Lincoln Vulcans Swimming Club aim high with local business support - January 2009

Enterprise & Innovation

Click Here for the video Case Study  (as featured in Public Report 2006 - 09)

Improving with every stroke

The Vulcans is Lincolnshire’s top performance swimming club for budding Olympians in the region.

Indeed, The Vulcans’ claim to fame is that it, along with a small number of other clubs in the county, has provided at least one British Olympic swimmer for every tournament since 1988.

Matching their own elite training expertise with sound commercial and community opportunities, however, eluded the Vulcans - until they engaged with the Business Champions.

In September 2008, The Business of Sport event was held at the Walkers Stadium in Leicester. The event was about engaging the Business Community in the delivery of excellence for the Region through maximising their performance and assisting local sports clubs to do the same. Vulcan’s Vice Chairman and Development Officer, Bruce Kelsey was introduced to Lincoln based Champion Jon Thornes, MD of Cool Milk at School Ltd, during one of the workshops sessions that evening.

Jon saw the potential impact of providing the Vulcans with the opportunities they needed to continue to compete at elite world level, and subsequently offered to help them produce a business plan. He also paid for a graduate to be placed in the marketing team at his offices in Langworth, to help the business plan process become a reality, at a personal cost to Jon of £40,000.

Bruce Kelsey explains, “With Jon’s innovative thinking and guidance we’ve clarified the broad aims of the Club, namely to maintain and build on our reputation, to help the county clubs develop in tandem with us and to help ensure we identify and assist future Olympians at the earliest possible stage. In short, to produce more Lincolnshire-based champion swimmers.”

And progress has been encouraging. MD Jon Thornes picks up the story “A few months ago I made this unique offer to the Vulcans – and the proposition was simple. I said ‘I’ll give you the investment if you can identify the difference and improvement it will make.’

“They’ve really taken to the task, defining specific aims, objectives, targets, goals – and they’ve taken this view strategically not just for the coming months. And with the help of the local Business Link, they’ve now defined the role & responsibility of the marketing graduate to manage the project.”

“We’re also getting Lincoln University involved as part of my wider plan to ‘Bring as many people around the table as possible’. Marketing and media graduates’ dissertations will be given this real life context so we both benefit: graduates get a great subject to write on, The Vulcans get great ideas for consideration.”

VC Kelsey paints a positive future for The Vulcans thanks to the Business Champions programme “Our marketeer provides the expertise and the time into much-needed areas: exploring all sponsorship opportunities, connecting with the commercial sector, effective employer engagement and participation. Jon’s offer plugs a very evident gap.”

Kelsey goes on to say, “We’ve been absolutely blown away by Jon’s input and generosity – and the difference it has made to the way we operate. It enables us to have complementary competencies: expert swimming structure complemented with excellent marketing and commercial input. Working with him has been hugely valuable so far, and we’re very positive about our future, thanks to the Business Champions scheme.”

This is a fantastic example of how Business Champions can really make a difference when given the opportunity to work with organisations that have a real ‘can do’ attitude. This engagement has led to having a much wider impact than ever anticipated, as it is clear that the Vulcans will continue to reap the benefit of Business Champions support for years to come.