McLaren receives advice from Norton Rose Fulbright and continues with Santander

The agreement just signed by McLaren and the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright includes several components. The most visible aspect is that the firm will become the legal advisor for the Woking-based company. The areas involved range from mergers and acquisitions, contractual and intellectual property, as well as real estate and employment.

The second part of the agreement stipulates that the two new partners will implement a joint corporate social responsibility project, on which they will provide further details in the coming months.

Nevertheless, while McLaren broadly states that it is a partnership for the entire McLaren Group, it does specify that its car manufacturing activities (its subsidiary McLaren Automotive) are not affected by this agreement.

Moreover, such an announcement cannot hide the fact that the team still will not announce the name of its new title sponsor to replace Vodafone. The only possible explanation is that the team has established a partnership with a new company, but this company only wishes to be associated with the team starting from 2015 with the arrival of the Honda engine. It is therefore highly likely that there will be no announcement made for the 2014 season.

However, Jonathan Neale, the marketing director of the team, wanted to reassure about the budget that the team will have during a season where developments must be even more intense than in previous seasons, through the site Pitpass: « We are not going to announce a new partner when we launch the new MP4-29 on January 24th. (…) But I am delighted to announce that McLaren Racing will have the largest operational budget in its history in 2014. »

One of the reasons for this relatively good financial health is that the team is able to secure long-term contracts with its sponsors. The Spanish bank Santander aligns with this logic since the agreement with McLaren has also just been renewed. Keith Moor, Santander’s Chief Marketing Officer, stated: « Santander and McLaren have formed a long-term cooperation and have set new standards in sports marketing. Our decision to renew this partnership was not taken lightly but is based on a list of achievements, and we are thrilled to continue our partnership with one of the most important brands in global sports. »

As such, Jenson Button will continue to be a leading figure in the communication campaigns that the bank plans to implement in the coming years.

With the participation of www.Racingbusiness.fr