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UK Sport, the nation’s high performance sports agency, has announced that Tom Halsey is to join as its first ever Commercial Partnerships Manager.

The new role has been created to lead UK Sport’s commercial activity, and in particular to manage all sponsor relations as UK Sport plays an active role in the development of the new Team 2012 Commercial Sponsorship initiative for Olympic and Paralympic sport.

Tom joins UK Sport having spent over 11 years within the sports sponsorship industry. He has previously worked within the Commercial Division at The Football Association and most recently as Head of Sponsorship for Wembley Stadium. He starts on 3 August and will report to Tim Hollingsworth, UK Sport’s Director of Policy & Communications.

Team 2012 is a groundbreaking new partnership between UK Sport, the British Olympic and Paralympic Associations and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The four organizations have got together to pool their collective rights and align their fundraising ambitions through to London 2012 and beyond. It offers sponsors access to a unique package of rights that brings together branding, access and events surrounding the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games with the opportunity to engage over the intervening years with athletes and sports on UK Sport’s World Class Performance Programme.

In addition to working on the development and delivery of Team 2012, Tom will also be responsible for developing the sponsorship strategy for UK Sport in the run up to and post 2012 and for ensuring UK Sport maximizes the opportunity for partnerships around its core athlete support programmes, such as Talent ID and Research and Innovation.

Tim Hollingsworth said: “Tom could not be joining at a better or more important time in UK Sport’s commercial development. Until recently we have not been active in seeking private investment, but with the need to ensure that a third stream of income is developed for 2012 and beyond to complement our existing Lottery and Exchequer funding, the imperative is there to ensure we maximise every opportunity. Team 2012 is a fantastic partnership but it is complex and it needs someone with experience and expertise to handle it for UK Sport. That is why I am so pleased to have Tom on board.”

Tom Halsey said: “I’m delighted to be joining UK Sport at such an exciting time for Olympic and Paralympic sport in this country. Team 2012 presents a great opportunity for brands to become fully engaged with elite sport in the lead up to London 2012. Longer term it is clear that UK Sport is uniquely placed to create a number of strong strategic commercial partnerships. I’m really looking forward to developing this commercial strategy in conjunction with our key partners and stakeholders.”

(Source:; UK Sport)