News

Sandicliffe puts local sports heroes in the driving seat

Thursday 31st January 2008

Local Car Dealer Puts Tigers and Riders On Road To Success With Major Sponsorship Deals

Sandicliffe Motor Group, the East Midlands family-owned car retailer, has become an official sponsor of the Leicester Riders and of Leicester Tigers Centre and Winger Seru Rabeni, in a deal designed to raise its profile within the sporting community.

The deals include 4 Kia Picanto’s and 2 Kia Rio’s for the Leicester Riders and a Kia Sportage for the Leicester Tigers.

As Sandicliffe continues its support of the Leicester Riders for a second year, General Manager Russell Levensten and Forward Rodderick Wellington will be driving new Kia Rio’s, whilst Point Guard Kyle Greathouse and Forwards Chad McNight, Russell Jordan and Terrance Woodyard will enjoy driving around town in Picanto’s.

The Leicester Riders have been established for 40 years and play in the British Basketball league, the premier league for Basketball. The team are all involved in community work including coaching in local schools. Chad joins the team from the USA where he is at Mainland State University and Terrance and Kyle are both students at Western Carolina University. All three have joined the Leicester Riders in their Rookie Year.

Over at the Leicester Tigers, Centre and Winger, Seru Rabeni has been given a liveried Kia Sportage, a spacious yet compact SUV with more than enough room for the player and his kit bag.

Born in Bua , Fiji, Seru Rabeni was recently selected in Fiji’s squad for the Rugby World Cup tournament in France. Prior to the start of that competition, Seru, born on 27 th Dec 1978, had won 22 international caps for his country, as well as six for the Pacific Islands and had already competed in the World Cup in 2003. Seru made his Tigers debut against Sale Sharks in September 2004 and scored tries in each of his first three games.

The players were all presented with the Sandicliffe branded cars by Director Paul Woodhouse. Paul said: “We are proud to be sponsoring the Leicester Riders and Leicester Tigers player Seru in a deal which highlights the strong connection between driving and sport. We fully support both teams and we hope this deal will improve the visibility of both brands.”

Sandicliffe Motor Group was voted the UK’s best Large Retailer by AM in 2007 and is one of the country's largest Ford Retail Groups, with a total of ten dealerships in the East Midlands, plus Suzuki, Mazda, Kia, Fiat, Chevrolet and servicing for MG Rover owners.