Lotus delighted at sponsorship success

[Huckerbys right foot]

It has been a marriage made in heaven – and yesterday staff at Lotus Cars got together with the Norwich City players to celebrate their memorable title triumph.

The tie-up between Lotus, parent company Proton and the Canaries has been a spectacular success, with Nigel Worthington's all-conquering side gaining promotion in the first season of a seven-figure sponsorship deal.

City's title triumph has understandably gone down a storm among the Hethel workforce, the majority of whom are avid fans, and yesterday 900 of them were on hand to give their heroes another rousing reception.

Less than 12 hours after rounding off their title celebrations in the city centre, a group of players led by skipper Adam Drury visited the factory to meet the staff – and try out their products. And there was a huge cheer when the City stars strolled out in front of another big crowd with the Division One Championship trophy in tow.

"You don't have to be a Norwich City supporter to work here – but it certainly helps!" commented Lotus Cars general manager Ansar Ali as he surveyed the impressive scene.

"I was fortunate enough to be in the city on Monday night when 50-60,000 people turned out to salute Nigel Worthington and his players – and that same passion is reflected here.

"It's tremendous moment for the staff – everyone is very excited about the visit.

"The morale at the factory has just gone off the Richter scale recently, beyond what I could ever have imagined. It has been quite phenomenal."

City's march to the Premiership has obviously been the principal factor behind the feel-good factor at Hethel – but Mr Ali said it went a lot deeper than that.

"Both on and off the pitch exciting things are happening for Lotus Cars," he said.

"We have a very healthy order book, and we are getting a lot of positive press about the new 111R which we launched in Monte Carlo. We've also launched the Lotus Exige to quiet stupendous reviews.

"It is all very positive at the moment, and the success off the pitch is being reflected by Norwich City on it. It's great news all round.

"We couldn't have wished for any more from this deal. Our shareholder Proton has invested heavily in Lotus Cars, and the community, and their faith was reflected in the fact that they took the opportunity to sponsor our local football club – and just look how it has worked out!"

That sentiment was echoed by financial director James Stronach who added: "It's a dream come true really. When we signed up for the sponsorship a year ago we had high hopes – but it really couldn't have gone any better. It has been a tremendous season.

"It has certainly heightened the profile of Lotus and Proton. You can see how well it has gone down here – and it has gone down very well in Malaysia too. They are looking forward to seeing their logo in the Premiership next season – and so are we!

"Hopefully there are more good times ahead both for us and the football club. We build exciting cars and Norwich City play exciting football. It's an ideal partnership."