Lotus and Norwich City FC host business and community leaders at Carrow Road
Lotus and Norwich City FC host business and community leaders at Carrow Road
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- Two famous businesses and brands help put Norfolk on the world map
- £100m invested by Lotus in its facilities in the region
- Lotus partnership with Canaries shows value of ‘Act Local, Achieve Global’
Hethel, UK – 06 October 2022 Lotus has reaffirmed its partnership with Norwich City Football Club to help drive global awareness of both businesses and brands. It has also revealed that more than £100 million has been invested by Lotus in its facilities in Hethel and in Norwich, Norfolk.
At a VIP reception at the Carrow Road stadium, Mr Qingfeng Feng, CEO of Group Lotus, was joined by Matt Windle, Group Vice-President and Managing Director of Lotus Cars, in a tour of the ground, hosted by Sam Jeffery, Commercial Director at Norwich City FC.
It was followed by discussions about how to continue maximising the global impact of the two great Norfolk brands, which has reached hundreds of millions of people via match-day TV coverage over the last two seasons of partnership.
Earlier in the day, Mr Feng was also given a tour of the Lotus Training Centre at Colney, where he was presented with a signed match shirt by Head Coach Dean Smith, and star players Tim Krul and Teemu Pukki.
Mr Feng commented: “English football is widely watched and respected around the world and our partnership with Norwich City Football Club is a perfect example how we can work together to raise the awareness of both our organisations for our mutual benefit. With the Lotus name on the Canaries shirts every Saturday, there are many Lotus fans globally who have become Norwich supporters and there are those who have been introduced to Lotus through our football links. It’s all down to the power of the partnership.”
He added: “I would like to thank all of the team at Lotus for their fantastic achievements over the last five years which are demonstrated by the Lotus Vision80 strategy, which is to plan. If you think the introduction of the new range of cars from Lotus – the Evija hypercar, the Eletre hyper-SUV and the Emira sports car – is exciting, just wait until you see the next three cars coming, all of which are in development and will hit the roads within the next four years.”
Sam Jeffery said: “I know I speak on behalf of us all at Norwich City when I say how privileged we felt to host Mr Feng at both our Lotus Training Centre and Carrow Road. This partnership is one that unlocks huge benefits – from knowledge-sharing on best practice and innovation through to global brand recognition and credibility – but one of the absolutely key pillars is that, like Lotus, Norwich City constantly strives to support our proud Norfolk community. We’re so proud to partner with Lotus, and long may this relationship continue to thrive.”
Matt Windle added: “Lotus has come a very long way in the last five years, through both the hard work of our people in Norfolk and from the invaluable support of our shareholders. We are a global brand with our roots firmly in Norfolk, which provides benefits to both the UK and our local community, and at all levels from regional investment to promoting and endorsing Norfolk as a great centre for business and industry. Our reaffirmed partnership with the Canaries ticks all the boxes for us to ‘Act Local, Achieve Global’ and we are all very excited about the future with the club and its achievements both on and off the pitch.”
Joining the reception at Carrow Road were Richard Bacon, MP for South Norfolk and representatives from Norfolk County Council, South Norfolk Council, the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership and the Eastern Powerhouse.
Commenting at the reception, Richard Bacon MP for South Norfolk said, “Geely’s investment in Lotus is on a very impressive scale and shows the nature of its long-term commitment to building the Lotus brand globally. The partnership between Geely and Lotus has already produced significant results in terms of more jobs in Norfolk, yet it is the long-term vision for the business which is the most exciting. One senses that Lotus is on the cusp of something remarkable and long-deserved – and that it will become a much more important global brand in the years ahead. This vision of long-term partnership is based on strong relationships and it does a great deal to promote the prosperity and peace which we all want to see”.
John Fuller, Leader of South Norfolk District Council, said, “I'm proud to have brought all levels of local and national government together so that regulatory steps can be aligned with Lotus' ambition so their exciting plans can be realised. Lotus and its global reputation has put Norfolk, and East Anglia as a whole, on the map as centre for creativity and high technology which will encourage other like-minded businesses to invest in the region for the benefit of the whole of the UK”
Lotus has four facilities in Norfolk, its global headquarters for sports car design, engineering and production at Hethel; its sub-assembly facility, Lotus Advanced Structures, and the new Lotus Learning Academy both at Hurricane Way, Norwich; and the Lotus Aftersales operation in Longwater, Norwich.
Each facility has benefitted from the multimillion investment, and Lotus has more than doubled its staff numbers since 2017.
Lotus has recruited new colleagues across all areas of the business including skilled manufacturing operatives, engineers and technicians. In vehicle assembly and production operations specifically, 300 new staff have joined the company. Through the new Lotus Learning Academy, all recruits have been trained in the high-quality manufacturing operations they need to begin their career at Lotus.
Notes to Editors
For more information please contact the Lotus Communications team:
Rob Borrett, Head of Media and Launch Programmes
+44 (0) 7718 560789
Richard Yarrow, Head of News and Technology Communications
+44 (0) 7471 994525
Alastair Florance, PR Manager
+ 44 (0) 7802 918662
Diederik Reitsma, PR Manager, European Markets
diederik.reitsma@eu.lotuscars.com
+ 31 651 939 185
Samantha Thomas, PR Officer, Product Press and Digital Media
+44 (0) 7909 813785
The Lotus media site – https://media.lotuscars.com – contains news, images, specifications and full details of current models, as well as heritage cars and engineering technology.
For the latest news and information from the Lotus PR Team please follow:
https://twitter.com/LotusCarsPR
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About Lotus
Lotus Cars is based in Hethel, Norfolk, UK, and is the global HQ for sports car and hypercar manufacturing operations, Lotus Advanced Performance and the iconic 2.2-mile test track. Lotus Cars builds world-class high-performance cars, born out of legendary success on the racetrack including 13 FIA Formula 1 world titles and many other championship honours. In July 2021 Lotus unveiled the all-new Lotus Emira, its last petrol-powered sports car and best-of-breed, and in July 2019 it launched the Evija, the world’s first all-electric British hypercar. Customer deliveries of both cars will begin during 2022. In March 2022 Lotus revealed the Eletre, the world’s first all-electric hyper-SUV. Customer deliveries will begin in 2023. The Lotus Type 135, an all-electric sports car, is currently being designed and engineered at Hethel.
Lotus Engineering provides comprehensive consultancy services to many of the world's OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. It is internationally recognised for its long-standing contribution to ground-breaking engineering and innovative vehicle development. Its expertise extends beyond automotive; in August 2021 a Lotus Engineering-developed track bike helped Team GB’s cyclists win seven medals, including three golds, at the Tokyo Olympics. An international consultancy with offices around the world, Lotus Engineering is headquartered at the Lotus Advanced Technology Centre on the University of Warwick’s Wellesbourne Campus in the UK.
Lotus Tech is an affiliate company of Group Lotus, established as part of the Vision80 strategy established in 2018. With operational assets across China, the UK and Europe, Lotus Tech is dedicated to delivering smart lifestyle battery electric vehicles (BEVs) such as the Eletre. Lotus Tech is focused on R&D in next-generation automobility technologies such as electrification, digitalisation and more. In addition to the Lotus Eletre, Lotus Tech plans to launch further BEV models including a sports sedan (Type 133) another SUV (Type 134) and more, as Vision80 reaches maturity in 2028.
Group Lotus is either the parent company of or affiliated with the above. In 2017, Geely Holding Group, one of the fastest growing automotive group in the world, acquired a 51% stake in Group Lotus. The other 49% is owned by Etika Automotive, a Malaysian conglomerate.