We spoke to Liam Botting from from Britlift about what it means to his business to sponsor The Terras home shirt sleeves and training and travel kits.
If you’d like to discuss sponsorship options for the 21/22 season please get in touch with the club at commercial@theterras.co.uk.
Can you tell us a little bit about Britlift (e.g. how long you’ve been operating, what your core business is, what your particular role is)
Created in Summer 2017, Britlift is an engineering company based at the Innovation Park in Winfrith Newburgh, designing and manufacturing, testing and inspecting below the hook lifting equipment. In simple terms our equipment is used to remove the compressive forces in a load being lifted (by a crane, forklift, telehandler, etc.). I am the Managing Director, my business partner (Anthony Culshaw) is the Technical Director and we have a team of 8 design engineers, fabricators and inspection engineers all dedicated specifically to lifting equipment. Locally we are always available to support with LOLER Inspections!
What made you decide to sponsor The Terras?
Well, I was born in Weymouth and lived here until I was 5 years old and then returned when I was 17 but in between those ages I used to visit every school holiday and I have many fond memories of being stood on the terraces watching the Terras! I was always delighted to be heading home from a Terras game with the players sock ties! I even made a cameo appearance on the BBC Two fly on the wall series “Football Diaries”. Putting the personal affiliation to one side and putting my marketing head on, we also have a desire to increase our local LOLER Inspection services footprint and we knew that sponsoring The Terras would go some way to helping spread the word.
In normal times how often do you and the staff from Britlift get along to the Bob Lucas Stadium?
If it weren’t for the current times we are in we would have regularly taken the whole Britlift team to games and hopefully we can do so next season! Who doesn’t like a pie and a pint stood on the terraces!
Britlift is active around the world. When on your travels do you talk to people about the Terras?
It is certainly something that often gets mentioned. The great thing about football is that it is a global language that everyone speaks and a fantastic ice breaker/conversation point! Being able to mention our sponsorship of Weymouth FC and show pictures of our logo on the sleeve of the shirt has always gone down very well.
What’s the most interesting project you’ve been involved with?
The most interesting and challenging project we have been involved with to date was actually not all that long ago. In September 2020 we were awarded a design consultancy project which involved engineering (design & calculations) and producing drawings for lifting project in Serbia to lift a 16m 284 tonne heat exchanger with deflection limit of 1mm! (photo below) This consultancy design phase was very complex and took many weeks and was subsequently followed up with the award for the manufacture and test of the lattice lifting beam we had designed. This award saw the team work from mid-November through to mid-January and included many, many late nights and weekend work to achieve the clients time critical requirements. All was manufactured and dispatched on time… then we had the joys of exporting mid-Jan 2 weeks after Brexit!
What are your hopes and expectations for the future at the club?
I’d simply be happy to become a regular of the National League and hold hopes of reaching the top 6 within the next 2-3 seasons.
