05/07/2024 10:00
Award-winning automotive retailer group Vertu Motors will continue to back Burnley Football Club, aligning its partnership with the EFL Championship side to sit alongside the Bristol Street Motors brand for the 2024/25 season.
Vertu Motors first joined forces with the Clarets – one of the oldest clubs in the English professional game – ahead of the 2022/23 season, which saw Burnley proudly carrying Vertu branding as it secured promotion back to the top-flight in record-breaking fashion.
Burnley wrapped up promotion to the Premier League earlier than any other club, achieving the feat with seven games remaining before clinching the title with victory over local rivals Blackburn Rovers.
The relationship between Vertu and Burnley went from strength-to-strength last season, most notably when the local Vertu Motors dealership – Vertu Nelson Land Rover – partnered with the Club to support the local community with a food bank collection ahead of the game with West Ham United.
That initiative allowed Vertu to increase its support for Burnley FC in the Community, having already supported a number of other worthy projects during the partnership to date, including a donation to the Whitehough Outdoor Centre to help deal with the impact of rising energy costs, enabling the Centre to continue its incredible work to support people from Burnley and the surrounding area.
Heading into the third season of the partnership, Burnley FC will now carry branding from Bristol Street Motors, a major retail brand part of the wider Vertu Motors group, as it embarks on the 2024/25 campaign.
BRISTOLSTREET.CO.UK will now feature on the back of Burnley FC's three playing kits, as well as inheriting the role of Official Automotive Retail Partner in an extension of the existing partnership.
The move by the Group to align Bristol Street Motors with Burnley Football Club comes in the year that the brand celebrates its centenary, having opened its first dealership on Bristol Street in Birmingham in 1924.
There are now more than 100 Bristol Street Motors dealerships up and down England, a number of which can be found within reach of Burnley across the North West of the country.
Robert Forrester, Chief Executive of Bristol Street Motors, said: “We are delighted to continue our relationship with Burnley Football Club into a third season, and also to now align the Club with the Bristol Street Motors brand.
“Given that this season marks 100 years of Bristol Street Motors, it is the perfect time for the brand to sit alongside one of the oldest clubs in the professional game, and one that holds special significance on a personal level having been a Burnley FC fan for so many years.
“This season, we are excited to continue working with Burnley’s community arm to strengthen our ties with the local area. Our nearby Vertu Nelson Land Rover centre will continue to have a close relationship with the Club, as will our other local Vertu Motors dealerships.
“We are equally thrilled that Bristol Street Motors, a nationally recognised brand and Official Partnership of the EFL, will back Burnley going forward. We wish the Club the best of luck this season and very much look forward to the first fixtures next month.”
Stuart Hunt, Burnley FC’s President of Business Operations, added: “We’re pleased to have the continued support of Vertu Motors and in an exciting development for the 2024/25 campaign, the Group’s nationally recognised brand Bristol Street Motors.
“Since we first joined forces, we’ve been impressed by Vertu’s commitment to supporting the local community, particularly the foodbank and Whitehough Outdoor Centre initiatives - which made a real tangible difference to our charity Burnley FC in the Community. This is an important element of the partnership and I’m looking forward to enjoying further success together over the course of the season.”
Bristol Street Motors announced its multi-year Official Partnership with the EFL, including title sponsorship of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy, in November 2023.
The wider Vertu Motors group has also held partnerships with Sunderland AFC, Plymouth Argyle FC and Middlesbrough FC, as well as both Heart of Midlothian and Hibernian FC in Scotland, during the 2023/24 season.