Innovative uses of bamboo have seen two Birmingham organisations join together to form a unique partnership. Specialist recruitment firm, SF Recruitment, has been announced as Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s first employability and sustainability partner, where its logo will appear on Birmingham Bears’ replica shirts ahead of the upcoming Vitality Blast season.
The partnership has been born from joint commitments from both organisations to reduce the impact of single-use plastics, with the two companies finding innovative ways to promote bamboo as an alternative material.
SF Recruitment’s logo will appear on the back of the Birmingham Bears’ replica kit, which became the first shirt in professional cricket to be made from a bamboo mix material in 2020. Warwickshire CCC will also be free from single-use plastics for the upcoming LV= Insurance Test match at Edgbaston between England and New Zealand.
For SF Recruitment, bamboo is at the heart of the brand’s identity thanks to the material’s strong yet flexible qualities, both of which are essential in recruitment. The company – which has offices in Birmingham, Nottingham and Leicester – has completely eliminated the use of single-use plastic across the business, bringing in bamboo replacements for items such as pens and branded gifts.
Additionally, all employees have made a pledge to be single-use plastic free. The firm also works to actively encourage other businesses across the region to look into alternatives to single-use plastic – whether through merchandising or corporate gifting. As part of its partnership, the recruitment will be offering consultancy to Warwickshire CCC to help bring in further bamboo alternatives.
The partnership recently saw SF Recruitment support Warwickshire County Cricket Club’s official charity the Edgbaston Foundation with its ‘Access to Cricket’ Employability Programme. The programme provided employability training and workshops to young people, not in education and employment, and gave an introduction to entry level roles across various aspects of stadium operations with support through the application process. The programme is a funded collaboration between the Edgbaston Foundation and Birmingham based charity Sport 4 Life and SF Recruitment supported delivery of the programme with mock interviews and employment insight shared with the young people.
Mike Lattimer, Regional Director at SF Recruitment, said: “As a company, we remain committed to our sustainability pledge to reduce the impact of single-use plastics and drive the benefits of bamboo. Our partnership with Warwickshire CCC is a perfect example of two organisations in the region coming together to show how sustainable materials, like bamboo, can be integrated effectively.
“As part of this historic partnership, we will also be working with Warwickshire CCC to support both its plastic reduction initiatives, as well as supporting the local community. We are really excited to be involved with such fantastic initiatives and look forward to seeing how the partnership supports the local community.”
“We opened discussions with SF Recruitment when we first agreed the bamboo-mix material for our playing shirts, and they were very keen to get involved. The SF team already have a strong stance against single-use plastic and it’s great to partner with businesses that share and can further support our ambition to be the most sustainable cricket club and venue in the country. We look forward to working with them.”
Ben Seifas, Commercial Partnerships Manager at Warwickshire CCC
SF Recruitment was recently named among the top 100 small companies to work for in the UK by Best Companies, and top 100 companies in the Midlands, regardless of size. For more information, please visit www.sfrecruitment.com.
