? Head to the comments, and take our poll.

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