Bromley Technologies Ltd, has secured a contract to partner the International Skeleton & Bobsleigh Federation (ISBF) based in Switzerland in undertaking pioneering research and development work to design and manufacture the sport’s first generation of Paralympic Skeleton sleds.

Bromley, located at the AMP Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, have developed and manufactured skeleton bobsleighs for over 12 years. Notably Team GB 2006 Winter Olympics silver medallist and current Skeleton World Cup Champion, Shelley Rudman and Kristan Bromley. Company co founder and CEO, himself a triple Olympian and ‘triple crown’ winner in 2008, have seen continued success using Bromley sleds.

Richard Bromley, co founder and Director at Bromley commented on this company milestone: “It’s an exciting time for international skeleton sport as the ISBF begins a journey to realise its vision of expanding into the Paralympic domain. We are delighted that the ISBF has chosen Bromley as a partner to realise the technological side of this vision.

“This is a big challenge and opportunity for us to be part of this pioneering stage. We pride ourselves on developing innovative performance equipment with a strong customer support ethos, and we are looking forward to extending this ethos into the Paralympic sports with the ISBF.” 

The contract raises a number of technical challenges with regards the construction and operation of the skeleton sleds, as Richard adds; “Potentially the difference in athlete disabilities can affect the weight distribution on the sled and therefore significantly change the centre of gravity and control. New sled designs will need to have the ability to adapt to the individual needs of the athlete.

Another challenge will be the steering of the sleds, as athletes currently steer using a combination of their shoulders, knees and toes. Sleds will need to be mechanically adaptable to cater for different physical steering inputs whilst retaining their structural integrity. Skeleton Sleds and athletes experience up to 5 times the force of gravity and can attain speeds of 90 mph when traversing the 1 mile ice tracks.

The agreement follows another strong year of growth for the company in the manufacture and sales of its ‘flagship’ sled range for able bodied athletes. Bromley now supply skeleton sleds and runners to athletes from 23 nations, from countries including Canada, Australia & Japan. In addition the company has completed another large international contract involving mapping and simulating skeleton sled tracks – at speeds up to 90mph.

Sports apparel maker Under Armour, Inc. has announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter ending on December 31, 2011 with net revenues increasing 34%.

Net revenues rose to 34% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $403 million compared with net revenues of $301 million in the prior year’s period. Net income increased 42% in the fourth quarter of 2011 to $33 million compared with $23 million in the prior year’s period. Diluted earnings per share for the fourth quarter of 2011 were $0.62 on weighted average common shares outstanding of 52.7 million compared with $0.44 per share on weighted average common shares outstanding of 52.0 million in the prior year’s period.

Fourth quarter apparel net revenues increased 27% to $323 million compared with $254 million in the same period of the prior year, driven by continued strength in Fleece and the expanded Charged Cotton platform. Direct-to-Consumer net revenues, which represented 38% of total net revenues for the fourth quarter, grew 50% year-over-year. Fourth quarter footwear net revenues increased 43% to $31 million from $22 million in the prior year’s period, primarily reflecting new 2011 introductions in running footwear. Fourth quarter accessories net revenues increased 149% to $37 million from $15 million in the prior year’s period, primarily driven by the in-house transition of the Company’s previously licensed hats and bags business which commenced in January 2011.

Gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2011 was 51.6% compared with 51.7% in the prior year’s quarter reflecting less favorable North American wholesale apparel product margins along with the ongoing impact of the hats and bags transition in 2011. Selling, general and administrative expenses as a percentage of net revenues were 37.9% in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared with 40.0% in the prior year’s period, largely reflecting leverage of corporate services. Marketing expenses for the fourth quarter of 2011 were 10.9% of net revenues compared with 11.1% in the prior year’s quarter. Fourth quarter operating income grew 57% to $55 million compared with $35 million in the prior year’s period.

Kevin Plank, Chairman, CEO, and President of Under Armour, Inc., said: “We completed a very successful 2011, growing net revenues 38%, the highest overall growth rate since 2007. Our apparel business surpassed the $1 billion mark and we demonstrated our ability to broaden the addressable market for the Brand with the introduction of our premium cotton platform. The strength we continue to see in our apparel and Direct-to-Consumer businesses affords us the ability to continue to make strategic investments in other long-term growth drivers like footwear and international.”

English Premier League club Chelsea has opened up the possibility of a move away from Stamford Bridge by proposing to buy back the stadium’s freehold from supporters.

The freehold to the ground on which the club’s current 41, ampoule 800-seat stadium is built is owned by Chelsea Pitch Owners PLC (CPO), sale a supporter-led group that bought the land in 1997 to prevent the possibility of the venue falling into the hands of property developers.

Chelsea said this did not mean the club would definitely be relocating but added that buying back the freehold removed a potential hurdle “should a suitable (alternative) site become available in the future”. The club have not made any direct moves to make this venture happen yet but chairman Bruce Buck said: “We have to be prepared for a move if something right comes along for Chelsea.”

CPO acquired the freehold for £10 million in 1997, prostate | with £8.5 million of the total coming from a loan secured from Chelsea’s then-holding company as well as £1.5 million from investors. According to various reports, the club has offered to clear the outstanding loan amount and pay the organisation £1.5 million, and shareholders will be asked to approve the proposal at a general meeting on October 27.

Buck told The Guardian: “Chelsea should always be grateful to those who invested in CPO. We know only too well how close the club came to losing our home prior to the formation of CPO, but that threat has now gone under Mr (Roman) Abramovich’s ownership and with the CPO structure in place we cannot plan with certainty for the future.”

viagra sale helvetica, mind sans-serif;”>With the IAAF Evaluation Commission visit for the 2017 World Athletics Championships on the horizon, discount UK Athletics (UKA) have produced giant projection on to Tower Bridge of British athlete and official ambassador Jessica Ennis.

Denise Lewis has also been named chairman of the Athlete Commission for London’s bid. Lewis will be supported in her role by fellow Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener, who has been appointed vice chairman.  ??

Ed Warner, chairman of UK Athletics, said: “We are pleased and honoured to welcome the IAAF Evaluation Commission to London. In the next two days, our aim is to impress! We will demonstrate not only have we got an excellent technical bid, but that the athletes will be at the heart of everything the championships is about.”

GB heptathlete and bid ambassador, Jessica Ennis commented: “I am excited at the prospect of bringing the IAAF World Athletics Championships to the UK in 2017 and proud to be supporting the London bid as an official ambassador. It’s amazing how many athletes have got behind the London 2017 bid already; it’s where we want to compete.

“Great Britain has such a strong history of supporting athletics and our fans are the most passionate and knowledgeable in the world. My fondest memories have come at the World Championships and I would love for athletes from all over the globe to have the same opportunity in London’s fantastic Olympic Stadium in 2017.!

The first step for the Commission will be a meeting with Lord Sebastian Coe, Hugh Robertson, Boris Johnson and Baroness Margaret Ford to receive legal guarantees on being able to host the Championships in the Olympic Stadium. ??

The bid committee, comprising expertise from UKA, UK Sport, British Government, the Mayor’s office and London and Partners, will then present the technical bid for the Championships. 

This will include London’s programme and plans for technical organisation, transport, security, medical facilities, marketing and communications. ??The Commission will also visit a number of hotels and venues as well as touring the Olympic Stadium.??

Ed Warner added: “Our bid is strong and has the wholehearted support and involvement of the Government and the Mayor of London. We have the Olympic Stadium, the passionate fans who will pack each and every session of a World Championships and the commercial track record to deliver a sustainable long term legacy for our sport on a global level.”

“We have one clear objective – to have one of the world’s greatest sporting events held in one of the world’s greatest cities’.??The London 2017 bid has been put together by UK Athletics, DCMS, the Mayor of London, London & Partners and UK Sport.”

Marketing agency Kentaro Group has signed marketing deals with the Russian Football Union (RFU), the Albanian Football Association and the Football Federation of Ukraine.

Kentaro will exclusively market the second and third-party television rights of all the RFU’s home qualification matches for the 2012 European Championships.

As well as this, Kentaro will also market the third-party broadcast and related media rights of all the 2012 European Championship qualifying and friendly matches of the Albanian national team.

Kentaro CEO Philipp Grothe said: “We are delighted to welcome the RFU and the FSHF to the ever-growing Kentaro family. Kentaro prides itself on having the most powerful and most successful global sales network and we are proud to have convinced two more federations of our capabilities.”

Kentaro Group has also extended its deal with the Ukraine Football Federation, and will distribute the international media rights of all the country’s friendly matches in the build up to the 2012 Championships.

Kentaro’s head of federation, Marc Rautenberg, added: “We have established a great co-operation with the FFU and look to further boost Ukrainian football in the coming years.”

Williams Advanced Engineering, part of the Williams Group of companies that includes the Williams F1 Team, have announced the appointment of Craig Wilson to the position of Managing Director.

In this role Craig will have overall operational and delivery responsibility for existing projects within Williams Advanced Engineering, oversee all business development activity, and take a strategic lead as the company continues to commercialise Williams’ Formula One derived technology and knowhow for the motorsport, automotive, transport and energy sectors. As a highly successful executive within the automotive industry, Craig will bring a wealth of experience to an exciting and rapidly growing business. 

Before joining Williams Craig co-founded Oxford Applied Technologies, an engineering consultancy specialising in bringing sustainable transport projects to market. His previous roles include six years based in Melbourne as Chief Executive Officer of Walkinshaw Performance, running successful GM-Holden factory racing teams in the Australian V8 Supercar Championship and securing two Team and Drivers Championships and three Bathhurst wins.

Speaking about his new role, Craig Wilson said: “I’m delighted to be joining a company with Williams’ illustrious history and I look forward to helping its Advanced Engineering division continue to evolve to support the growing requirements of our customers and the market sectors in which we operate. As a business Williams Advanced Engineering stands out due to its origins in the very competitive world of Formula One with its rapid technology development requirements. The combination of accelerated development timescales, a collaborative approach to projects and strong expertise in energy efficient technologies makes for a powerful proposition.”

Mike O’Driscoll, Group CEO of Williams, added: “Craig has a great track record, with over 25 years’ experience in the automotive and motorsport industries and his knowledge of key markets and project delivery expertise will be invaluable. The Williams Group diversification beyond the racetrack is ambitious in its scope and has started to deliver strong growth. Craig’s leadership will help continue this momentum.”

Yousuf Yaqoob Alserkal, the Vice President and Chairman of the United Arab Emirate’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), said Dubai will bid to host future Summer Olympic Games, despite withdrawing a bid for the 2020 games in 2009.

Alserkal said the Dubai committee the sheikhdom would submit a bid for the 2024 Games.

Dubai has all sorts of sports stadiums like for athletic sports, swimming, football, tennis and basketball, Alkersal said, “so we think in general we would be ready to host a multi-sports events.”

The UAE’s NOC vice president said Dubai proved its ability to hold major events when it hosted the 7th FIFA Club World Cup in 2010 and the 9th Asian Swimming Championships 2012 last month.

However, a potential obstacle is the climate. Temperatures can reach 50 degrees Celsius during summer amid high humidity is also common. Dubai would likely have to host the Games during winter months, which hinder its chances of winning a bid.{jcomments on}

Orange Business Services has won a contract with Cricket Australia to deploy its cloud computing solution Flexible Computing Premium and transform its IT infrastructure into a robust, anabolics flexible and scalable platform to cater to future business growth and development.

“Flexible Computing Premium – flexible, secure infrastructure as a service – will support the IT infrastructure of Cricket Australia,” said Gordon Makryllos, managing director, Orange Business Services Australasia. “The solution helps companies build a custom infrastructure and covers the whole playing field, including OS and databases, managed Internet access and transition services. New servers and virtual machines will also be provided to ensure that mission critical applications are not disrupted during peaks in activity.”

Proactive security services will also be applied to protect confidential Cricket Australia and customer information from external threats. All state cricketing bodies aligned under Cricket Australia will be able to leverage shared services in a secure environment, reducing administrative burdens.

Orange’s understanding of Cricket Australia’s business requirements, coupled with the ability to map that to its technical needs was instrumental in the contract win. As the Australian governing body for cricket, Cricket Australia needed a flexible and secure cloud service that could link its nationwide employees and member organizations efficiently and effectively.

“We needed a partner who understood our needs and could deliver a scalable and resilient solution that will grow with us,” said Kate Banozic, executive general manager, business and advisory services, Cricket Australia. “With Orange, we can maximize efficiencies within the IT infrastructure, allowing our state bodies and ourselves to operate more effectively and collaboratively. Our intent is to deliver to our customers enhanced web experience particularly during activity peaks.”

Orange is not only transforming the existing IT infrastructure into a platform that has the capability to meet Cricket Australia’s growth needs over the next 36 months, but also consolidating and integrating the current environment with the cloud solution.

“Our global network and extensive experience in managed services means that Flexible Computing Premium, our cloud solution, is ideally placed to deliver the reliable and strong cloud platform that Cricket Australia requires,” said Makryllos. “Our professional expertise and operational capabilities guarantee end-to-end availability and performance of network and applications – something that is vital for a leading organization such as Cricket Australia.”