”The announcement that AJ Bell has chosen to sponsor the World Squash Championship is beneficial to the company and sports fans ", Manchester Councillor Rosa Battle said. Manchester based investment platform AJ Bell has added to its existing sports sponsorship activity by becoming title sponsor of the Men’s 2013 AJ Bell World Squash Championship.
With its Head Office overlooking the Old Trafford home of Premier League champions Manchester United, AJ Bell has established itself as another major success story for the North West in recent years.
Since the company was founded in 1995 it has quickly grown to become one of the UK’s largest providers of low-cost, online investment platforms and stockbroker services. Proud of its North West roots it also has national coverage with offices in London and Tunbridge Wells.
Having identified squash players as target group, AJ Bell then quickly moved to secure naming rights for the AJ Bell World Squash Championship too.
“With 1.5 million squash players distributed fairly evenly across the UK, our sponsorship of the event in Manchester is a chance to increase our brand awareness nationally,” said AJ Bell’s Marketing Director, Billy Mackay.
“With increasing interest in squash and a decision imminent on the sport’s bid to gain Olympic Games recognition, it is an exciting time to add our support to the excellent work being carried out by the Championship’s stakeholders, PSA, England Squash and Racketball, UK Sport and Manchester City Council.” added Mackay.
The 2013 AJ Bell World Squash Championship is the most coveted on the PSA World Series Tour and takes place from October 26 to November 3, with the quarter-finals onwards hosted on an iconic ASB ShowGlassCourt built at the internationally known, Manchester Central (formerly G-Mex).
Egypt’s undisputed world number one, Ramy Ashour, will defend the title he won in Doha last December. Ashour also won when the World Championships were last staged in Manchester five years ago.
However, England are World Team champions and, in Yorkshire duo Nick Matthew and James Willstrop, have two players capable of beating the planet’s best.
The tournament forms part of UK Sport’s Gold Events series and tickets are now at the official website.
