Birmingham City set up company to fly the flag in the Far East

Dec 9 2009 by Jon Griffin, Birmingham Mail

BLUES are setting up a new company to fly the flag for the football club in the Far East – in the shape of Birmingham China.

The St Andrew’s owners Grandtop International Holdings announced today it was launching Birmingham China to market the Blues name in the People’s Republic.

The move follows last month’s announcement that Grandtop was being renamed Birmingham International Holdings Ltd to reflect the recent takeover at St Andrew’s by Carson Yeung.

A statement from Grandtop today said that the company had entered into a “co-operation agreement” with joint venture partner Beijing Armstrong International to launch Birmingham China.

The statement said: “Birmingham China will be principally engaged in advertising, marketing and sponsorship businesses in the People’s Republic of China.

“The joint venture partner shall be mainly responsible for providing advertising, marketing and public relations services to Birmingham China for the purposes of promoting and marketing Birmingham City Football Club in the People’s Republic of China.

“As the business revenue includes advertisement and sponsorship revenue, the establishment of Birmingham China will be beneficial to the group in increasing its sponsorship revenue.”

Joint venture partner Beijing Armstrong International was the winner of the 2008 Olympic Emblem Design competition, with clients including China Foundation for Disabled Persons and China Life Insurance.

The Grandtop name change to Birmingham International Holdings will enable the new Chinese owners to increase Blues’ global fan base as well as promoting the club more effectively as a worldwide brand.

Grandtop is also seeking to increase Blues’ profile in China and Hong Kong, targeting the sale of merchandising.