UK cricket club Yorkshire County Cricket Club has leased floodlight equipment for its grounds at Headingley with a £700k asset leasing facility provided by Investec asset finance, as part of a £1.25m (1.7m) installation.
According to a statement from Investec, the club decided to lease the equipment rather than borrow the cash or use an overdraft.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
The club’s investment in the lights was made possible through the English Cricket Board (ECB) grants to support the development of the UK’s cricket facilities, providing a significant deposit to assist the purchase. But the ECB monies are provided in blocks that do not always align with investment timelines, with additional grants not scheduled until 2018, which is where the lease stepped in.
Paul Hudson, director of finance at Yorkshire county Cricket Club said: "We have leased a number of different types of assets over the years, allowing us to match our outgoing payments with receiving the actual benefit of the equipment. It also means we don’t have to use our overdraft or take out a separate loan. I genuinely believe that more local businesses should look at this type of financing in order to invest for the future – it’s mostly an issue of awareness."
The investment means that Headingley will be able to host Day/Night game one day internationals as well as continue to host international Test cricket matches for the foreseeable future, furthermore it provides Yorkshire County Cricket Club with the ability to host Day/Night games and draw in evening crowds.
