Branding

Driving off field revenue by marrying global brands with iconic sportsmen is a core part of our remit for elite sports clients. One example involved securing an endorsement contract for a legendary Premier League footballer who was looking to meet the twin objectives of driving off field revenue and also gaining the opportunity to grow and exploit his brand in Asia. After lengthy negotiations we were able to secure a contract with one of the best known energy drinks manufacturers and leisure brands in the world, Red Bull. A key element to the success of this project was our client’s ability to draw on our in depth legal and tax knowledge in the field of sponsorship and endorsement contracts.

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Contract Negotiations

A promising young player signed with us as a 19 year old. He has remained a client throughout his 15 year career, 74 test caps and a Lions tour. Early contract negotiations increased his earnings rapidly and allowed him to focus on his club rugby whilst providing security. These negotiations prioritised length of contract as much as value.

As his career progressed the complexity of his contract negotiations increased to include image rights and the use of a limited company that we set up on his behalf. The majority of these negotiations were carried out before the Premiership contracts were standardised and accordingly our legal expertise proved invaluable.

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Country to Country

We actively promoted an All Black International across Europe. We then presented him with the four clubs that were interested in him along with the strengths and weaknesses of each and the offers they had made. He chose to move to an English Premiership team whereby we negotiated a multiyear contract which included offshore image rights and created his limited company. We arranged all relevant work permits for him and his family to make their transition to life in the UK as simple as possible and met them at the airport when they arrived.

During his second season in England we repeated this process; negotiating with his current club whilst gathering interest from other competing European Clubs, consequently he then moved to a top Irish Province.

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Lifestyle / Concierge / Support

We arranged for VIP access and full hospitality for five players to attend the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. The full day included transport to and from Silverstone as well as watching the race from above the pit lane. Through contacts at various film companies we have also arranged for players to attend and walk the red carpet in London’s Leicester Square during international movie premieres.

We deal with a range of the world’s top hotels located in the UK and Europe and we are often called upon to make special arrangements specifically for our clients.

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Finances and Tax

Our client was a South African player contracted in the UK for three years and with the potential to join the England squad. In order to maximise his earnings, and ensure he didn’t pay more in tax than was necessary, it was essential to forward plan.

Before he arrived in the UK, Celerity created an offshore structure for image rights. Upon arrival we registered him for tax in the UK and created a UK-based promotions company into which his earnings from off-field activities could be paid.

Our client became an England International player during his first year and we utilised his pre-planned tax structure to ensure he benefited from all the opportunities that arose from his new role. When he calculated how much money he had saved from entering into the arrangement, he discovered that he had achieved significant savings in tax. In addition, he had a lump sum overseas and a UK company that he could utilise post-retirement.

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Professional Sports Clubs

Our client was a professional rugby club under intense scrutiny from HM Revenue and Customs. The issue related to payments of image rights, expenses, lump sum expenses and agents fees. This resulted in an onerous assessment for tax on these payments of hundreds of thousands of pounds, not including additional exorbitant costs for interest and penalties, plus the additional unwanted attention from HMRC.

Celerity scrutinised the client’s accounts and, based on its wide experience working with both sports clubs and HMRC, ascertained that the assessment was flawed. Our specialist tax unit liaised with the client and HMRC and negotiated a reduction of the original assessment by over 90%, and established a favourable payment plan for the client. In order to protect not just this client, but all sports clubs, we also managed and implemented a new image rights and agents payments structure which was endorsed by HMRC.

Our client, of course, was delighted with the result, but also relieved that a modus operandi had been established which would prevent this happening again.

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Events

In 2010 we created a strategic plan to combine our events knowledge and experience with the needs of our clients - we devised a brand new event for an England & British Lions rugby international and launched a prestigious Clay Shooting Day. One of the aims was to introduce our client to both luxury brands and high net worth individuals in a relaxed atmosphere with a view to forming beneficial lasting relationships. Our secondary goal was to create an income stream for our client for his ‘life after rugby’ – this is crucial for all players. This personal interest went a long way to ensuring our client’s complete engagement in the process and helped to achieve a successful financial outcome.

The event proved a huge success and, under Celerity’s guidance, continues to grow year on year.

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