AN AUST-based insurer has been announced in a five-year partnership deal with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, which will see the County Ground renamed.

The Brightside Group’s deal with the Bristol-based cricket club will see the ground renamed as The Brightside Ground, Bristol.

The deal, the first to include official naming rights in the club’s history, also includes shirt sponsors for the team’s T20 kit, branding and signage throughout the ground, and season-long hospitality and staff event opportunities.

Brightside executive chairman, Mark Cliff, said that this sponsorship deal signalled the company’s “strong and vital relationship with the local community and the importance we attach to being a broker with national reach but with our roots in Bristol.”

He added: “Bristol has a thriving financial services sector, including insurance, and we want to play a leadership role.”

“This partnership gives us a tremendous platform to continue to raise the profile of our brand, as we aim to become one of the top ten UK brokers, and we look forward to an exciting, long-term partnership with Gloucestershire County Cricket Club, an up and coming club on the domestic cricket scene and a popular international venue.”

Commenting on the agreement Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Chief Executive Will Brown said: “the partnership with the Brightside Group represents an historic moment for Gloucestershire Cricket. 

“To be able to enter into such a significant relationship with a high profile local firm who have such strong foundations in the local communities around Bristol is fantastic. 

“The commitment they have already shown to the club, players and supporters gives us great hope for the future and all that we can achieve together.”