Skinner's sponsors South West rugby refs' kit

l Andy Hawken, Skinner's sales manager (left), with representatives of the South West Peninsula Federation of Rugby Referees — left to right, Barrie Gledhill, committee, John Scott, chairman, and Andy Watts, website, recruitment and retention

December 4, 2007: Members of the South West Peninsula (SWP) Federation of Rugby Referees now have a smart new set of sponsored kit thanks to a deal concluded with Cornish brewery Skinner's.

All SWP referees have new referees shirts plus polo and dress shirts – for use during and prior to matches and off the field. Assessors and committee members have also received the polo and dress shirts. The SWP federation, covering Devon and Cornwall, has 18 members, with representatives achieving RFU National Panel status.

Federation representatives visited Skinner's Brewery for the formal handover of shirts by sales manager Andy Hawken, himself a former player with Newquay Hornets, accompanied by appropriate refreshment to toast the occasion.

“We are delighted to be able to help the ‘men in the middle’ in this way,” said Andy. “The main sponsorship spotlight understandably falls on the players, but the refs are of course every bit as important. We hope this gesture will remind them of just how much they are appreciated by everyone in the game.”

This latest sponsorship strengthens Skinner's involvement in rugby. The company already sponsors the Cornwall Junior and Senior cups — plus the newly-introduced Cornwall Super Cup for Redruth, Launceston and Mount's Bay — and also has close association with the Cornish Pirates and Cornish All Blacks clubs.