British Athletics have today announced a three-year sponsorship deal with SPAR (UK) Ltd that will see the UK’s leading convenience store group offer wide-ranging support through to the end of 2020.

As part of the agreement, SPAR will become the Title Partner of the British Athletics Indoor Championships for the next three years with the 2018 edition heading back to Birmingham in exactly one month, February 17-18.

SPAR will also act as Events Partner to the end of 2020 to include the Müller Anniversary Games and Müller Grand Prix Birmingham as well as the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow in 2018 and 2020 and Birmingham in 2019, which includes supplying meals for the entire workforce, including volunteers.

British Athletics and SPAR have a proud history having worked together to support promising sprinters in the past, notably Olympic and world medallists Martyn Rooney, Desiree Henry, Emily Diamond and European indoor champion Andrew Pozzi. SPAR will now provide official backing for all top athletes on the road to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

SPAR, whose international arm has a long-standing partnership with European Athletics, will bring a Nutrition Zone to British Athletics events, take athletics to children of all ages through its SPARK initiative and also work with the Female Coaching Network. The sponsorship will also be visible across its network of 2,700 stores in the UK.

Niels de Vos, Chief Executive at British Athletics, said:

“We are delighted to welcome back SPAR to the athletics family for the next three years and we look forward to working with them as we aim to build on the success of 2017 both on and off the track. As demonstrated throughout 2017, there is huge support and enthusiasm from the British public for athletics and partnerships like this one reflect that and the strong position the sport finds itself in as we build towards Tokyo 2020.”

Debbie Robinson, SPAR (UK) Ltd Managing Director, said:

“SPAR has a proud tradition of supporting athletics and we are delighted to reignite our relationship with British Athletics. We hope that by working together we can help the current crop of athletics stars on the road to Tokyo, as well as discover future local talent in the communities our stores serve.”